In cases where clear coin legends are lacking, identification has been unresolved. In later coin issues, Roma wears varieties of the Attic helmet, the standard pattern for Roman army officers. During the late Second Punic war and the Pyrrhic war, Rome issued coins with a Phrygian helmeted head some are stamped 'Roma". Other early Roman coinage shows a warlike "Amazon" type, possibly Roma but in Mellor's opinion, more likely a genius than dea (goddess). Republican era Identity and iconography Ī helmeted figure on Roman coins of 280-276 and 265-242 BC is sometimes interpreted as Roma but the identification is contestable. Her depiction seated with a shield and spear later influenced that of Britannia, personification of Britain. She survived into the Christian period as a personification of the Roman state. She was depicted on silver cups, arches, and sculptures, including the base of the column of Antoninus Pius. Roma was probably favoured by Rome's high-status Imperial representatives abroad, rather than the Roman populace at large. Her image is rarely found in a commonplace or domestic context. In Rome's eastern provinces, she was often shown with mural crown or cornucopia, or both, identifying her with the protection, peace and prosperity afforded by local Tyches of Hellenic city-states. In Roman art and coinage, she is usually depicted in military form, with helmet and weapons. Roma's official cult served to advance the propagandist message of Imperial Rome. In Rome, the Emperor Hadrian built and dedicated a gigantic temple to her as Roma Aeterna ("Eternal Rome"), and to Venus Felix, ("Venus the Bringer of Good Fortune"), emphasising the sacred, universal and eternal nature of the empire. On some coinage of the Roman Imperial era, she is shown as a serene advisor, partner and protector of ruling emperors. Her "Amazonian" iconography shows her "manly virtue" ( virtus) as fierce mother of a warrior race, augmenting rather than replacing local goddesses.
Images of Roma had elements in common with other goddesses, such as Rome's Minerva, her Greek equivalent Athena and various manifestations of Greek Tyches, who protected Greek city-states among these, Roma stands dominant, over piled weapons that represent her conquests, and promising protection to the obedient. She was portrayed on coins, sculptures, architectural designs, and at official games and festivals. She was created and promoted to represent and propagate certain of Rome's ideas about itself, and to justify its rule. In ancient Roman religion, Roma was a female deity who personified the city of Rome and more broadly, the Roman state. Roma on a denarius, 93-92 BC ( Walters Art Museum)
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