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RIC 291Denarius, 212-214
Obv: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P
Laur r., dr.
Rev: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI
Trajan on horseback l., holding spear and small Victory.
19mm, 3.06g
RIC erroneously mentions only a draped portrait, but all examples I have seen show drapery on the left shoulder only.
The equestrian statue depicted here is probably the famous statue on Trajan's forum, today lost. Ammianus Marcellinus reports the following story (X, 15-16):
"But when he (i.e. Constantius II) came to the forum of Trajan, the most exquisite structure, in my opinion, under the canopy of heaven, and admired even by the deities themselves, he stood transfixed with wonder, casting his mind over the gigantic proportions of the place, beyond the power of mortal to describe, and beyond the reasonable desire of mortals to rival. Therefore giving up all hopes of attempting anything of this kind, he contented himself with saying that he should wish to imitate, and could imitate the horse of Trajan, which stands by itself in the middle of the hall, bearing the emperor himself on his back.
And the royal prince Hormisda, whose departure from Persia we have already mentioned, standing by answered, with the refinement of his nature, "But first, O emperor, command such a stable to be built for him, if you can, that the horse which you purpose to make may have as fair a domain as this which we see."klausklage
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Turkey, Istanbul (Constantinople) - Halikarnassos mausoleum lionThis is a lion from the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos (now Bodrum Turkey), one of the seven world wonders. Now in the archaeological museum of Istanbul. Behind the lion is a picture of the reconstruction of the building.The building is now nearly completely destroyed.
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