Victoria Victoria, the personification of victory, was originally a Latin goddess and protectress of fields and woods. Over time she was associated with Roman success in war and identified with the Greek goddess Nike. Winged Victory features as one of the most common reverse types on Roman coinage. This winged goddess made her appearance around 157 BC as a charioteer-type on reverse denarii: at the time Victory was frequently depicted as driving a biga (hence the coins were also known as bigati) and holding a whip, as shown on the reverse of a denarius of the moneyer L. Saufeius (left below). Depictions of her driving trigas and quadrigas soon followed as popular reverse types. In 79 BC, for instance, the moneyer C. Naevius Balbus struck a series of serrated denarii showing a winged Victory driving a triga, probably to commemorate Sulla's victories against Mithridates VI of Pontus. Other reverse types (i.e. quinarii of Cato) from the first century BC, often display a seated Victory holding a palm branch and patera with the legend VICTRIX in exergue.

In 101 BC representations of a winged Victory placing a wreath on a trophy appeared on both denarii and quinarii. This reverse type was adopted from the victoriatus and became very popular with moneyers, as shown on a quinarius of Cn. Lentulus in 88 BC (centre below). Victory appears frequently on Imperial coinage as propaganda: Vitellius portrays her happily walking with a shield inscribed SPQR and presiding over the emperor (below right); and during 80-81 AD Titus struck a commemorative denarius (above right) to celebrate the triumph of Vespasian and himself over the conquered Jewish nation in AD 66-70 - the reverse shows Victory standing left, placing a shield on a trophy and a captive below left.

Victory seemed to favour the Flavians: a dupondius of Vespasian depicts her standing on a prow, holding a wreath and a palm frond (below left). Military success also followed Trajan's campaigns. A sestertius (AD 103 - 111) of Trajan depicts the emperor in military dress, holding a spear, with Victory standing next to him holding a palm branch (below centre). Later, under Gratian (AD 367 - 383), when the good fortune of the Empire was dwindling ever so rapidly, the image of a Victory advancing (here rigidly, below right), holding a wreath, together with the legend SECVRITAS REIPVBLICAE (a common reverse type after Constantine the Great), on the reverse of increasingly debased coins, appears to be fading into the past.