Okay, so maybe the title is an exaggeration, if only just a TINY bit. This is not the last coin made in Rome, or even the last denarius struck in the city – far from it. However, it is in fact the very last coin to be issued by elected officials of the Roman Republic from the mint of Rome – free from the oversight of dictators, princeps, emperors and the like. All other Republican coins struck in Rome after this would be issued under the false autonomy of a captive Senate under the influence first of Caesar, then Augustus, and then the many emperors who would follow. Those forged in mobile military mints across the Mediterranean would also fall short, being struck under the tyrannical authority of individual imperators vying for near-sole power rather than democratically elected consuls. Very soon into this period, in 23 BCE during the reign of Augustus, all silver and gold coinage would become the sole domain of the emperor himself, and much of it would be struck in provincial mints in Hispania and Gaul – leaving only the base metals to bear even the rubber-stamped seal of authority of a now-impotent Senate. As such, this coin marks an important inflection point in human history – the story conveyed by this coin is that of how the Republic was lost. I’m sure even the most cursory and uninterested student of Roman history will understand that by 49 BCE the Roman Republic was an entirely different beast to the idyllic nation-state conceived by Lucius Junius Brutus some 460 years earlier. Political polarization had led to the fracture of society and factionalism was rife as a result, leaving the door open to men who served personal ambition rather than patriotic fervour. The civil wars of Sulla and Marius, and the Social War fought within the previous 40 years had normalised a generation of Romans to unjust dictatorship and internecine conflict. Meanwhile the general civil upheaval and strife rooted in growing wealth disparity between the everyman and the elite who ruled in Rome – a conflict which had broiled over many times in the history of the Republic, and was brought to the very fore of Roman politics by the Gracchi less than a century earlier – had finally reached its zenith, dominating political discourse and setting the stage for a final and calamitous conflict between the standard-bearers of the two parties to this conflict – the self-styles Optimates and Populares. This coin was struck in the early days of 49 BCE, as the Republic descended into chaos, and the many peculiarities of this coin are a direct representation of the many unprecedented going-on of its time. To be somewhat more exact, this coin would have been struck after the election of Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Maior as Consuls on January the 1st – perhaps even in the immediate wake of Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon with the 13th Legion in tow on January 10th, 49 BCE, an unspoken declaration of war against the Republic herself – and before the mass-exodus of the Roman Senate and gentry on the 17th of January – only a few days later. The new Consuls for the year had been sworn in on the 1st of January as was customary, and their first act in office was to reply to Caesar’s demands that Pompey stand down in own legions in tandem before Caesar relinquished his command and came back to Rome. They flatly refused, considering Caesar’s relatively reasonably demands an act of war, and one week later on the 7th of January, 49 BCE, issued a final decree – SENATVS CONSVLTVM VLTIMVM – branding Gaius Julius Caesar an enemy of the State – a move which would prove fatal to the already palliating Republic. Upon hearing the news, Caesar mobilised from his winter camp in Ravenna, joined by Marcus Antonius who had been forced to flee Rome in fear of his life. A short while later, on the 10th of January, Caesar crossed a small, winding stream known as the Rubicon, casting the die which would seal the fate of Rome for centuries to come, and forever searing his own name into the immortal annals of history. Gaius Julius Caesar stood on the northern banks of that sickly and meandering stream an ambitious general of great repute and undoubted quality – as he slaked the water from his caligae upon its southern shore he had passed into legend, becoming a god amongst mortal men. The obverse of this coin depicts a bearded deity, very similar in his representation to Jupiter – the Roman equivalent of Zeus. However, upon closer inspection it becomes clear that this is in fact Saturn, the patron god who presided over the lands of Latium in the golden age of heroes – and whom the Romans would equivocate with Kronos after their many interactions with the Hellenes. Part of what gives this away is the sickle-sword, which is slung over his shoulder, with the sickle being a characteristic implement of Saturn, however the reverse is equally important in making this attribution, and