NAMNÈTES Nantes region Late 2nd century - 1st half of 1st ce - Lot 86

NAMNÈTES Nantes region Late 2nd century - 1st half of 1st century B.C. Head of Ogmius on right, surrounded by a beaded cord [whose ends are terminated by small human heads]. Yoke under chin. Cross in front of forehead. R/. Androcephalous horse on right led by a charioteer holding a whip. Below, hippophore (figure seen mid-body). ♦ DT 2187 et seq.; LT 6728; GP 60 Pale gold statère "à la croix". (7,21 g) Slight wear. Very fine style. Very handsome. Namnètes. The Namnètes were a Celtic people from western Gaul, whose territory corresponds to the northern part of today's Loire-Atlantique département. The chief town of the Namnètes, called Condevincum in Latinized Gaulish, but also Portus Namnetum ("Port of the Namnètes"), became the seat of a Christian diocese in the 4th century. The town of Condevincum took on the name of the Namnètes at the end of Antiquity, becoming Namnètes, then "Nantes". The name "hippophore" comes from the character placed under the horse on the reverse (word for word, the one who carries the horse, where hippos translates as horse and phoros as the one who carries, in Greek). This is a reference to the rite of severed heads mentioned in Latin texts.