Roman Republican Denarius # 38 - but the first with a biga of horses!

I did already have a Republican denarius showing a biga drawn by goats (issued by C. Renius), and another showing a biga drawn by stags (issued by C. Allius Bala), but no bigas (or quadrigas, for that matter) drawn by horses. I've mentioned before that I tend to find them rather boring. But I couldn't resist this one. Apart from the very nice condition, there was something about the way the horses are portrayed on this coin -- straining forward to their utmost -- that appealed to me. As did the depiction of Victory driving the biga.

Roman Republic, Ti. Claudius Ti.f. Ap.n. Nero [Tiberius Claudius Nero, son of Tiberius and grandson of Appius], AR Serrate Denarius, 79 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Draped bust of Diana right with hair in topknot, bow and quiver over shoulder, small figure of stag (horns to left) at end of bow, S • C before / Rev. Winged Victory driving galloping biga right, with horses' heads straining forward, holding wreath in right hand and palm frond and reins in left hand, control number CXXXIIII beneath horses; in exergue, TI•CLAVD•TI•F [VD ligate] / [A]P•N [AP ligate] in two lines. Crawford 383/1, RSC I Claudia 5, Sear RCV I 310 (ill.), Sydenham 770, BMCRR 3096-3113 [Control number CXXXIIII not included], Harlan, RRM I Ch. 8, pp. 36-39 [Harlan, Michael, Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins, 81 BCE-64 BCE (2012)]. 18 mm., 4.01 g., 6 h.*




*The moneyer belonged to the patrician Nerones branch of the Claudii, and was the paternal grandfather of the Emperor Tiberius. Harlan, supra at p. 36; see also https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Claudius_Nero_(grandfather_of_Tiberius_Caesar). Later on, according to Harlan, he served under Pompey in the pirate wars of 67 BCE, with his area of command the Spanish waters as far as the Pillar of Hercules. Id. This coin was part of a large issue in two series, with control numbers in the first series running from I to CLXV, and in the second series using the letter A coupled with numbers 1 to CLXXXII. It is believed that this issue (like the large issue of Naevius Balbus in the previous year [Crawford 382/1], also showing Victory at the reins of a chariot, albeit a triga) represents money minted for the use of Quintus Caecilius Metullus Pius (the issuer of Crawford 374/1 in 81 BCE, with an elephant reverse) in Sulla’s Spanish war against Sertorius in 79 BCE. Id. Sear agrees; see Sear RCV I at p. 130.

In 1904, Grueber posited in BMCRR that Diana’s appearance on the obverse of this coin was a reference to the Sabine origin of the gens Claudia, given Diana’s own Sabine origin. Crawford rejected this view, but Harlan agrees with Grueber; see RRM 1 at p. 37. He also notes that the inspiration for Diana’s portrayal on this coin must have been her depiction on the obverse of the coin of Aulus Postumius in 81 BCE (Crawford 372/1, with a reverse showing a heifer about to be sacrificed by a priest to Diana on the Aventine Hill): “the goddess is depicted in the very same style on both coins: her hair is tied in a knot on top of her head and the unmistakable attributes of bow and quiver are over her shoulder making the identity of the goddess certain. Claudius’ coin continues the theme of caput orbis terrarum [Rome as head of the world] so clearly expressed by Postumius. Diana, whose appearance on Roman coinage during the 70s was far more common than any other decade of Republican coinage, was emblematic of the extension of Roman imperium.” Id.

Here is a photo of the obverse of my example of the Aulus Postumius denarius, so you can see the similarities between the two portrayals of Diana:



The designs are really quite close. (One wonders if a comparison of all of the obverse dies of the two coins would show any matches that are so close that they may have been the product of the same engraver.) In fact, the object at the end of Diana's bow on this one may also be intended as a stag figurine, although I hadn't seen that mentioned anywhere before, and it certainly isn't as obvious.

Please post your own depictions of Victory driving a biga, triga, or quadriga. Or of Diana with bow and quiver over her shoulder. Or another coin issued by (or portraying) someone who was not himself an emperor, but was the father or grandfather of an emperor.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

..nice one Donna! ...very attractive & kool history!...

 

Wonderful here is mine.


Ti. Claudius Nero (79 B.C.)
AR Serrate Denarius
O: Diademed and draped bust of Diana right, bow and quiver on shoulder, S•C before.
R: I CLAVD TI F AP N, Victory driving biga right, holding wreath, reins, and palm; A•LXXXVIIII below.
Rome Mint
3.7g
18mm
Crawford 383/1; Sydenham 770; Claudia 5

Ti. Claudius Nero was the grandfather of the emperor Tiberius. The true meaning of the obverse is not known, though it may be an allusion to the Claudians' Sabine origins.

 

Beautiful coin!
This is one of my ‘Victory in biga’ coins.
The gens Marcia was one of the oldest and noblest houses in Rome. They claimed descent from Roman kings.




