Details of Minerva personified

Minerva is a war-goddess. She wears a helmet and an aegis (a snake-skin cloak fastened over the breastplate with a gorgon-head) and carries a spear and shield.

Sometimes she is shown holding a small figure of Victory and is easily confused with Roma. Minerva appears of coins from the 3rd century BC until the 3rd century AD and is particularly common on copper asses of Claudius I (AD 41-54) and on silver denarii of Domitian (AD 81-96). Like Mars she is sometimes given the title Pacifera (‘The Pace-bringer’) and holds an olive branch.

Attributes

• Aegis
• Helmet
• Shield and spear

Greek counterpart

Minerva can be identified with the Greek deity Athena