Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVI 26 Sep 2018
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Maximian AV Aureus. Carthage, AD 296-305. MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, laureate head right / HERCVLI COMITI AVGG ET CAESS NN, Hercules standing to right, nude, resting right hand on grounded club, holding a large apple of the Hesperides in left hand with lion skin draped over forearm; PK in exergue. RIC 3; Calicó 4648. 5.32g, 18mm, 6h.
Good Extremely Fine; a couple of minor marks. Extremely Rare; one of as few as perhaps two or three known specimens (Calicó could not find an example to photograph).
From a private British collection;
Ex Fritz Rudolf Künker 280, 26 September 2016, lot 847.
Given the title 'Herculius' by Diocletian, Maximianus' role was always that of the military might to Diocletian's strategic 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.
Good Extremely Fine; a couple of minor marks. Extremely Rare; one of as few as perhaps two or three known specimens (Calicó could not find an example to photograph).
From a private British collection;
Ex Fritz Rudolf Künker 280, 26 September 2016, lot 847.
Given the title 'Herculius' by Diocletian, Maximianus' role was always that of the military might to Diocletian's strategic 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.