Featured Sulla, Marius and an Anonymous denarius

(Images Public Domain ex-wikipedia)
Last week I shared a coin from Brutus, that celebrated his family history of tyrannicide, in this thread. This week, a much humbler coin, linked in time to an equally compelling story (and to Julius Caesar). This coin is an anonymous denarius which also has variants that are signed by Gargonius, Ogulnius and Vergilius.

This relatively affordable, and common coin, is easily ignored or dismissed. To me it is always surprising how readily available a 2000+ year old coin can be from Rome from a storied time of social unrest and civil war, linked to Marius, Sulla, Cinna, the young Julius Caesar, and others.

Anonymous issue, 86 BC, AR Denarius
Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right, thunderbolt below, border of dots.
Rev: Jupiter in quadriga right hurling thunderbolt, border of dots.
Ref: Crawford 350A/2; RSC 226; Syd 723
Size: 3.85g, 19.4mm
several nicer examples shared on CT in this thread.

After the first Social War, in which Sulla distinguished himself as a general, he became consul in 88 BC. He was awarded the prized assignment of suppressing the revolt of Mithradates VI of Pontus, however, political maneuvers transferred the assignment to Caius Marius. Sulla then took the unprecedented step of turning his army against Rome, captured it, and reclaimed his command. Sulla declared his older rival Marius an enemy of the people, Marius fled, and Sulla left Rome to fight Mithradates in Pontus.

While Sulla was away, Marius, who had survived by fleeing to Africa, returned to Rome, overturned Sulla’s reforms, exiled Sulla and was elected consul for the seventh time in 86 BC with Lucius Cornelius Cinna. An interesting turn-around for Lucius Cinna, who had taken an oath to faithfully support Sulla and his policies: praying that if he did not maintain his goodwill towards Sulla, he might be cast out of the city.

In 86 BC Julius Caesar was a young man of about 15 or 16 when this coin was issued. At 16, he married Cornelia, the daughter of consul Lucius Cinna, and was serving as Flamen Dialis. Caesar's marriage to Cornelia would eventually result in a confrontation with Sulla, when he returned to Rome, but that is another story, and another coin.

Any corrections or additional reading or information related to the above is appreciated. Share your RR denarii anonymous or signed by Gargonius, Ogulnius and Vergilius or anything else you find relevant or entertaining.

 

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Beautiful coin and during one of my favorite periods in Roman history! Also, fun write up and reminder of what these coins may represent!!
Here's mine:

Roman Republic Anonymous Issue
86 B.C. AR denarius (18.31 mm, 3.28 g, 6 h). Rome mint, struck 86 B.C. head of Apollo right wreathed in oak / Jupiter driving quadriga right, [brandishing thunderbolt]. RRC 350 A/2; RSC 226; CRR 723. gVF/VF, strong portrait, lightly toned.
This issue is contemporaneous and shares the same devices with the signed triple-magistrate issues for Gargonius, Ogulnias and Vergilius so it must be considered related to that issue, but the reason for its existence is unclear.

What a villain that Sulla was here's one of my favorite RRs:

L. Sulla and L. Manlius Torquatus
82 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.8 g). Military mint traveling with Sulla. Helmeted head of Roma right / Sulla driving triumphal quadriga right; above, crowning Victory flying left.
As consul for the year 88 BC, Sulla was awarded the coveted assignment of suppressing the revolt of Mithradates VI of Pontus, but political maneuvers resulted in this assignment being transferred to Marius. In response, Sulla turned his army on Rome,!

I always wanted a Marius coin. I bought this thinking it was in honor of the man... Though have since been told it's not even from his relatives


C. Marius C.f. Capito
81 BC. Rome Serratus AR 17mm., 3,63g.
Draped bust of Ceres right, wearing wreath of grain ears, anchor below chin / Ploughman with yoke of oxen left, inverted T above.
nearly very fine
Crawford 378/1c; Sydenham 744b; Maria 9. Former Savoca

 

..i'd like to have a Sulla coin for i too find that era fascinating...i just have a quinarius from that time(89BC) line..so far..

