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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bing, post: 1997244, member: 44132&quot;]I received this in the mail today.&nbsp; It&#039;s in much better condition than I originally thought so I am very much pleased.&nbsp; Zohar444 listed one similar last week and of course his looks to be in much better condition and is also NGC encapsulated., which mine is not.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]357349[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]357350[/ATTACH]&nbsp; </p><p>M. HERENNIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS HERENNIA AR Denarius&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; OBVERSE: PIETAS, diademed head of Pietas right </p><p>REVERSE:&nbsp; M•HERENNI, Amphinomus carrying his father right, control letter in right field (Dot over sideways D)</p><p>Struck at Rome 108-109 BC</p><p>3.89g, 18/19mm&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </p><p>Cr308/1b; Syd 567a</p><p><br /></p><p>I haven&#039;t been able to find much information on the Gens Herennia, but I found this quote in the Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, ed. by W Smith:</p><p>&quot;M. Herennius was consul in B.C. 93.&nbsp; Although a plebeian and an indifferent orator, he carried his election against the high-born and eloquent L. Marcius Philippus.&nbsp; Pliny mentions the consulate of Herennius as remarkable for the quantity of Cyrennaic silphium then brought to Rome.&nbsp; This costly drug was worth a silver denarius the pound; and the mercantile connections of the Herennii in Africa may have caused this unusal supply.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Crawford identifies the moneyer as the same person who became Consul in 93 BC. The reverse is linked to the obverse portrait of the goddess Pietas through it&#039;s depiction of a great act of piety described in a legend from Catania in Sicily. In this, two brothers, Amphinomus and Anapias, when the volcano Atna erupted, carried their aged parents on their shoulders to safety, the stream of lava itself is said to have parted so as not to harm them.</p><p><br /></p><p>And for those of you wondering about the plant silphium that the Herennii imported:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;The plant was valued in ancient times because of its many medical applications but also as a food source, and seasoning for food. Perfumes were made from its flowers, the stalk was used for food while the juice (Cyrenaic juice) and tuber like roots were used to make a variety of medical potions. Reported medical uses for the juice included remedies for cough, sore throat, fever, indigestion, fluid retention, seizures, aches and pains. The sap was supposed to be able to remove warts and other growths. (Tatman) In addition, Pliny the Elder wrote that silphium could be used for a variety of diverse conditions including treatment of leprosy, to restore hair, cleanse retained afterbirth from the womb and as an antidote for poisons.</p><p><br /></p><p>Potions made from silphium were supposedly among the most effective birth-control methods known at the time. Preparations used for birth control included a tea made from the leaves, a &quot;pea-sized&quot; ball of sap mixed with wine and a suppository containing the juice. The timing of administration suggests it probably functioned as an abortifacient similar to preparations made from related plant species. (Tatman) Silphium was for the colony a major source of revenue because of widespread demand and the local monopoly on supply. The plant gave wealth and prosperity to the city of Kyrene.</p><p><br /></p><p>The export of silphium became one of the mainstays of the Cyrenian economy. However mismanagement of the environment / nature of Cyrenaica, the natural habitat of the silphium plant, and overexploitation yielded an enormous decline in its abundance. In 49 B.C. Julius Caesar notes that in his own lifetime the plant had not been seen in its native habitat for many years. The last known stalk was valued at its weight in gold and sent to the emperor Nero. Pliny the Elder discussed in its Natural History published A.D. 77 in great detail the Sylphium sylphium plant, its distribution, and the likely causes of its extinction.&quot;[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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