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Herakles - Roman Veneration

Hercules on Roman Republican denarius

Hercules on Roman Republican denarius

Like many Greek gods and demi-gods, Herakles - now under the more familiar name of Hercules - continued to have his day in the lives of the Romans - and by extension, on their coinage, too. Some Republican issues (generally, the B.C. era), though usually more restricted in thematics than Greek ones, feature him in different forms, and several emperors (e.g. Caracalla, Macrinus, Septimius Severus) use him on their reverse types for both provincial and imperial coinage. In some cases - like that of Maximianus and the "Herculian dynasty" of the early 4th century AD - this reflected the patronage of the hero over the whole imperial family, and in some others - like that of the late 2nd c. ruler Commodus - a personal megalomania that apparently led to the illusion of being a reincarnate Hercules, and reflected by such images of him even on the obverses of some coins.

Search for Roman coins featuring Hercules on reverse.