"Stop quoting laws to us. We carry swords" or; how I learned to stop worrying and love Pompey

THE GRACCHI BROTHERS, MARIUS, SULLA, CAESAR, POMPEY!
The power vacuum that the late republic produced created some of the most powerful and resourceful men the world would ever know.
If that sounds like hyperbole then I've no better case in point then the prolific tale of Pompey the Great.


Given the nickname of Magnus (Great) by Sulla due to his likeness to Alexander. In both his looks, or at least how Pompey would style his hair after the truly GREAT one, and skyrocketing to stardom at an extremely young age.
But how? How could someone in such a conservative government (senate, senatus, in Latin literally translates, group of old men) with so many restrictions in place achieve so much at such a young age?


Much like Napoleon, Pompey was a product of amazing potential mixed with a much needed political expediency.
23 year old Pompey would raise an army, off of his old man's name and prestige, to go snuff out the remaining of Marius supporters for Sulla.
Sulla gave the wunderkind the first triumph ever awarded a man/boy after not completing the most maiorum, way of the ancestors, by going through the preset political expectations established and followed for hundreds of years (and yeah, that was the time that Pompey tried to ride an elephant in through the gates but the elephant was too big! Many believed this a metaphor for Pompey's ego) as well as electing him as the youngest council ever.


For all his help and assistance, Pompey would be the one to remind Sulla that, "Most worship the rising than the setting sun." Aaaand don't let the door hit ya where Jupiter split ya on the way out, old man!
Sulla would set Pompey on his path to be the greatest Roman, not general, of all time...until the rise of THE greatest Roman and general. A man named Caesar.
Anyways, here is a dream coin that I've tried to get my greedy little grubbers on for years.
A Pompey the Great portrait on a denarius. And what a wild reverse (I almost made this a Neptune post, and probably would have gotten more replies as there are many more coins with Neptune on them then Pompey but couldn't resist the story of Pompey):

Sextus Pompeius.
Denarius, Sicily circa 42-40, AR 19.6 mm, 3.19 g. MAG·PIVS·IMP·ITER Head of Cn. Pompeius Magnus r.; behind, jug and before, lituus. Rev. PRAEF Neptune standing l., r. foot on prow, holding aplustre; on either side one of the Catanaean brothers carrying his father on his shoulder. In exergue, CLAS·ET·ORæ / [MARIT·EX·S·C]. Syd. 1344. B. Pompeia 27. C 17. Cr. 511/3a.
Very rare. Struck on large flan. F-VF Purchased from GN Damian Marciniak October 2021

Some other coins of his and his supporters:

Say what you want about the man, but he had a SOLID head of hair. Strike that last remark. Express nothing but admiration and whisper sweet nothings about this great amongst mortals:


Cilicia, Soli-Pompeiopolis. Pompey the Great. 1st century B.C. Æ (19 mm, 7.20 g, 12 h). Bare head of Pompey right / [ΠΟΜΠΗΙΟ]ΠΟΛЄΤΩΝ, Nike advancing right, holding wreath and palm; in right field, ΔΙ monogram. Cf. SNG BN 1213-7 (control); cf. SNG Levante 880-2 (same). Dark patina. Very fine. Ex Zeus

Faustus Cornelius L.f. L.n. Sulla
56 B.C.E. AR fourrée denarius (18.5 mm, 3.15 g, 7 h). Rome mint. Bust of Hercules right, in lions skin; SC behind / Globe between jeweled wreath and three triumphal wreaths. Cf. Crawford 426/4b; Cf. Sydenham 884; Cf. RSC Cornelia 62. aVF. Rare.
"The head of Hercules recalls that Pompey while still young had, like his hero, extended his conquests over the world. The three lower wreaths refer to the three triumphal wreaths granted to Pompey for his victories in three continents. The jewelled wreath above is the gold chaplet he was authorized to wear at public functions (RSC, I, p.40)."

Ok ,OK. I gave this one to my pops for Father's day a few years back. It's an image of father and son. But I'm calling in squatters rights (I squatted in my folks basement for several years in my early twenties).
Kinda sad thinking when this was minted it was a boy celebrating his relationship with his murdered father.
Caesar supposedly cried when given Pompey's head by those idiot Egyptians. After all, Pompey was the husband of Caesar's only daughter, Julia, whom died trying to give birth to their first child.
Augustus would later kinda emulate the design with him and JC with opposite facing portraits:



Please post all things Pompey, Pompeian, late Roman Republic or whatever adds to the greatness!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

A great post, and great coins! I always liked Pompey, and wish I had something to show. But I'm afraid I don't. Confession: the very first research paper I ever wrote, in 8th grade when I was 12, was about the life of Gnaeius Pompeius Magnus, for a World History course. It ended with his death in Egypt. Everyone thought it was a strange subject for someone like me to choose. But I was already fascinated by ancient history and archaeology.

