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Trajan - HERCULES interesting! (A06)
- Stock: Sold
- Model: Hercules
€ 120.00
Trajan (AD 98-117). Silver denarius (3.28 gm, 18mm). AD 101-102. IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG GERM, laureate head right / P M TR P COS IIII P P, nude Hercules standing facing on pedestal, draped with lion’s skin and holding club downward. RIC 49. RSC 234.
The statue of Hercules on this coin honors Hercules of Gades, the patron of Trajan's native country. The Pillars of Hercules - the Rock of Gibraltar on the European flank, and an undetermined summit on the North African coast opposite - served as the westernmost extent of Hercules' labors, where he was sent to capture the Cattle of Geryon and bring them back to Eurystheus. For the ancients, the sea beyond the Pillars represented the great Unknown.