Herakles is known for being the strongest of all mortals as the son of the king of the gods, Zeus, and a mortal woman. He was told to perform twelve labors for King Eurystheus of Mycenae by the Delphic Oracle. [3] Herakles became a god himself upon his death and was worshiped throughout the Greek world. The first of the twelve daring labors was to defeat the Nemean Lion. This large mythical lion’s hide was impervious to weapons, and the beast was terrorizing the district of Nemea in the Argolis. Herakles wrestled the Nemean Lion to death and skinned it for its pelt.
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Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger (ca. 130-174 CE) was the wife and cousin of emperor Marcus Aurelius who ruled from 161 to 180 CE. She was the daughter of Annia Galeria Faustina the Elder and emperor Antoninus Pius, who ruled from 138 to 160 CE. Antoninus Pius arranged the engagement of Faustina the Younger to Marcus Aurelius, and they were married in 145 CE when she was just eight years old. Ordinary girls during this period would have married later, but the imperial needs of the royal family took precedence and Faustina the Younger was married when she was "capable of motherhood." [3] Marcus Aurelius was also the nephew of Faustina the Elder. Faustina the Younger had a total of 12 children and only half of them survived.
Augustus and the feminine Augusta, was an honor granted by the empire. It translates to “the majestic” or “the venerable.” Faustina the Younger was granted this title November 30th, 147 CE after the birth of her first child, Domitia Faustina. [4] Faustina the Younger was given the right to appear on coinage after 147 CE when she became Augusta. Titles on the obverse of coins imply that the person named was responsible for issuing the coin and in charge of the "disposal of public funds." There is no evidence however that a woman had any formal control over currency, but rather it was a courtesy of mint officials to show the designs for the dies to the empress. |
Inscriptions on Chinese coins were at least two characters long and noted the place name or weight of the coin. The two characters on the top and bottom are called the nian hao. These described all or some years of a royal reign or a period. The nian hao was also often used as a synonym for the emperor and translated to a title. On the left is the character boa which means “precious” or “treasure.” In combination with the character on the right the entire phrase means currency. Tong bao translates to “universal currency” or “inaugural currency.” [1] Kai yuan does not refer to the Kaiyuan reign (713-741 CE) of Emperor Xuanzong but rather it serves an alternative meaning of “establishing the new era.” [2]
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Chinese coins, until the end of the 19th century, were not struck with dies like Western coins but rather produced through metal casting. Casting was a simple and inexpensive way of producing low value coins. Metal casting involves the creation of a mold to mass produce multiple coins.
A rectangular frame made of pear wood was filled with tightly packed sand sprinkled with coal or charcoal. From the 6th century onward molds were made of sand and imprinted with a mother coin. |