1.
Obverse and reverse
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In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse means the back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it depicts the head of a prominent person. In fields of scholarship outside numismatics, the front is more commonly used than obverse. For prints and drawings with material on both sides the one judged as more significant will be the recto, a convention now exists typically to display the obverse to the left and the reverse to the right in photographs and museum displays, but this is not invariably observed. Following this principle, in the most famous of ancient Greek coins, the tetradrachm of Athens, the obverse is the head of Athena, similar versions of these two images, both symbols of the state, were used on the Athenian coins for more than two centuries. The opposite side may have varied from time to time and this change happened in the coinage of Alexander the Great, which continued to be minted long after his death. The various Hellenistic rulers who were his successors followed his tradition and this script alone style then was used on nearly all Islamic coinage until the modern period. The type of Justinian II was revived after the end of Iconoclasm, without images, therefore, it is not always easy to tell which side will be regarded as the obverse without some knowledge. After 695, Islamic coins avoided all images of persons and usually, the side expressing the Six Kalimas is usually defined as the obverse. The form of currency follows its function, which is to serve as an accepted medium of exchange of value. Traditionally, most states have been monarchies where the person of the monarch, if not provided for on the obverse, the reverse side usually contains information relating to a coins role as medium of exchange. Additional space typically reflects the countrys culture or government, or evokes some aspect of the states territory. Regarding the euro, some regarding the obverse and reverse of the euro coins exists. This rule does not apply to the coins as they dont have a common side. A number of the used for obverse national sides of euro coins were taken from the reverse of the old pre-euro coins of some individual countries. Several countries continue to use portraits of the monarch and the Republic of Ireland continues to use the State Arms. The Chrysanthemum Crest was no longer used after the war, and so, the side on which the date continues to be regarded as the reverse. Following ancient tradition, the obverse of coins of the United Kingdom almost always feature the head of the monarch
2.
Aeneid
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The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It comprises 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter, the hero Aeneas was already known to Greco-Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the Iliad. The Aeneid is widely regarded as Virgils masterpiece and one of the greatest works of Latin literature, the Aeneid can be divided into two halves based on the disparate subject matter of Books 1–6 and Books 7–12. These two halves are commonly regarded as reflecting Virgils ambition to rival Homer by treating both the Odysseys wandering theme and the Iliads warfare themes and this is, however, a rough correspondence, the limitations of which should be borne in mind. Virgil begins his poem with a statement of his theme and an invocation to the Muse and he then explains the reason for the principal conflict in the story, the resentment held by the goddess Juno against the Trojan people. This is consistent with her throughout the Homeric epics. Also in the manner of Homer, the story begins in medias res, with the Trojan fleet in the eastern Mediterranean. The fleet, led by Aeneas, is on a voyage to find a second home and it has been foretold that in Italy, he will give rise to a race both noble and courageous, a race which will become known to all nations. Juno is wrathful, because she had not been chosen in the judgment of Paris, also, Ganymede, a Trojan prince, was chosen to be the cup bearer to her husband, Jupiter—replacing Junos daughter, Hebe. Juno proceeds to Aeolus, King of the Winds, and asks that he release the winds to stir up a storm in exchange for a bribe, Aeolus does not accept the bribe, but agrees to carry out Junos orders, the storm then devastates the fleet. The fleet takes shelter on the coast of Africa, where Aeneas rouses the spirits of his men, There, Aeneass mother, Venus, in the form of a hunting woman very similar to the goddess Diana, encourages him and recounts to him the history of Carthage. At a banquet given in honour of the Trojans, Aeneas sadly recounts the events that occasioned the Trojans arrival. He begins the tale shortly after the war described in the Iliad, Cunning Ulysses devised a way for Greek warriors to gain entry into the walled city of Troy by hiding in a large wooden horse. The Greeks pretended to sail away, leaving a warrior, Sinon, to inform the Trojans that the horse was an offering and that if it were taken into the city, the Trojans would be able to conquer Greece. The Trojan priest Laocoön saw through the Greek plot and urged the horses destruction, then, in what would be seen by the Trojans as punishment from the gods, two serpents emerged from the sea and devoured Laocoön, along with his two sons. The Trojans then took the horse inside the walls, and after nightfall the armed Greeks emerged from it. In a dream, Hector, the fallen Trojan prince, advised Aeneas to flee with his family, Aeneas awoke and saw with horror what was happening to his beloved city. At first he tried to fight the enemy, but soon he lost his comrades and was alone to fend off the Greeks
3.
