The Pritanoi Preview Appendix

**Brennus** · 04-23-2010, 18:43

Is the coin depicting pegasus a potin by any chance (sorry its just I have read about them but never seen a colour illustration)?

**Lvcretivs** · 04-23-2010, 23:08

An interesting side-note, but the hand held 'crooked staff' on the last shown coin bears - at least to me - an distinct resemblance to an Etruscan lituus - the characteristic attribute of an Roman Augur - could it possibly be a interpretatio romana of an Celtic subject, based of supposed similarity of religious roles (Celtic vates ~ Roman (Etruscan) augur?)

**Brennus** · 04-24-2010, 11:30

Lvctretivs you should read a book by John Creighton (2001, i think?) but it discusses the symbolism of British coins and how they relate to Roman and Mediterranean symbolism. For example prior to the reign of Augustus British coins only depict coins with horses by themselves but following the rise of Augustus (according to Creighton) they begin to display horses with people riding them in an attempt to emulate the equestrian statue Augustus had erected of himself in Rome.

**Arthur, king of the Britons** · 04-24-2010, 12:53

This preview once again shows the EB team's awesomeness!

**Lvcretivs** · 04-24-2010, 15:12

@Brennus: Did you mean 'Coins and power in late Iron Age Britain'? - judging from the Google Books preview a very interesting read, thank you!

**oudysseos** · 04-24-2010, 15:18

Here is a pretty good article about potin (bronze alloy) coins.

**Brennus** · 04-24-2010, 16:51

Originally Posted by Lvcretivs

@Brennus: Did you mean 'Coins and power in late Iron Age Britain'? - judging from the Google Books preview a very interesting read, thank you!

That's the one!

Thanks for the article oudysseos!

**Noble Wrath** · 04-25-2010, 02:42

A very interesting read. It's amazing what archaeology can find, sometimes by literally searching the garbige of societies long gone. And good Oudysseos has vowed to post every slightest detail of it! :-P
I had not realised till now that iron weapons were in fact inferior to the bronze ones and that it was just their greater availability that made them so popular. When for example Xenophon states in his Anabasis that the Greek mercenaries wore bronze helmets, I thought that those helmets were a cheaper version of the more effective iron ones. It turns out that I was wrong and that those boys wore the good stuff after all...