Falling for a coin this week prompts a deep dive on Juno Sospita, Sulla relinquishing dictatorship in 80 BC, and Procilius - possibly a senator turned murderer? and from there it seems that even the founding of Pompeii as a Roman colony could be relevant.... Here's the full story: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/sulla-relinquishes-the-dictatorship Only barely related as another contributor to the decline of Roman politics and evidence that a healthy EPA could be useful - you may enjoy reading: Pan-European atmospheric lead pollution, enhanced blood lead levels, and cognitive decline from Roman-era mining and smelting by Joseph R. McConnell et al. Roman-era mining and smelting raised atmospheric lead pollution and blood lead levels (BLLs) leading to cognitive decline across the Roman Empire. Arctic ice-core data, atmospheric modeling, and modern epidemiological approaches are used by the authors in their estimate of a 2.5 to 3-point reduction in IQ across Roman Europe. Lead emissions were primarily from silver and lead mining in Iberia, Gaul, and the Balkans, which were crucial to the Roman economy - and the silver denarii that we enjoy in this forum. Declines in silver content in Roman coins align with reductions in lead pollution. Post your coins of Procilius, coins from 80 BC, a beautiful denarius, anything else that you find interesting or entertaining.
Wonderful write-up as always, containing no shortage of interesting historical and numismatic information. Obviously very well-researched! At your invitation to add coins from 80 BC to your post, below is one of mine, from 1200 miles southeast of Rome (as the crow flies), less than 20 years before Rome assumed control of the the land. It's the only dated Hasmonean type.
C POBLICIUS QF ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS POBLICIA AR Serratus Denarius OBVERSE: ROMA, draped bust of Roma right, helmeted & decorated with corn ears, control mark letter above REVERSE: C•POBLICI•Q•F, Hercules strangling the Nemean lion, club at his feet Struck at Rome 80 BC 3.88g, 16mm Cr380/1, Syd 768, Poblicia 9 Other coins from around the same timeframe Q. CAECILIUS METELLUS PIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS CAECILIA AR Denarius OBVERSE: Diademed head of Pietas right; stork standing right before REVERSE: Q C M P I beneath elephant walking left w/bell hanging from neck Northern Italy, 79 BC-77 BC 3.75g; 18mm Caecilia 43; Crawford 374/1; Syd 750; Sear 301 Q. CAECILIUS METELLUS PIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS CAECILIA AR Denarius OBVERSE: Diademed head of Pietas right, stork before REVERSE: IMPER in exergue, lituus and jug, all within laurel wreath Spanish Mint 81 BC 3.8g; 20mm Crawford 374/2; Sydenham 751; Caecilia 44 Ex: Barry Murphy
love the reverse on that coin @Bing - a wonderful Juno Sospita! Thank you, @philologus_1, an excellent Judaean addition and I appreciate the connection across the Mediterranean!
Cool write-up and coin @Sulla80 . Here is an 80 BCE RR RR C POBLICIUS Q f 80 BCE AR Denarius serratus 3.94g Rome Flan weight control gouge Hercules strangling Nemean lion club quiver Cr 380-1 Syd 768 I added a zero, and have this money: I thought it would be good to get the Celts involved too, since the Romans were jerks to them... Celtic AE Ring 800-500 BCE And, added another zero... and the Egyptians get involved... Egypt Neolithic Arrowhead 8000 BCE
80 BCE I have one, same as posted above but not as crisp condition The Roman Republic L. Procilius. Denarius, AR 3.48 g. Rome 80 BCE. Laureate head of Jupiter r.; behind, S•C. Rev. L•PROCILI / F Juno Sospita standing r., holding shield and hurling spear; at her feet, snake. Babelon Procilia 1. Sydenham 771. RBW 1406. Crawford 379/1.
Yeh, well I added 4 more zeroes... and fossils got involved! ;-D After chuckling at the post by @Alegandron I got off my couch perch, walked a few steps over to my mini-museum cabinet, and took this picture:
LOL! As they say, "Great minds think alike!" Take a look at what's in my display cabinet right next to the Cretaceous period fossil shown above . . . Yes, more zeroes indeed! 4.5 Billion = 4,500,000,000 And to begin an orbit back to ancient coins, here's a coin from my collection with a reverse that includes an illustration of the Stone of Emesa -- widely believed to have been a meteorite. *** Photo credit: coinphotographystudio.com ***
somewhere in North Africa - for details it is NWA 869 : https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?code=31890 Also: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2011.01181.x
