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is signified, although others maintain that a man in a triumphal chariot drawn by four horses should always be understood as an Emperor who, having overcome some nation, celebrates a triumph. When, however, this same man sitting in a chariot drawn by a four-horse team carries military insignia in his left hand, Erizzo demonstrates that this represents a victory won over the Armenians and Parthians. On the other hand, if we see a man armed with a whip in a chariot, Erizzo identifies him as Mars.
Figures of men seated on coins sometimes appear; for instance, Erizzo calls a man sitting on a bull on coins Jupiter. A human figure seated with an outstretched hand and a lowered thumb is seen on a coin of Marcus Cato the Propraetor, which can signify a victory gained through wise counsel.
And when a man is depicted on a coin sitting and holding an orb in his right hand while being crowned by a winged woman, Erizzo suggests this is an Emperor who earned a crown due to a victory over the Britons. Indeed, as the same Erizzo believes, whenever the figure of Victory appears crowning a man on medals, it implies that this was done to decree a singular honor to the Emperor whose image appears on the other side of the coin. Sometimes a man sitting in an elevated chair, crowned by Victory and accompanied by an image of a woman offering ears of grain, is shown on a medal; from this, Erizzo deduces it indicates an Emperor who, through his own generosity, freed the people from famine. For this reason, on the coins of Titus Vespasian Caesar, one sees a man holding in his right hand a small figure of a woman equipped with a booklet and a cornucopia, where an image of a ship with a basket and grain also appears to show the Emperor who, with great diligence, secured the grain supply; for according to Valeriano, the image of a woman with ears of grain signifies the *annona* (the grain supply).
On the coins of the Tarentines, a man is seen sitting on a dolphin; from this, they conjecture that Tarentum was founded by Hercules. However, on other coins, as Pausanias would have it, they understand this figure to be Phalanthus the Spartan; indeed, some show Telemachus, the son of Ulysses, through this same image. When medals exhibit the image of a man standing and reaching out a hand to a kneeling woman, authors understand him to be the Restorer of the Republic; we are further led to believe this when we observe the image of an Emperor lifting up a kneeling person on a coin with the inscription "RESTITVTORI GALLIAE" (To the Restorer of Gaul).
If a standing man has many weapons behind his back, and a sorrowful woman sits there with a palm tree, then these medals, in the opinion of Choul, were struck after the capture of Judea. Although this figure may be seen carved differently on various medals. Finally, if a standing man is looking at a bird, Erizzo explains him as an Emperor taking an augury.
Let us now turn to the various hand gestures observed on coins. For on a coin of Alexander Augustus, there is a human figure leaning on a spear with the left hand, extending the right with fingers lowered and the thumb hanging down, with the inscription "RESTITVTOR" (Restorer). On a coin inscribed "TRAIANVS HADRIANVS," the figure of the Emperor is seen joining his right hand to the right hand of a certain seated god. The lower part of the coin is engraved with the letters "ADVENTVS AVG" (The Arrival of the Emperor). But if the figure of a man joining his right hand to another's right hand appears on coins in the presence of an armed woman, Erizzo declares this image represents an Emperor handing over power to another with the assent of Rome. Alternatively, a kneeling man joining his right hand to that of the Emperor, according to some, denotes the province of Phrygia offering congratulations to the Emperor.
In another case, two men joining right hands signify the concord between two princes, according to Erizzo. If one of these two men is dressed in a toga and the other in a cloak—figures seen on a coin of Caius Egnatius where the reverse side shows a winged Cupid—then these icons express the Concord that ought to exist between letters and arms; for Gabriele Simeoni understands peace by the image of the man in the toga, and war by the image of the one in the cloak.
Although others, to designate Concord and Faith, add the image of a column, a figure commonly seen on a certain coin of Hadrian. We can behold a human figure extending an open right hand and placing an offering on an altar with the left on a coin of Antoninus. The same figure appears on a gold coin of Lucius Aelius Caesar with the inscription "PIETAS" (Piety). And on a coin of Gordian Pius, there is a human figure raising spread hands toward heaven with the inscription "PIETAS AVGVST" (The Piety of the Emperor). Finally, on a coin of Julia Pia, a figure of Venus is seen, with her right