Twin City Goddesses: Roma and Constantinopolis Coin Portfolio Album

The Roman pantheon, like the Greek, featured not one but two celestial rulers of war, one male and one female: Mars (Ares) and Minerva (Athena). Over time, each deity developed specific attributes relating to warfare. If the former was responsible for success on the battlefield, as was widely believed, the latter’s divine aid kept the motherland secure. Mars was the god of conquest, Minerva the goddess of protection.  As capitals of the country and homes to the imperial family, cities were vital to the success of empire, and thus took on a mystical quality. In particular the two Rome's, the original on the Tiber and the new one on the Bosporus, were personified in the celestial pantheon. Just as Athena was the protector of Athens, so did the protectors of Rome and Constantinople take on female form.  If a capital city fell, so too fell the Empire. Thus emperors and subjects alike took to praying to the fearsome warrior goddesses who kept their metropolises safe. These two genuine ancie