2021-01-02 Sat

Ancient cities had their own goddess, it was belied that this goddess watches over and protect their respective cities. This goddess personified the cities and states named after them. Like the Roman goddess Roma.

The early cast coins of Roman republic depicted Minerva, known as Athena in Greek. Both Roma and Minerva are quite similar due to the similarities in attributes. Roma first appeared on Roman coinage in 220 BC.

On some denomination, she is shown holding a shield or leaning on a chair and brandishing a spear. She is also shown wearing a victory wreath and holding a sword or statuette of Nike, the goddess of Victory.

The identification of Goddess Roma on coins is often done by a legend ‘Roma’ on the coins. The above-shown coins are Denarius denomination of the Roman Republic. Her image also appears on the base of the column of Antoninus Pius.

Image Courtesy: tjbuggey.ancients.info