 

Josephus tells us what Pompey did when he took the Temple of Jerusalem with the aim of stopping a civil war among the Jews and restoring order:

"But there was nothing that affected the nation so much, in the calamities they were then under, as that their holy place, which had been hitherto seen by none, should be laid open to strangers; for Pompey, and those that were about him, went into the temple itself whither it was not lawful for any to enter but the high-priest, and saw what was reposited therein, the candlestick with its lamps, and the table, and the pouring vessels, and the censers, all made entirely of gold, as also a great quantity of spices heaped together, with two thousand talents of sacred money. Yet did not he touch that money, nor any thing else that was there reposited: but he commanded the ministers about the temple, the very next day after he had taken it, to cleanse it and to perform their accustomed sacrifices. Moreover, he made Hyrcanus high priest (...)" (War of the Jews, I, 7.6)

Pompey knew very well that the Holy of Holies was the very focal point of the Jewish religion, the ultimate taboo. He knew perfectly that this most sacred room was allowed only to the High Priest and the Divine presence. An absolute taboo of the same kind existed in Rome, where the Pontifex Maximus was the only person who had the right to touch and even see the Palladium, hidden in a shrine in the Vesta Temple. Knowing this, he entered the Holy of Holies with his lieutenants, and I even guess if some of them wanted to take off his dirty caligae before entering he certainly told him "What for?". He just entered, walked into this most sacred and forbidden place, touched nothing, then exited and gave orders to resume the usual religious rituals, and even himself appointed the new high priest...

The message was : No law is above the imperium of Rome, for your own good.

 

I've got a similar coin to the original post:

 

Sextus Pompey Ar Denarius Unknown mint in Sicily 42-40 BC Obv. Head of Pompey the Great. Rv. Neptune standing left flanked by the Catanean brothers running in opposite directions each carrying one of their parents. CRI 334 Crawford 511/3a 3.89 grms 18 mm Photo by W. Hansen The coins of Sextus Pompey generally celebrates his success as a commander of a Roman fleet as well as honoring his filial duty to his father. Based in Sicily he was a serious threat to the consolidation of power by Octavian who was tasked with the job of eliminating him.

 

...ah i was checking that one out too Ryro!...glad ya got it ..i'll have to show my Sulla coins, since these two were in cahoots, until such time when i gets a coin like ye with Pomeys likeness...
(seems strange that he died a defender of the Republic later..)

 

It occurs to me that although I have no coins depicting Pompey, or issued by his son, here's one connected to Pompey that was issued by his stepson. See footnote, second paragraph:

Roman Republic, Manius Acilius Glabrio, AR Denarius, 50 BCE (Harlan and BMCRR) or 49 BCE (Crawford), Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate head of Salus right, wearing necklace and earring, with hair collected behind in knot ornamented with jewels, SALVTIS upwards behind head / Rev. Valetudo* [Harlan says portrayal is of a statue of Valetudo] standing left, holding snake with right hand and resting left arm on column, MN•ACILIVS [downwards on right] III•VIR•VALETV [upwards on left] [MN and TV monogrammed]. RSC I Acilia 8, Crawford 442/1a, Sydenham 922, Sear RCV I 412 (ill.), Harlan, RRM II Ch. 30 at pp. 229-238, BMCRR Rome 3945. 17.5 mm., 3.98 g.



* Valetudo was essentially another manifestation of Salus (portrayed on the obverse), the goddess of health and well-being -- a concept sometimes “extended to include not only physical health but also the general welfare of the Roman people, the army and the state.” John Melville Jones, Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (London, 1990) at p. 276. This is the only Roman coin to depict a personification of Valetudo. See id. at p. 314. Crawford (Vol. I at p. 461) says that “perhaps” these types refer to the story that the first Greek doctor to come to Rome practiced on the gens Acilia’s street, and that “it is also possible” that “expectations of a Caesarian victory influenced the choice of types.”

