Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction X 27 September 2015
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Maximianus Herculius AV Aureus. Nicomedia, AD 294. MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, laureate bust right / HERCVLI VICTORI, Hercules standing facing, head right, holding club and apples, lion skin draped over left arm; SMN in exergue. RIC 3; Depeyrot p. 119, 2/1; cf. Calicó 4668 var. (no apples). 5.36g, 20mm, 1h.
Good Extremely Fine. Very Rare.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 59, 4 April 2011, lot 1154.
Given the title 'Herculius' by Diocletian, Maximianus' role was always that of the military might to Diocletian's stategic planning, hence the rich and varied series of depictions of Hercules that we see on his coinage. This reverse depicts Hercules after the completion of his eleventh labour - to steal the apples of the Hesperides.
The garden of the Hesperides, nymphs of the evening and golden light of sunset, is Hera's garden in the west, where an apple tree grows which produces golden apples conferring immortality when eaten. Planted from the fruited branches that Gaia gave to Hera as a wedding gift when she wed Zeus, the garden and tree were tended by the Hesperides.
After Hercules had completed his ten labours, Eurystheus gave him two more, claiming that neither the Hydra counted (because Iolaus helped him) nor the Augean stables either (because he received payment for the job or because the rivers did the work). Thus the first of these two additional labours was to steal the apples from the garden of the Hesperides. During this labour, Hercules had to take the vault of the heavens on his shoulders to relieve Atlas, who was the father of the Hesperides and could therefore persuade them to give up the apples. Having obtained the apples Atlas, relieved of his burden, was unwilling to take it back and offered to deliver the apples in Hercules' stead. Hercules however tricked him by agreeing to take his place on condition that Atlas relieve him temporarily so that he could make his cloak more comfortable. Hercules was thus able to complete the task; as for the apples, as property of the gods, they had to be returned to the garden from which they had been removed, a task that Athena completed on Hercules' behalf.
In later years it was thought that the 'golden apples' might have actually been oranges, a fruit unknown to Europe and the Mediterranean before the Middle Ages. Under this assumption, the Greek botanical name chosen for all citrus species was Hesperidoeide ('hesperidoids' and even today the Greek word for the orange fruit is 'Portokali' after the country of Portugal in Iberia near where the Garden of the Hesperides was thought to grow.
Struck in the east of the Empire at the new mint of Nicomedia, this coin was most probably produced in response to the increase in bureaucracy that the appointment of the two new Caesars in 293 will have occasioned, as well as the ever present needs of the army protecting the eastern frontier of the Empire.
Good Extremely Fine. Very Rare.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 59, 4 April 2011, lot 1154.
Given the title 'Herculius' by Diocletian, Maximianus' role was always that of the military might to Diocletian's stategic planning, hence the rich and varied series of depictions of Hercules that we see on his coinage. This reverse depicts Hercules after the completion of his eleventh labour - to steal the apples of the Hesperides.
The garden of the Hesperides, nymphs of the evening and golden light of sunset, is Hera's garden in the west, where an apple tree grows which produces golden apples conferring immortality when eaten. Planted from the fruited branches that Gaia gave to Hera as a wedding gift when she wed Zeus, the garden and tree were tended by the Hesperides.
After Hercules had completed his ten labours, Eurystheus gave him two more, claiming that neither the Hydra counted (because Iolaus helped him) nor the Augean stables either (because he received payment for the job or because the rivers did the work). Thus the first of these two additional labours was to steal the apples from the garden of the Hesperides. During this labour, Hercules had to take the vault of the heavens on his shoulders to relieve Atlas, who was the father of the Hesperides and could therefore persuade them to give up the apples. Having obtained the apples Atlas, relieved of his burden, was unwilling to take it back and offered to deliver the apples in Hercules' stead. Hercules however tricked him by agreeing to take his place on condition that Atlas relieve him temporarily so that he could make his cloak more comfortable. Hercules was thus able to complete the task; as for the apples, as property of the gods, they had to be returned to the garden from which they had been removed, a task that Athena completed on Hercules' behalf.
In later years it was thought that the 'golden apples' might have actually been oranges, a fruit unknown to Europe and the Mediterranean before the Middle Ages. Under this assumption, the Greek botanical name chosen for all citrus species was Hesperidoeide ('hesperidoids' and even today the Greek word for the orange fruit is 'Portokali' after the country of Portugal in Iberia near where the Garden of the Hesperides was thought to grow.
Struck in the east of the Empire at the new mint of Nicomedia, this coin was most probably produced in response to the increase in bureaucracy that the appointment of the two new Caesars in 293 will have occasioned, as well as the ever present needs of the army protecting the eastern frontier of the Empire.