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PROVIDENTIA

Providentia is the personnification of foresight and providence. The Romans' use of Providentia in allegorical symbolism often referred to the Emperor having fulfilled his duty to the Roman people by providing them with a son and an heir, thus quite possibly sparing them the horrors of an all too frequent civil war over imperial succession. (It is interesting to note that, in performing this particular duty the emperor let the empress do most, if not all of the work:)

Providentia's attributes usually included a baton and globe but, in the case of this image, she may also be shown holding a cornucopia.

Some coin types in which the legend PROVIDENTIAE AVGG or PROVIDENTIAE CAESS commemorating the birth of a son to the imperial family show a Roman army Camp Gate instead of the figure of Providentia. In the legend above, the spelling of the abbreviation CAESS with a double S indicates that the emperor has provided the people with more than one son who was given the rank of Caesar (Constantine's son Constantine II in this case).


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