will be discussed further below. In the margins is the name of the official who was responsible for issuing the coin – something which had become standard practice by this point in the Republic. However, this coin is set apart from the multitudes in a monumental way when one inspects the exergual legend more closely. Written is NERI·Q·VRB – Nerius, Urban Quaestor. This suggests that rather than being issued by one of the triuvirii monetalis as was standard practice, this coin was instead struck under the express authority of one of the two urban quaestors, the men directly in charge of the treasury within the Temple of Saturn. This is supported by the fact that Gnaeus Nerius was one of the Urban Quaestors elected for 49 BCE, just days before Caesar began his march on Rome. On the reverse, the coin features a legend which is incredibly unusual, listing the consular date as was tradition in Roman record-keeping at the time – [L·LENT]·C·MARC·[C]OS – Lucius Lentulus and Gaius Marcellus, Consuls. This is speculated to have been done as a means of reinforcing the legitimacy of the Senate and her elected Consuls above that of encroaching Caesar to any handlers of this coin – the majority of whom would likely have been fresh troops levied in the preceding days to the Pompeian cause. The main figure represented on the reverse is that of a legionary standard, or aquila, some of which were kept in the sacred Temple of Saturn at the heart of FORVM ROMANVM. The image of an eagle surmounts a large pole which would foist it skywards, jeering at the feckless enemies of Rome while instilling pietas in her legionaries. Very interestingly, the standards on either side of the aquila bear a letter beneath the ornamentation – H and P respectively. This is thought to signify the ancient military tradition of the Hastati and Principes – a vestigial appendage of the ancient military organisation of the Roman Legions before the Marian Reforms. The Hastati would be comprised of the poorer, often poorly-trained and very modestly equipped front lines of a legion. Behind them would be the core of a Roman army, the heavily armoured and well-trained Principes, drawn from the wealthier landowners and providing the brunt of the assault in battle after the Hastati had softened the enemy’s blow. The third and final line would be composed of the Triarii, the most seasoned, wealthiest, and best-equipped troops of all, and the final hope of the army. Indeed, there was even a saying in the Republic, for when some matter was to be carried on to the very bitter end: res ad triarios venit – it comes down to the triarii. It was also within the confines of Saturn’s sacred sanctuary upon the Capitoline that the treasury of the state was to be the found – the Aerarium. This would be the lifeblood of any future campaign against the oncoming Caesarean forces, and of course it would be swiftly removed from the Pompeian equation amidst the confusion of the blundered retreat from Rome. Nerius Denarius by FrizzyAntoine posted Oct 1, 2021 at 5:11 PM As might have become clear by now, the imagery of this coin is meant to convey that it was minted from the very lifeblood of the Republic, from the treasury funds within the Aerarium housed inside the Temple of Saturn, under the authority of a high-ranking magistrate in a time of great tumult and turmoil within Rome. Given this and the political messaging of the legends it only makes sense that this would have been an emergency issue struck in Rome in response to Caesar’s march South, overseen directly by Gnaeus Nerius in the week preceding the Senate’s flight from the city, and most likely with the aim of paying for fresh troops to be levied against the obstreperous general.
Wonderful write up!...interesting times! I often wonder if our current worldly humanity were to be thrust back to those times, how it would be any different...probably no debate on abortion or "2nd Amendment" rights or global warming, but still great disparity in wealth & "power". It amazes me that humanity just can't seem to stand itself...in any era. Just my rambling thoughts!...
Very interesting write-up and coin! Here is another coin from 49 BC with a related history. This type was struck later that year at a mint moving with Pompey. The SC ("senatus consultum") on the reverse "probably references the fact that the Senate, faced with the outbreak of the civil war in 49 BC, decided it needed additional money" (Clare Rowan: From Caesar to Augustus (c. 49 BC–AD 14): Using Coins as Sources, Cambridge: University Press 2019, 15). On my coin, the C in SC unfortunately is off flan: Roman Republic, moneyer: Q. Sicinius and C. Coponius, AR denarius, 49 BC, mint moving with Pompey. Obv: Q·SICINIVS III·VIR; head of Apollo right, hair tied with band; below, star. Rev: PR·S·C C·COPONIVS: Club upright, on which hangs lion's skin with head in profile; in fields, bow and arrow. 19mm, 3.75g. Ref: RRC 444/1a.
