As noted above, Mercury was the Roman god of commerce, communication, and travel. However he had the reputation of being a bit of a trickster and was also known as the patron of thieves, messengers, and merchants. In his role as chief messenger of the gods, Mercury controlled the movement of all things—goods, ideas, words, and people, even going so far as to escort the latter to the underworld after death.
Most Roman household shrines, especially in Gaul and Italy, had such bronze statuettes of Mercury, who served as the protector of wealth. The money pouch is a typically Roman attribute of the god, while the balanced and relaxed position (contrapposto) is reminiscent of the widely copied figure of Hermes made by the Classical Greek sculptor Polykleitos.
