Troas, Ilium; AE Unit; Flavian reign; circa AD 69-96.
Obv. Bust of Athena in a Corinthian helmet to the left, with the aegis and a spear wrapped with a serpent around it. Below, IΛI.
Rv. Aeneas walking to the right, carrying Anchises on his left arm and leading Ascanius with his right hand.
Bronze, 6.02 g, 20 mm, 12h. RPC II 895; SNG COP 368; BMC 20; Bellinger T129.
Grade: Good VF.
The scene on the reverse shows Aeneas fleeing from burning Troy, carrying his old father Anchises on his shoulders, while leading Anchises' son by the hand. This moment was recorded in Virgil's "Aeneid": Come now! Get on my back, dear father! I will support my shoulders myself, without feeling the toil. Whatever happens, one horror and one triumph will unite us. Don't hesitate to let Julek accompany me; my wife will follow from afar... Having said this, I lay the skin without the abdomen on my back and the broad neck of a tawny lion and take up the burden; Julek grabs the child's right hand and starts running with small steps...; (Virgil, Aeneid, Book II, 708-725, transl. T.Karyłowski). This same moment from the life of Aeneas was also captured by many later artists, like Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini created his wonderful statuary group in 1618-9.