Lavinium
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Lavinium was a port city of Latium,53 km to the south of Rome, at a median distance between the Tiber river at Ostia and Anzio. The coastline then, as now, was a strip of beach. Lavinium was on a hill at the southernmost edge of the Silva Laurentina, a laurel forest, and the northernmost edge of the Pontine Marshes. The basis for the port, the one between Ostia and Anzio, was evidently the mouth of the Numicus river. The location of Lavinium has never been lost to historians nor does there appear to have any significant break in its habitation. Todays settlement remains a village of medieval design, Pratica di Mare. A brief strip of field separates the large and flourishing city from the village, one Roman gate allows entry into the narrow streets of the village past the Castello Borghese, originally a fortification, purchased along with the village in 1617 by Marcantonio Borghese. The castle and the village were periodically renovated, all that remains of the river that once partly surrounded the village is a small stream, the Fosso di Pratica. Pratica di Mare is about 6 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea near the top of a descending to an alluvial shelf on which the Pratica di Mare Air Force Base has been placed. It has the distinction of being the airfield from which Otto Skorzeny flew Mussolini to safety in Germany after his rescue from imprisonment in a mountain villa. Today the base is both a secure airport for the protection of distinguished visitors to the Rome region and a home for air shows of advanced aircraft. The Fosso di Pratica was re-routed around the end of a runway, however, the sea may well have formerly extended up to the base of the hill, as sites further north, such as Ostia, appear to have retreated one or two miles inland. Ancient Roman seaside villas are no longer on the beach, Pratica di Mare is observably smaller than ancient Lavinium, whose remains crop out in the surrounding fields. Recent archaeological excavations performed to the south date Lavinium to well before the foundation of Rome. It was already fortified in the 7th century BC and flourishing in the 6th, Lavinium was assimilated by Republican Rome. It was connected to Rome in the north and Ardea to the south by the Via Laurentina, under the empire it was combined with the mysterious Laurentum, where many wealthy Romans maintained a winter villa, to become Laurolavinium. The nature of the union remains ambiguous, a number of kilns have been identified within the perimeter of the city walls. According to Roman mythology, which links Lavinium more securely to Rome, the city was named by Aeneas in honor of Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, king of the Latins, Aeneas reached Italy and there fought a war against Turnus, the leader of the local Rutuli people
4.
Ascanius
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Ascanius a legendary king of Alba Longa and is the son of the Trojan hero Aeneas and Creusa, daughter of Priam. He is also an ancestor of Romulus, Remus and the Gens Julia, together with his father, he is a major character in Virgils Aeneid, and he is depicted as one of the founders of the Roman race. In Greek and Roman mythology, Ascanius was the son of the Trojan prince Aeneas and Creusa, daughter of Priam. After the Trojan War, as the city burned, Aeneas escaped to Latium in Italy, taking his father Anchises and his child Ascanius with him, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Ascanius original name was Euryleon and this name was changed to Ascanius after his flight from Troy. According to Virgil, Ascanius was also called Iulus or Julus, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, however, Julus was a son of Ascanius who disputed the succession of the kingdom of Alba Longa with Silvius, upon the death of Ascanius. According to another legend mentioned by Livy, Ascanius may have been the son of Aeneas and Lavinia and thus born in Latium, Ascanius later fought in the Italian Wars along with his father Aeneas. After the death of Aeneas, Ascanius became king of Lavinium, Mezentius succeeded in making the city surrender and agree to pay a yearly tribute. Upon his retirement, Ascanius fell upon him and his army unaware and entirely defeated Mezentius, Mezentius was forced to agree to pay a yearly tribute. Subsequent to this, exactly thirty years after the founding of Lavinium, Ascanius founded the city of Alba Longa and he left his mother, Lavinia, in charge of the city of Lavinium. Ascanius was succeeded by Silvius, who was either the brother of Ascanius or his son. Ascanius died in the 28th year of his reign, however, in the Aeneid, Vergil claims that Mezentius fought in the Italian Wars at the time Aeneas was alive. In the Aeneid, it is Aeneas who kills Lausus after harming Mezentius, when the news about Lausus death reaches Mezentius, he comes back to face Aeneas, and is killed too. In this account Ascanius does not participate in these deaths, nevertheless, Vergil shows Ascanius first experience at war. In the Aeneid, Ascanius is a teenager without real war experiences, but while besieged by the Italians, Ascanius launches an arrow against Numanus, the husband of the youngest sister of Turnus. After killing Numanus, Apollo comes and says to Ascanius, Macte nova virtute, puer, sic itur ad astra, dis genite et geniture deos. This phrase can be translated into English as, Go forth with new value, boy, thus is the path to the stars, son of gods that will have gods as sons. Or Blessings on your fresh courage, boy, scion of gods and ancestor of gods yet to be, in this verse, Vergil makes a clear reference to the offspring of Iulus, from whom Augustus Caesar claimed descent. Therefore, in this verse Vergil refers to the Gens Julia, the family of Augustus and Julius Caesar, the sic itur ad astra become almost proverbial and several mottos use an ad astra phrase
5.
