Maximianus Herculius To Victorious Hercules

Given the title Herculius by Diocletian, Maximianus’ role was always that of the military might to Diocletian’s stategic planning, hence the rich and varied series of depictions of Hercules that we see on his coinage. This reverse depicts Hercules after the completion of his eleventh labour - to steal the apples given to Hera by Zeus as a wedding gift, which were guarded by the Hesperides. During this labour, Hercules had to take the sky on his shoulders to relieve Atlas, who was the father of the Hesperides and could therefore persuade them to give up the apples.

However, as property of the gods the apples had to be returned to the garden from which they had been removed, a task...

Devamını Oku