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Apollo Sauroktonos
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Nikopolis ad Istrum/Moesia inferior, Geta 198-202
AE 25, 11.38g
obv. L CEPTIMI GETAC KAICAR
bust draped, bare head r.
rev. [YP AVR G]A[LL]OC NIKOPOLITWN PROC ICTRON
Apollo, naked, laureate, with crossed legs, stg. r., r. hand raised behind holding arrow, l. hand resting on tree before him; at the tree a lizard, touching Apollo
AMNG 1654, VF, lizard only partially visible due to a weak strike, but nice green patina
Rare, only one spec. in AMNG ex coll. Löbbecke
From Pliny the Elder we know the detailed description of a famous bronze sculpture of Praxiteles (4th century BC) named Sauroktonos, the Lizard-killer. The original sculpture is lost. We have two Roman marble copies in the Louvre and in the Musei Vaticani in Rome. May be the coin is the pic of Pliny's description or may be not. But the reverse shows clearly the two sides of Apollo: Here the youthful smiling bringer of light and in the same moment the merciless killer for fun.
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