Alba Longa
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Alba Longa was an ancient city of Latium in central Italy,19 kilometres southeast of Rome, in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was destroyed by Rome around the middle of the 7th century BC. In legend, Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, had come from the dynasty of Alba Longa, which in Virgils Aeneid had been the bloodline of Aeneas. Livy said of Alba Longa that it was founded by Ascanius to relieve crowding at Lavinium and he placed it at the foot of the Alban Mount and said that it took its name from being extended along a ridge. Dionysius of Halicarnassus repeated the story, but added that Ascanius, following a given to his father. Noting that alba means white he translated the name into Greek as long white town, Dionysius placed the town between the Alban Mount and the Alban Lake, thus beginning a long controversy about its location. Since the 16th century, the site has been at times identified as that of the Convent of St. Paul at Palazzola near Albano, Coste Caselle near Marino. The last named of these places in fact occupies the site of Domitians villa which, archaeological data show the existence of a string of villages in the Iron Age, each with its own necropolis, along the south-western shore of Lake Albano. In the later period the territory of Alba was settled once again with many residential villas. According to Roman legend, after the fall of Troy in 1184 BC, Aeneas led a group of surviving Trojans through the Mediterranean to Sicily, Carthage, upon landing in Italy he was welcomed by Latinus, king of the early Latins. Soon, Aeneas married king Latinus daughter, Lavinia, and would found the city Lavinium in her name, Latinus later fell in war making Aeneas king and his son, Ascanius, his successor. A few years later Aeneas was killed in battle like Latinus, Ascanius reportedly built Alba Longa at the slope of Mount Alba with six hundred families as a colony of Lavinium. The city was founded thirty years after Lavinium and his descendants would rule the Latins for another five hundred years. Alba Longa was the city of the roughly thirty cities that made up the Latin League. The leagues conferences were held by the Ferentine spring, in the part of the valley between Albano and Marino, Italy. The sacrifices of the league were offered on the Alban mountain from which all the country of Latium might be seen, after the rise of its colony, Rome, Alba Longa appeared as Romes rival and was destroyed in the mid-seventh century BC by Rome. The colonies of Alba Longa were distinct from the Alban townships which must have consisted of Albani plebs, among the Alban colonies some become part of the plebs, others become Latin cities. The others were ceded to the Latins to maintain a consistent thirty townships, accordingly, the Latin kingdom of Latinus, and the Rutulian kingdom of Turnus must have had thirty cities each with Laurentum as the Latin capital prior to the arrival of Aeneas
6.
Silver
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Silver is a metallic element with symbol Ag and atomic number 47. The symbol Ag stems from Latin argentum, derived from the Greek ὰργὀς, a soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. The metal is found in the Earths crust in the pure, free form, as an alloy with gold and other metals. Most silver is produced as a byproduct of copper, gold, lead, Silver is more abundant than gold, but it is much less abundant as a native metal. Its purity is measured on a per mille basis, a 94%-pure alloy is described as 0.940 fine. As one of the seven metals of antiquity, silver has had a role in most human cultures. Silver has long valued as a precious metal. Silver metal is used in many premodern monetary systems in bullion coins, Silver is used in numerous applications other than currency, such as solar panels, water filtration, jewelry, ornaments, high-value tableware and utensils, and as an investment medium. Silver is used industrially in electrical contacts and conductors, in specialized mirrors, window coatings, Silver compounds are used in photographic film and X-rays. Dilute silver nitrate solutions and other compounds are used as disinfectants and microbiocides, added to bandages and wound-dressings, catheters. Silver is similar in its physical and chemical properties to its two neighbours in group 11 of the periodic table, copper and gold. This distinctive electron configuration, with an electron in the highest occupied s subshell over a filled d subshell. Silver is a soft, ductile and malleable transition metal. Silver crystallizes in a cubic lattice with bulk coordination number 12. Unlike metals with incomplete d-shells, metallic bonds in silver are lacking a covalent character and are relatively weak and this observation explains the low hardness and high ductility of single crystals of silver. Silver has a brilliant white metallic luster that can take a polish. Protected silver has greater optical reflectivity than aluminium at all wavelengths longer than ~450 nm, at wavelengths shorter than 450 nm, silvers reflectivity is inferior to that of aluminium and drops to zero near 310 nm. The electrical conductivity of silver is the greatest of all metals, greater even than copper, during World War II in the US,13540 tons of silver were used in electromagnets for enriching uranium, mainly because of the wartime shortage of copper
7.