Harlan dismisses the “first Greek doctor” story (pointing out that the actual story in Pliny characterizes that doctor very negatively, giving no reason to commemorate him) (see RRM II at p. 231), and vigorously argues that the coin was actually pro-Pompey, not pro-Caesar. He argues that Acilius was Pompey’s stepson for a brief period of time, born in Pompey’s house (stating that he was the son of Aemilia, Pompey’s second wife, who apparently divorced Acilius’s father to marry Pompey while she was pregnant with Acilius, although she died in childbirth and Pompey soon remarried to Mucia Tertia). Harlan suggests that the specific inspiration for the depictions on this coin was Pompey’s grave illness around the time the coin was issued, and that the coin equated the health of Pompey with the health of the Republic: “ If the coin is dated to 50, by the end of the year, anyone who saw Salus and Valetudo on the coinage could only call to mind the national concern, and then the universal relief and thanksgiving over Pompey’s return to health. Whatever the intended meaning, certainly by the end of the year 50 the coin could easily be seen as a piece of Pompeian propaganda proclaiming that they are the ones protecting the state and Caesar is the threat to the safety of the Republic.” (RRM II at pp. 232-233.) Harlan also estimates, based on the number of known different obverse and reverse dies, that nearly 11 million of these denarii were minted (the most during this time-period), and suggests that they were intended to be used to pay the 130,000 troops that the Senate authorized Pompey to raise in preparation for the coming conflict. (Id. p. 234.)

And here's a coin depicting someone who was held captive by Pompey:

Roman Republic, Aulus Plautius, AR Denarius, 55 BCE, Rome mint. Obv. Turreted head of Cybele right, A. PLAVTIVS before, AE[D CVR S C] behind [portion in brackets off flan] / Rev. “Bacchius the Jew” [ = Aristobulus II of Judaea?],* in attitude of supplication, kneeling beside saddled camel (dromedary - one hump) standing right, extending olive-branch with right hand and holding camel’s bridle with left hand, his cape flowing behind him; BACCHIVS in exergue, IVDAEVS on right. RSC I Plautia 13, Crawford 431/1, Sydenham 932, Sear RCV I 395 (ill.), Harlan, RRM II Ch. 18 at pp. 145-149, BMCRR 3916. 18x20 mm., 4.25 g. (Purchased from Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., 211th Buy or Bid Sale, May 2020, Lot 183.)



* See Sear RCV I at p. 148: “Aulus Plautius strikes as curule aedile. The problematic interpretation of the reverse type appears to have been most successfully resolved by [Michael] Harlan in RRM [see Roman Republican Moneyers and Their Coins 63 BCE-49 BCE (2nd Revised Edition 2015), Ch. 18 at pp. 146-148] . . . who identifies the kneeling figure as Aristobulus [= Judah Aristobulus II of the Hasmonean Dynasty, d. ca. 49 BCE], the Jewish high priest, then held captive by Pompey in Rome.”

 

My Pompey coins are two fourrees and a bronze. On the as, who is the left side supposed to represent?

 

I really liked SCIPIO, later AFRICANUS for similar reasons on greatness... And, the Republic during his era was “later”, being that it was over 300 years old at that time! Few governments today can boast that longevity as a Republic!

SCIPIO (Cool Dude)

This is believed to be a portrait of Scipio in his younger years after he captured Carthago Nova. This is BEFORE he was Africanus, an honor bestowed AFTER he defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in 202 BCE. If this is a true portrait, this would be the first living Roman on a coin. It was minted far from Rome and minted in bronze so that it would not truly violate Roman custom (the Senate controls the silver coins...)

Carthago Nova
SCIPIO
Roman Occupation
209-206 BCE
Sear Vol2 6575 R


POMPEY

Roman Imperiatorial
Pompey
42-38 BCE
AE As
Janus (Pompey facing right)
Prow Magnus
Sear 1394 Craw 479-1

 

Excellent story! He really did think he was Mr Rome and did whatever he wanted from a young age and for many years.
Very cool Jewish rarity @Andres2
Wonderful display of a wonderful coin @Cinco71
I LOVE everything about your coin @Terence Cheesman Right down to the design of Neptune's aplustre
Nice Sulla set of double trouble @ominus1
Here's mine:


A couple of Excellent examples and great tie in stories to Pompey @DonnaML (actually have my eye on one of those Valetudo types currently at auction. Though yours puts it to shame
I can't thank you enough for tunning me in to Roman Republic fourrées @dougsmit you have posted so many wonderful examples/reasons that I have scored some wonderful RR fourrées of much better type and rarities then would be the case if I'd not venture into them.


And great call out to it being easy to think of the Republic as just through the coins @Alegandron as Rome was founded before the invent of coinage!
Here's another young Rockstar that like showed up during a time of need and pulled Rome through

 

Great score, @Ryro. And a fun, informative writeup, as usual. Mine is very worn, but has a pretty decently centered reverse.


