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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bing, post: 1642068, member: 44132&quot;]MN. AEMILIO LEPIDUS AR Denarius</p><p>OBV:&nbsp; Laureate, diademed head of Roma right, ROMA before, * behind </p><p>REV:&nbsp; M N AEMILIO, equestrian statue on triumphal arch, L E P between the arches</p><p>Struck at Rome, 114-13 BC</p><p>3.78g, 19mm</p><p>Cr291/1, Syd 554/Aemilia 7</p><p>[ATTACH]236769.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]236770.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Historical Background:</p><p><br /></p><p>The images on this denarius have caused much discussion among scholars. The obverse side reads ROM[A] and represents the head of a female referring to Roma or Venus behind the neck a star with six rays, the value sign for a denarius. On the reverse side an equestrian statue is shown on a plateau supported by three arches isolated from its environment together with the capitals M[MANIVS]. AEMILI. LEP, the name of the moneyer.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 1945 M. Stuart - after elaborate research - came to the conclusion that this image was related to the aqueduct Aqua Marcia, the third aqueduct of Rome. According to Livius the construction of a new aqueduct was started in 179 bc under supervision of the censors M. Aemilius Lepidus and M. Fulvius Nobilior. However, M. Licinius Crassus refused any support and did not allow the aqueduct to cross his property. In the years after this event religious objections were raised against the idea to extend the aqueduct trace to the Capitolinus.</p><p>In the year 144 bc and with the help of a different M. Aemilius Lepidus (Porcina) urban praetor <i>Q. Marcius Rex</i> received the order of the Senate to restore the Aqua Appia and the Aqua Anio (Vetus) and to (re)build and finish the third aqueduct. In 140 bc new objections were raised for aqueduct water to reach the Capitolinus without success: in the same year this new aqueduct - in later days called <b>Aqua Marcia</b> - was put into use.</p><p>This interpretation also makes clear the relative short time of construction (seemingly between 144 - 140 bc) of an aqueduct of 92 km in length including 10 km on arcades.</p><p>Although the aqueduct was named Aqua Marcia, in 114/113 bc the moneyer M. Aemilius Lepidus may have intent to commemorate the name of one of the original builders of the year 179 bc <i>M. Aemilius Lepidus</i>. The equestrian statue on the reverse side will have been - according to Stuart - M. Aemilius Lepidus on an unfinished aqueduct. </p><p><br /></p><p>However, the arguments of this author were rejected by M.G. Morgan who concluded that the aqueduct line of 179 bc was never built. G. Fuchs presents different interpretations of the arches under the statue: triumphal arches, arches of the Pons Aemilia bridge or a standard substruction. In numismatic circles the image is mostly described as &quot;Equestrian statue standing right on triumphal arch&quot;.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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