Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
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Probus AV Aureus. Siscia, AD 278. IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG, laureate bust left, wearing imperial mantle and holding eagle-tipped sceptre / HERCVLI ERYMANTHIO, Hercules standing slightly right, lion-skin and the Erymanthian boar over his shoulder. Cf. RIC 586 & 587 (obv. legend and bust variants on both); Calicó 5146; CNG, Triton III, lot 1168 (same obv. die); NAC 39, lot 169 (same obv. die). 5.97g, 21mm, 12h.
Mint State; previously NGC graded NGC MS★ 5/5 - 4/5. Extremely Rare.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Morris Collection, Heritage World Coin Auctions, NYINC Signature Sale 3071, 6 January 2019, lot 32228 (hammer: USD 95,000);
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 27, 12 May 2004, lot 485.
This stunning coin depicts one of the famous labours of Hercules on the reverse. Punished for murdering his wife and children in a rage visited on him by Hera queen of the gods, Hercules was tasked with ten labours to redeem himself, meted out by his cousin King Eurystheus, (two of the tasks were disqualified as Hercules was considered to have received too much help). Ultimately, when these tasks were completed he would be rewarded with immortality by the gods. The labour depicted here is the capturing of the Erymanthian boar, the fourth of Hercules' tasks. The boar 'of vast weight' according to Ovid, lived on mount Erymanthos, giving its name to the creature, and wreaked havoc upon nearby farms and villages. Eurystheus requested that the boar be captured alive ensuring the difficulty of the task for Hercules. Apollodorus gives us the closest account of the capture in The Library and also touches on it in his Argonautica, describing how he chased the boar to exhaustion into deep snow from where he was able to trap and chain it. It was Statius who in his Thebaid book VIII described how Hercules lifted the boar 'breathing from the dust' and carried it on 'his left shoulder'. It is this moment that is shown here, the victorious aftermath of overcoming the boar who appears here, on his left shoulder, limp and almost lifeless despite the fact that he is still alive. The traditional lion-skin that Hercules is so often depicted wearing is here clearly visible, the head immediately below the body of the boar. Harkening back to his first labour, the slaying of the Nemean Lion, the almost jugate heads of the animals in this design emphasises Hercules' power over beasts and more broadly the taming of nature by men.
The presence of Hercules on the coins of the Roman Emperors is a trope from as far back as Augustus. He represented the labours the emperor had to endure for his citizens and the eventual deification that would be the reward for this service. Probus however, was never deified unlike many of his predecessors, due to his assassination by his troops. This is recorded in the Historia Augusta as follows: "Now away with those who make ready soldiers for civil strife, who arm the hands of brothers to slay their brothers, who call on sons to wound their fathers, and who deny to Probus the divinity which our emperors have wisely deemed should be immortalised by likenesses, honoured by temples, and celebrated by spectacles in the circus!".
Mint State; previously NGC graded NGC MS★ 5/5 - 4/5. Extremely Rare.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Morris Collection, Heritage World Coin Auctions, NYINC Signature Sale 3071, 6 January 2019, lot 32228 (hammer: USD 95,000);
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 27, 12 May 2004, lot 485.
This stunning coin depicts one of the famous labours of Hercules on the reverse. Punished for murdering his wife and children in a rage visited on him by Hera queen of the gods, Hercules was tasked with ten labours to redeem himself, meted out by his cousin King Eurystheus, (two of the tasks were disqualified as Hercules was considered to have received too much help). Ultimately, when these tasks were completed he would be rewarded with immortality by the gods. The labour depicted here is the capturing of the Erymanthian boar, the fourth of Hercules' tasks. The boar 'of vast weight' according to Ovid, lived on mount Erymanthos, giving its name to the creature, and wreaked havoc upon nearby farms and villages. Eurystheus requested that the boar be captured alive ensuring the difficulty of the task for Hercules. Apollodorus gives us the closest account of the capture in The Library and also touches on it in his Argonautica, describing how he chased the boar to exhaustion into deep snow from where he was able to trap and chain it. It was Statius who in his Thebaid book VIII described how Hercules lifted the boar 'breathing from the dust' and carried it on 'his left shoulder'. It is this moment that is shown here, the victorious aftermath of overcoming the boar who appears here, on his left shoulder, limp and almost lifeless despite the fact that he is still alive. The traditional lion-skin that Hercules is so often depicted wearing is here clearly visible, the head immediately below the body of the boar. Harkening back to his first labour, the slaying of the Nemean Lion, the almost jugate heads of the animals in this design emphasises Hercules' power over beasts and more broadly the taming of nature by men.
The presence of Hercules on the coins of the Roman Emperors is a trope from as far back as Augustus. He represented the labours the emperor had to endure for his citizens and the eventual deification that would be the reward for this service. Probus however, was never deified unlike many of his predecessors, due to his assassination by his troops. This is recorded in the Historia Augusta as follows: "Now away with those who make ready soldiers for civil strife, who arm the hands of brothers to slay their brothers, who call on sons to wound their fathers, and who deny to Probus the divinity which our emperors have wisely deemed should be immortalised by likenesses, honoured by temples, and celebrated by spectacles in the circus!".