SEXTUS POMPEY
AR Denarius. 3.35g, 18.6mm. Sicilian mint (Katane?), circa 42-40 BC. Crawford 511/3a; RSC 17; HGC 2, 604 (R2). O: MAG PIVS IMP ITER, head of Pompey the Great between jug (capis) left [and lituus right]. R: PRAEF CLAS ET ORAE / MARIT EX S C, Neptune, nude but for chlamys in the back, standing left, right foot set on prow of ship; he holds aplustre in his outstretched right hand; Anapias and Amphinomus (the Catanaean brothers) flanking him, bearing their parents on their shoulders.

 

I feel guilty if I have encouraged anyone to buy fourrees considering the prices I have seen lately. When I got most of mine, they were cheap unless they were of a very special type and simply not to be duplicated in solid coins or were 'funny' in a pleasing way that just could not be resisted.
I'm sure everyone has seen this Septimius/Caracalla mule but I found the reverse style quite charming. The die cutter was an artist that spoke to me more than the staff at Rome. Obviously I wish I had one with better surfaces. In 1996 I spent $5 on it but I was working then and doing foolish things.

 

I love the coins of that period. I'm glad you posted this @Ryro, it gives one more opportunity to see fascinating coins


Cnaeus Pompey Jr, Denarius - Corduba mint ? 46-45 BC
M [POBLICI LEG] PRO PR, Helmeted head of Rome right
CN MAGNVS IMP, Spain standing right, presenting palm branch to a soldier (Pompey ?) standing left on a prow of galley
3.65 gr
Ref : HCRI # 48, RCV #1384, Cohen #1



Sextus Pompey, As - struck in Sicily c.43-36 BC
Head of Janus with features of Pompey the Great, MAGN above
Prow of galley right, PIVS IMP in field
16.57 gr
Ref : HCRI # 336, RCV #1394, Cohen #16



Sextus Pompeius and Q. Nasidius, Denarius - Mint moving with Sextus Pompeius, Sicily, 42-39 BC
NEPTVNI, head of Pompey the great right, trident before head, dolphin below
Q.NASIDIVS at exergue, galley sailing right, star in upper field
3.92 gr
Ref : HCRI # 235, RCV # 1390, Crawford # 483/2, Sydenham # 1350, Cohen # 20
Ex Freeman & Sear, Ex Barry Feirstein collection (NAC auction # 42/279)
Ex Roma Numismatics

Q

 

Post all things Pompeian, he said... I never had in my hand any coin with Pompey's portrait, but here is a coin minted in 58 BC by one of Pompey's lieutenants, Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (it was offered me as a Christmas gift).


M. Aemilius Scaurus and P. Plautius Hypsaeus
Denarius, 58 BC. Crawford 422/1b.
Obv.: M SCAVR / AED CVR in two lines above, [EX] S C across field, [REX ARETAS] in exergue, the Nabatean king Aretas III kneeling to right, extending olive-branch and holding reins, before camel standing right.
Rev.: P HVPSAE / AED CVR in two lines above, CAPTV to right, C HVPSAE COS / PREIVE in two lines in exergue, Jupiter driving quadriga left; below horses' forelegs, scorpion.

This was an exceptional monetary emission decided in 58 BC by the Senate (ex Senatus consulto) and entrusted not to the monetary triumvirs but to the pair of curule aediles of this year. Each one could chose the type and legend of one side of the coin. Hypsaeus evoked the capture of the Italian city of Preivernum by one of his ancestors, while Scaurus chosed to advertize his own achievement: in the Middle East, as a lieutenant of Pompey, he had submitted Aretas, king of the Nabataean Arabs, who became a client-king of Rome (officially "Friend and ally of the Roman People"). To symbolize this, the Arab king is depicted wearing long robes, kneeling in the attitude of supplication, extending olive-branch (still today a symbol of peace), just dismounted from his camel.

This surrendering ritual was an inspiration for Plutarch many years later, when telling how the Gallic king Vercingetorix surrendered, dismounted from his horse in front of Caesar (Caesar himself and other sources, had not mentioned a horse).

This image of the kneeling king surrendering greatly impressed the Romans. 2 or 3 years after, it will be copied by A. Plautius representing the surrender of "Bacchius the Jew", and by Faustus Cornelius Sylla (the former dicator's son) representing the surrender of Bocchus, king of Mauretania, in front of his father Sylla. On these coins Bacchius and Bocchus are just imitations of Aretas' image on the denarii minted by Scaurus. The camel, too, impressed the Romans, and became for them the very symbol of Arabia: it was the first time a camel was seen on a Roman coin, and when 169 years later the Nabataean Kingdom was annexed, coins were minted in Rome in 111 AD showing the allegory of Arabia with a tiny camel at her feet. Much later, this image became a prototype for Christian art depicting the three wise men paying homage to baby Jesus...