LUCIUS VERUS. Medallion. (Ae. 49.23g / 42mm). 165 AD Rome. Anv: L AVREL VERVS AVG ARMENIACVS IMP II TR PV COS II. Laureate bust with cuirass on the left. Rev: Hercules from the front holding mace and lion skin, to his left tree and to his right altar. (Gnecchi 27). XF/ VF. Slightly revised. Very rare specimen, and more in this quality.
Precisely because they are significantly larger than that of a coin, the medallions became a perfect canvas for engravers to delight us with a large number of images and scenes not previously seen in common currency. Generally in bronze, but also minted in materials as diverse as orichalcum or gold, the true value of these pieces resided in their symbolism, since having one of these was synonymous with closeness to the emperor. In the year this piece was minted, Lucio Vero was in the East leading the war against the Parthians in Antioch, in northern Syria. Perhaps and for this reason the representation of Hercules, a fighter of exceptional strength and values and a great promoter of civilization, is not accidental.
The forms of representation of the Theban hero that we observe here are the most common: the lion's skin is also his insignia of victorious combativeness. He normally wears it on his body, although there are variations in which Hercules himself holds the skin on one arm. The other element is the mace, an attribute that generally accompanies the hero. It can appear leaning on it, raised in the air, resting on the shoulder or as a weapon when it is represented fighting. In some images, the mace is an object that appears without interaction with the character, but helps to identify it. As for its forms of representation, here it appears in the so-called constellation, consisting of, as already commented previously, wearing the two attributes: the lion's skin and the mace.
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