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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GinoLR, post: 25678917, member: 128351&quot;][ATTACH=full]1642110[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Rome, AR denarius of Caius Cassius, 126 BC</p><p><br /></p><p>Obv.: helmeted head of Roma to right, in left field X and - monogram meaning 16 (one denarius = 16 asses) and urn turned upside down. </p><p>Rev.: C·CASSI / ROMA, Libertas in quadriga, right, holding reins and rod (vindicta) in left hand and pileus in right hand. Line border.</p><p>RRC 266/1</p><p><br /></p><p>Great historical interest. It was minted during the period between the tribunates of Tiberius Gracchus (133) and his brother Caius Gracchus (123). The republican institutions were threatened : Tiberius Gracchus had attempted a coup in 133, managing to impeach a fellow tribune, which was illegal, and trying to get re-elected tribune thanks to the massive presence of his supporters on the Capitol, which was totally illegal too. The Pontifex Maximus Scipio Nasica canceled his sacrosanctus statute and Tiberius was assassinated. Rome was now deeply divided in two parties: the Populares (the pro-Gracchi, populists) and the Optimates (the defenders of the republican institutions, called in Latin &quot;Libertas&quot;). This division started the civil war which lasted one century, and ended with the victory of the Populares, the Caesarian party, and the de facto replacement of the republican by the imperial regime. </p><p><br /></p><p>Caius Cassius was a staunch supporter of Libertas, the republican regime and institutions, like all the Cassii until Caesar&#039;s assassination (by a Cassius) in the name of Libertas. When a young money magistrate in 126 BC, he chose the allegory of Libertas for the reverse of his denarii: a goddess holding the vindicta, the rod with which slaves were touched to become free, and the pileus, the cap symbolizing their freedmen status.</p><p><br /></p><p>It was the first time in history that the allegory of Liberty was represented. Later, on imperial coinage, Libertas would be often seen holding the pileus. This allegory was revived in the late 18th century to celebrate and symbolize the American republic. On this medallion by Dupré we can see <i>Libertas Americana</i> with the <i>vindicta </i>and the <i>pileus</i>, and on this French copper coin of 1791 we see the <i>vindicta</i> and the <i>pileus </i>inserted in a lictor&#039;s fasces. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1642114[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Some time later Libertas would be represented wearing the pileus (it was never the case in ancient Rome, Libertas was holding the pileus, as if she was about to place it on a freedman&#039;s head). On this American coin of 1795 she is wearing it, and on this contemporaneous French coin the cap has become a Phrygian cap.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1642115[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>In the United States, thanks to Bartholdi&#039;s famous statue, Liberty is now currently figured radiate. But in France la Liberté, wearing her famous phrygian cap, has become &quot;Marianne&quot;, an allegory of the French Republic. Her image was banned under the Vichy regime between 1940 and 1944. Today Marianne&#039;s bust is in every French town hall, she is figured on the French €uro coins, and her phrygian cap has even been chosen as the official mascot of the Paris 2024 Olympic games. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1642116[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>All this symbol history had started in 126 BC, in Rome, when the young moneyer Caius Cassius chose the reverse type of his denarii ![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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