Pegasus at Capua

I started thinking about this previous post, when spotting this type from the second Punic War in the back of HN Italy while writing a caption for another Capuan type.  Clearly it owes much to the Corinthian pegasi and all the derivative types.

(same coin two different photos)

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Things that strike me as interesting about this type is the bridle on the pegasus.  Not on Siculo-Punic Issues, maybe but not likely on Roman currency bar at least based on BM photo.

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Bridles do appear on numismatic pegagoi, just not that often.  The straight out tail is also unusual.

On the obverse the rendering of the goddess’ hair in two large long ringlets is unusual.  My first thought was the ringlets on RRC 39/1:

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Or even the ringlets on the personification of Alexandria obv. of RRC 419/2.

Also I want to think about the triple crested helmet in light of Myles McDonnell’s thoughts on the symbolism of the helmet type…

And while were on RRC 39/1, (I’m sure this cannot be a new idea, but) perhaps the horns on this goddess are a misunderstanding of the leaves of the sheaves of grain in Tanit’s hair?!

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1 thought on “Pegasus at Capua”

  1. Coincidentally and independently, I drew the same comparisons between these Capuan and Carthaginian types and the Cr. 39 Triens in a talk I gave last December regarding the Cr. 39 series. Happy to share my slides, if you’re interested.

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