Denarius
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In the Roman currency system, the dēnārius, plural, dēnāriī was a small silver coin first minted about 211 BC during the Second Punic War. It is the origin of modern words such as the currency name dinar, it is also the origin for the common noun for money in Italian denaro, in Portuguese dinheiro. Its symbol is X̶, a x with stroke. A predecessor of the denarius was first struck in 267 BC, five years before the first Punic War with a weight of 6.81 grams. Contact with the Greeks prompted a need for coinage in addition to the bronze currency that the Romans were using during that time. The predecessor of the denarius was a Greek-styled silver coin, very similar to the didrachm and drachma struck in Metapontion and these coins were inscribed for Rome but closely resemble their Greek counterparts. They were most likely used for purposes and were seldom used in Rome. The first distinctively Roman silver coin appeared around 226 BC, Rome overhauled its coinage around 211 BC and introduced the denarius alongside a short-lived denomination called the victoriatus. This denarius contained an average 4.5 grams, or 1⁄72 of a Roman pound of silver and it formed the backbone of Roman currency throughout the Roman republic. The denarius began to undergo slow debasement toward the end of the republican period, under the rule of Augustus, its silver content fell to 3.9 grams. It remained at nearly this weight until the time of Nero, debasement of the coins silver content continued after Nero. Later Roman emperors reduced its content to 3 grams around the third century. The value at its introduction was 10 asses, giving the denarius its name, in about 141 BC, it was re-tariffed at 16 asses, to reflect the decrease in weight of the as. The denarius continued to be the coin of the Roman Empire until it was replaced by the antoninianus in the middle of the third century. The last issuance of this occurred in bronze form by Aurelian. For more details, see Denarius, in A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins, the denarius has a link from the Roman times to the British penny and US1 cent piece. It is difficult to give even rough comparative values for money from before the 20th century, as the range of products and services available for purchase was different. Classical historians often say that in the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire the daily wage for an unskilled laborer and common soldier was 1 denarius or about US$2. 8$ in bread
8.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
9.
Aeneas
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In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Venus. His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy and he is a character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homers Iliad. Aeneas receives full treatment in Roman mythology, most extensively in Virgils Aeneid and he became the first true hero of Rome. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse Æsir Vidarr, Aeneas is the Latin spelling of Greek Αἰνείας. In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, Aeneas is first introduced with Aphrodite naming him Αἰνείας for the αὶνóν ἄχος he caused her and it is a popular etymology for the name, apparently exploited by Homer in the Iliad. Later in the Medieval period there were writers who held that, as such, in the natural order, the meaning of Aeneas name combines Greek ennos and demas, which becomes ennaios, meaning in-dweller. However, there is no certainty regarding the origin of his name, in imitation of the Iliad, Virgil borrows epithets of Homer, including, Anchisiades, magnanimum, magnus, heros, and bonus. Though he borrows many, Virgil gives Aeneas two epithets of his own in the Aeneid, pater and pius. The epithets applied by Virgil are an example of a different from that of Homer, for whilst Odysseus is poikilios, Aeneas is described as pius. Likewise, Aeneas is called pater when acting in the interest of his men, the story of the birth of Aeneas is told in the Hymn to Aphrodite, one of the major Homeric Hymns. Aphrodite has caused the other gods Zeus, to fall in love with mortal women, in retaliation, Zeus puts desire in her heart for Anchises, who is tending his cattle among the hills near Mount Ida. When Aphrodite sees him she is smitten and she adorns herself as if for a wedding among the gods and appears before him. He is overcome by her beauty, believing that she is a goddess, after they make love, Aphrodite reveals her true identity to him and Anchises fears what might happen to him as a result of their liaison. Aphrodite assures him that he will be protected, and tells him that she bear him a son to be called Aeneas. However, she warns him that he must never tell anyone that he has lain with a goddess, when Aeneas is born, Aphrodite takes him to the nymphs of Mount Ida. She directs them to raise the child to age five, then take him to Anchises, according to other sources, Anchises later brags about his encounter with Aphrodite, and as a result is struck in the foot with a thunderbolt by Zeus. Thereafter he is lame in that foot, so that Aeneas has to carry him from the flames of Troy. Aeneas is a character in the Iliad, where he is twice saved from death by the gods as if for an as-yet-unknown destiny
