The Dolphin and the Anchor

In 80 CE, the Roman emperor Titus minted a coin with a strange little emblem on the reverse: a dolphin coiled around an anchor. It was already an old visual pun for balancing speed and restraint — one Augustus, a century earlier, had prized so highly he'd made festina lente , " hasten slowly ," his personal motto, warning his generals that nothing wrecked a campaign faster than an impatient…