Annona (mythology)

[1] Annona thus lacked narrative mythology or a tradition of devotion in the Roman Republic, but once established as part of Imperial cult, she was the recipient of dedications and votive offerings from private individuals motivated by gratitude or the seeking of favor.

[2] In the propaganda of Claudius, the cult of Ceres Augusta made explicit the divine power that lay in the Imperial provision of the annona, the grain supply to the city.

[5] Annona also appears on coins issued under Vespasian, where along with other Virtues she represents the restoration of confidence in the principate, and on the coinage of Titus, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Septimius Severus.

[8] Annona is typically depicted with a cornucopia (horn of plenty) in her arm, and a ship's prow in the background, alluding to the transport of grain into the harbor of Rome.

On coins, she frequently stands between a modius (grain-measure) and the prow of a galley, with ears of grain in one hand and a cornucopia in the other; sometimes she holds a rudder or an anchor.