169, Lot: 72. Estimate $150. Sold for $175. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PONTUS, Amasia. Marcus Aurelius. AD 161-180. Æ 33mm (23.49 g). Dated CY 165 (AD 162/3). Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / Ares standing right, holding spear and resting hand on shield set on ground, facing nude Aphrodite standing left, covering herself (Aphrodite pudica); date in exergue. RPC IV temp. 5288; RG 19; SNG von Aulock 22. Near VF, green patina, rough in spots.

From the J. S. Wagner Collection.

Ares and Aphrodite became lovers, although she was married to Hephaistos. The canny metal worker prepared a trap for them, and the two lovers were caught in flagrante delicto and exposed to the ridicule of the Olympians. This charming tale probably reflects an earlier tradition regarding Aphrodite, as Aphrodite stratonikis or Conqueror of Armies. In this sense she was connected to the eastern goddess Astarte, who held more aspects than a mere goddess of love.