Q. POMPONIUS MUSA. Denarius (56 BC). Rome.

Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right; star to left.
Rev: Q POMPONI / MVSA.
Urania standing left, holding wand and touching globe set upon base.

Crawford 410/8; RBW 1488.

Urania is one of the nine Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (goddess of memory). She was the muse of astronomy and geometry, as well as astronomy combined with astrology, disciplines that were inseparable for the Greeks. Urania lifts man's gaze from earthly things to eternal ones, granting him harmony and meditation. Another tradition, of Eastern origin and linked to Herodotus, identifies her as the daughter of Heaven and Light and assimilates her to Aphrodite Urania (Venus Caelestis), daughter of Uranus.

Condition: Good very fine.

Weight: 4.04 g.
Diameter: 19 mm.