ANONYMOUS (208 BC)

"Victoriatus" The victoriatus corresponded in weight to the Greek drachma and was minted to facilitate trade with the Greeks of southern Italy, for whom the denarius was too new and perhaps challenging to adopt. Later, as Rome's influence expanded in the south, its production ceased around 170 BCE.

On the reverse of the coin, Victoria, the goddess of victory, is depicted about to crown a tropaion, a victory monument. Originally, trophies were set up on the battlefield at the spot where the enemy phalanx broke and fled; the word derives from the Greek tropē, meaning "turning point." Trophies were made from poles adorned with the weapons and armor of defeated enemies. However, in Roman times, these were no longer erected on battlefields but displayed in Rome itself.