Gens MARCIA
Marcus Marcius Moneyer circa 119 BC.
Silver Denarius.
19,5 mm 10 h. 4,01 g.
Obv. Helmeted head of Roma right, modius behind, X below chin.
Rev. Victory in biga right, holding reins and whip; below, M MAR ligate C, divided by two ears of corn; in ex. RO MA.
Cr245/1, Syd 500.

 

A wonderful example. The Diana obverse is very atractive, and serrated denarii in general are, at least in my opinion, a bit more interesting than those with normal edges.

I agree that horse-drawn chariot reverses often tend to be a bit lackluster, but a "special" obverse can change that. Below is my current favorite biga coin. In my eyes, the Cybele obverse, the "ex argento publico", and the flamingo-ish bird more than make up for the ancient equivalent of a Toyota Prius on the reverse:

Roman Republic, moneyer: C. Fabius [Hadrianus?], AR denarius, 102 BC, Rome mint. Obv: EX·A·PV; bust of Cybele r., wearing turreted crown and veil. Rev: .FA BI.C.F; Victory in biga r., holding reins in 1. hand and goad in r. hand; below, bird (flamingo?) and control mark V. 19mm, 3.82g. Ref: RRC 322/1b.

Here is a Diana obcerser somewhat similar to yours, albeit in much lower grade. I bought it because of the name (?) graffito, which is unusual:

Roman Republic, moneyer C. Postumius, AR denarius, 74 BC, Rome mint. Obv: Bust of Diana r., draped, with bow and quiver over shoulder. Rev: C. POSTVMI AT/TA (ligated); hound running r.; below, spear (with graffito: MABIEN). 18mm, 3.85g. Ref: RRC 394/1a.

 

Nice one, Donna. I am still looking for a decent one. Many have cool-looking horses, but the chariot wheels are missing...

 

@DonnaML.........What a lovely looking coin!....Super detail, especially on the reverse, and I really like the overall toning. Congrats, that's a sweet coin!
Here's an Artemis...
Aeolis, Kyme, c. 165-90 BC. Æ (16mm, 3.84g, 12h). Zoilos, magistrate.
Obverse...Draped bust of Artemis right, hair in sphendone, quiver and bow over shoulder.
Reverse...Single-handled oenoechoe (Kyme's cup) with KY above (Kyme), flanked either side by laurel branches.
Magistrates name left to right across central field Z-Ω / I-Λ / O-Σ..Zoilos.
SNG München 507-9; SNG Copenhagen 108; SNG von Aulock 1642.

 

Nice. FYI, if yours has an "A" before the control number, it's actually RSC I Claudia 6 rather than Claudia 5.

 

It looks like this Diana also has a little stag figure at the end of her bow. I wonder if that's true of all Republican coins showing her with a bow over her shoulder -- I never even noticed it until I saw it described in one of the catalog entries about my new coin.

It also appears to be present on the bow in my example of your coin, although it could just as easily be a deer as a stag:

 

That's a very interesting and attractive coin Donna. Congrats on the acquisition.

 

Super jelly belly! That denarius being serrated and in that wonderful RR style aaand that freaking toning
Wonderful new gal to add to your spectacular collection.
I've always loved Dianna coins. Here she is aaand the dogg:

 

Awsome coins!

 

Great score Donna ! There's a lot to like about this coin; well centered, the condition is exceptional, it's serrated, & very artistic. The speed of the chariot is frightening , & Diana's hairdo is outrageous .

 

James, that's a lovely example . The old cabinet toning gives it great eye appeal .

 

Donna, that is a very attractive specimen with good centering and detail.
Mine is from the A series. Notice on most of those shown here how the notches are more obvious on one side than on the other. Mine is more extreme in this than many.

 

I don't have the same denarius @DonnaML (yours is gorgeous) but a Flaminius with a similar biga reverse


L. Flaminius Chilo, Denarius - Rome mint, 109 or 108 BC
Helmeted head of Roma right, ROMA behind head and X below chin
L·FLAMINI/CILO in two lines at exergue. Victory in prancing biga right
19 mm, 3,83 gr
Ref : RCV # 179, RSC Flaminia # 1, Sydenham #540, RBW # 1144, Crawford # 302/1.
From the E.E. Clain-Stefanelli collection

Q

 

Here are a couple of different renderings of Victory in a biga:

C. Claudius Pulcher
RRC 300/1.
110-109 BC
4.01 gm.

C. TITINIUS
RRC 226/1b
141 BC
3.93 gm.

 

Thanks, @dougsmit. Do you find that to be true of serrate denarii in general, as opposed to just this issue? Out of my 38 Republican denarii, 9 are serrate including this one. I'll have to go look at them!

 

That's a beautiful coin and a great research sharing @DonnaML - thank you for sharing with us! I don't have a Diana biga yet, nor victory driving a horse biga. However I did pick up my first horse biga in the last CNG auction. I like all the non horse biga best, but this coin made the horse scene beautiful with stars and moon and I couldn't resist!



Moneyer: Man. Aquilius
109-108 BC
Silver Denarius
Obv- radiate head of Sol right
Rev- Luna driving biga right, crescent moon, 3 stars above and 1 below

So far the only provenance I have on this is the El Medina collection. I haven't researched it yet.