SICILIAE (ADVENTVI AVG.) -- An altar,
by which on one side stands the emperor, and
on the other a woman whose hand is adorned
with ears of corn, and who also holds corn ears
in her left hand. -- On first and second brass of
Hadrian.
SICILIAE (RESTITVTORI). -- The emperor
raising up a kneeling woman, whose left hand
holds, and whose head is bound round with ears
of corn. -- On first and second brass of Hadrian.
The types of the above described, forming as
they do part of the series of geographical medals,
furnished by the rich and varied mint of Hadrian,
are susceptible of easy explanation ; since the
ears of corn clearly denote fertility ; one of the
well-known qualities of Siciliy. It was to that
island, on his returning from Achaia (to which
event Tillemont assigns the date of 126 A.D.),
that Hadrian made a voyage, on which occasion,
according to Spartianus, Aetnam montem conscendit, ut solis ortum videret, arcus specie, ut
dicetur, varium. On first and second brass of
Antoninus Pius, bearing the word SICILIA, was
the same figure of a woman holding corn ears,
thus associating with the name of Sicily the
symbol of abundance in agricultural products,
which served long to distinguish her as the
granary of Rome.