[ 3281] M. Plaetorius M. f. Cestianus moneyer Silv ...

[ 3281] M. Plaetorius M. f. Cestianus moneyer Silver Denarius (19mm, 3.74 gm) Rome, 69 B.C. Very Rare. Reference: RSC Plaetoria 10; B.M.C. 3525-32; Syd. 801; Craw. 405/2, Sear 341. Female bust (Fortuna?), her hair in knot, draped, control-symbol behind.. M . PLAETORI CEST . S . C ., half-length figure of boy- Sors, facing, holding before him long tablet inscribed SORS The reverse would appear to symbolized the celebrated oracle at Praeneste , home of the moneyer, known as the Sortes Proenestinae. Each person wishing to determine his or her future cast a lot (sors) in the form of a tablet in order to gain access to the oracle. The female head on obverse may be that of Fortuna because of her celebrated temple at Praeneste. It was at Praeneste that the institution of the oracle known as the Sortes Praenestinae was closely associated with the worship of Fortuna. In Roman mythology, Sors was a God of Luck. Although not much is said about the Roman god, he is mentioned in various stories and prayed to, or asked for assistance in certain points; "Sors, guide my arrow" In architecture, a tympanum (plural, tympana) is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculptures or other ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element. Provided with certificate of authenticity. CERTIFIED AUTHENTIC by Sergey Nechayev, PhD - Numismatic Expert Remains of the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia. Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia Praeneste was chiefly famed for its great Temple of Fortuna Primigenia connected with the oracle known as the Praenestine lots (sortes praenestinae). The temple was redeveloped after 82 BC as a spectacular series of terraces, exedras and porticos on four levels down the hillside, linked by monumental stairs and ramps. The inspiration for this feat of unified urbanistic design lay, not in republican Rome, but in the Hellenistic monarchies of the eastern Mediterranean. Praeneste offered a foretaste of the grandiose Imperial style of the following generation.[1] The oldest portion of the primitive sanctuary was situated on the terrace just above the lowest one, in a grotto in the natural rock where there was a spring that developed into a well. As the archaic shrine was elaborated from the 2nd century BC, it was given a colored mosaic pavement representing a seascape: a temple of Poseidon on the shore, with fish of all kinds swimming in the sea. To the east of this grotto is a large space, now open, but once very possibly roofed, and forming a two-story basilica built against the rock on the north side, and there decorated with pilasters. To the east is an apsidal hall, often identified with the temple itself, in which was found the famous mosaic with scenes from the Nile, relaid in the Palazzo Barberini-Colonna[2] in Palestrina on the uppermost terrace (now a National Museum). Under this hall is a chamber, which an inscription on its walls identified as a treasury in the 2nd century BC. In front of this temple an obelisk was erected in the reign of Claudius, fragments of which still exist. Reconstruction of the temple of the Fortuna Primigenia by Palladio. As extended under Sulla, the sanctuary of Fortune came to occupy a series of five vast terraces, which, resting on gigantic masonry substructure and connected with each other by grand staircases, rose one above the other on the hill in the form of the side of a pyramid, crowned on the highest terrace by the round temple of Fortune.[1] The goddess Fortuna here went by the name of Primigenia ("First Bearer"), she was represented suckling two babes, as in the Christiann representation of Charity, said to be Jupiter and Juno, and she was especially worshipped by matrons. The oracle continued to be consulted down to Christian times, until Constantine the Great, and again later Theodosius I, forbade the practice and closed the temple. Features of the temple ...