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MOESIA INFERIOR, Nicopolis ad Istrum. Septimius Severus. Æ laureate and draped bust right / NIKOPO-LITWN, winged Thanatos standing right, leaning on inverted torch. AMNG I 1366 (Septimius Severus)
The winged figure with an inverted torch symbolizes Thanatos, or the personification of Death. The figure sometimes also holds a poppy, associated with forgetful sleep, or Hypnos. He represents not a morbid preoccupation with death, which would seem a peculiar subject for a coin, but rather the ultimate fate of warriors. The two brothers appear in the Iliad (book xvi) when Sarpedon, the heroic king of Lycia falls in battle against the Greeks besieging Troy. His bravery impels Zeus to order Apollo to rescue the body, and Thanatos and Hypnos carry it back to Lycia for a hero's burial. Such a fate would resonate with the Council of Young Men - Cynedrion Neon, which was probably an organization of ephebes, or young men in training for military duties.
Collezione : Roman Provincial Coins