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Perhaps Statius was genuinely impressed or perhaps he did not look as closely at base of
the statuette as Martial. It is, of course, possible that there were two statuettes, or the
name of Lysippus was inscribed on the base between visits by the two poets.
There was a famous cult centre to Hercules at Gades in southern Spain with a temple
that was noted for its antiquity that, at one time, was said to have contained a statue of
Alexander (Suetonius, Julius Caesar, 7). 161 Polybius refers to the Heracleum at Gades
and the Pillars of Hercules a number of times in a geographic sense but there is nothing
in his extant text which locates Hannibal at the shrine (Hist. 2.1; 3.37-9; 3.57; 10.7;
16.29; 34.9). Livy, on the other hand, presents Hannibal travelling to the shrine after the
fall of Saguntum to discharge his vows to Hercules and make new ones: Hannibal, cum
recensuisset omnium gentium auxilia, Gades profectus Herculi vota exsolvit novisque se
obligat votis, si cetera prospera evenissent (Livy, 21.21.9).
If Hannibal had another, more pragmatic, reason for his journey, it is not mentioned
by Livy, but there was an important Carthaginian mint at Gades. 162 There is a series of
Carthaginian coins with iconography relating to Hercules on the obverse faces which
have been dated to the period of Barcid rule in Spain; it is not known if they have a
connection with either the mint or the shrine (Figures 1-4). Two of the coin types have a
club etched in outline behind a profile head on the obverse and an elephant on the
reverse. There is a significant difference between the profile heads on two coin types
because one is bearded while the other appears to be clean-shaven. 163 The obverse of a
third coin type (Figure 3A) may depict a profile head wearing a lionskin headdress but it
is much weathered and difficult to distinguish from some other form of headgear such as
a helmet. 164
Given that the profile heads of the two Carthaginian coin types have the distinctive
difference of facial hair, and that the Alexander coins are generally accepted as
representations of Alexander in the guise of Hercules, the Punic coins are similarly
argued to represent historical figures in the guise of Hercules. There are no identifying
legends, consequently the identities are uncertain and disputed but it seems reasonable
to accept that they represent two different people. Robinson attributes the bearded figure
161
Appian, 6.2, wrote that the rites carried out in the temple at gades were of the Phoenician type and that
the temple was dedicated to Tyrian Hercules not the Theban Hercules.
162
Robinson, 1956, 37.
163
Hoyos, 2008, 75 agrees that the Punic coin with a clean-shaven male profile head with club (Fig. 2)
behind date to Hannibal‟s time.
164
Robinson, 1956, 39, Pl. II. 5c, 6a, b, c, d; Kraay, 1966, Nos. 332 obv. Heracles, rev. Elephant and rider
(Punic); 333 obv. Heracles, rev. Elephant (Punic); 569 Alexander obv. Heracles, rev. Zeus.
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