 

Great coin of a great period! Here are some historically related:

Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, Marius's tame tribune of the plebs who went too far and caused a massive riot that Marius had to quell. Marius tried to stow Saturninus safely in the Curia, but some aristocrats killed him with roof tiles.

denarius, c. 104 BCE

C. Fundanius, issued to celebrate Marius's victories over the Germans:

quinarius, c. 101 BCE

L. Calpurnius Piso/Q. Servilius Caepio, foes of Gaius Marius (and Saturninus). This coin was issued to mark the passage of the Marius/Saturninus populist law subsidizing grain for the people of Rome, just before the riot mentioned above.

denarius, c. 100 BCE

L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, part of a huge issue to fund the Social War:

denarius, c. 90 BCE

Mithradates VI of Pontus (as Perseus, slaughtering the Medusa of Rome), defeated by Lucullus and Sulla:

issued in Amisos, after 88 BCE

Sulla, issued during his march on Rome:

denarius, c. 82 BCE

For an entertaining semi-fictional history of the period, to my mind nothing beats Colleen McCullough's The First Man in Rome (Marius) and The Grass Crown (Social War & Sulla).

 

My example was from a JA auction

 

Thanks for your excellent coins - the Mithradates VI is the one on my wish list. L Appuleius Saturninus another favorite as a relatively accessible coin with interesting stories e.g. Appian writing in 2nd century AD. Here's mine that I've had for ~20 years:

Lucius Appuleius Saturninus AR Denarius.
Rome, 104 BC
Obv: Helmeted head of Roma left (on this coin I find the X scratched in behind Roma funny)
Rev: L SATVRN, Saturn in quadriga right; B facing down with pellet above and below.
Size: 20.0mm, 3.88g
Ref: Crawford 317/3b (control mark below) This type 3a-b, Crawford lists 370 obv dies, type 1 (<10) - control mark on the obverse - or type 2 (<10) - quadriga on the obverse too.

Also appreciated, the book recommendations - picked up both, used, for a total of $7 including shipping, and I look forward to reading. Your adjective, "semi-fictional", could start a long thread about "what we know" - another reason to like ancient coins - they do provide some physical evidence mostly unedited from the time.

 

That is awesome!! I love it.

Excellent! I occasionally drop book recommendations here but you may well be the first to take me up on it. I hope you enjoy. They're definitely good for ancient history nerds; a couple non-ancient-history nerds I know got a bit frustrated with all the Roman names.

 

Sweet, I have one of the OP denarii too


ROMAN REPUBLIC. Anonymous.
AR Denarius
Rome Mint, 86 BCE.
Obv.: Laureate head of Apollo right; thunderbolt below.
Rev.: Jupiter driving galloping quadriga right, hurling thunderbolt and holding reins.
Reference: Crawford 350A/2

 

My anonymous example of the denarius. It's not the finest example, but it has a provenance as long as my right arm, which makes it kinda special:


Anonymous, 86 BCE
AR Denarius (3.96g; 20mm)
Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo, facing right.
Reverse: Zeus driving quadriga right.
Reference: Crawford 350A/2; Sydenham 723.
Provenance: Ex Künker eLive Auction 42 (18 Oct 2016) Lot 97; Hess-Divo 317 (2010), Lot 622; Bally-Herzog Collection [Münzen und Medaillen 93 (2003), Lot 30]; Tolstoï Collection [A. Hess (11 Mar 1912) Lot 161].

 

My Denarius below has an horrific history involving Sulla.
Publius Fonteius P.f. Capito AR silver denarius. Struck 55 BC or later. P FONTEIVS CAPITO III VIR CONCORDIA, laureate, diademed, & veiled head of Concordia right. Reverse - T DIDI to left, VIL PVB to right, the Villa Publica: building consisting of two stories, each with a row of columns, to which gates are attached; the lower columns are surmounted by arches, the upper ones by a sloping roof; IMP below. Cr429/2b, Syd 901a. 18mm, 3.6g.

Built to house the censor's records, the Villa Publica was later used by city magistrates to receive foreign ambassadors. In 82 BC, the Villa Publica was the scene of a horrific massacre, as Sulla ordered the deaths of some 4,000 Samnite and Democrat rebels holed up within (Seneca).

Titus Didius, grandfather to the moneyer of this issue, P Fonteius Capito, undertook an extensive restoration of the Villa Publica in 93 BC. Interestingly, Capito himself would undertake to restore the building many years later, in 34 BC.

 

I did not know the Social War. I found these and other resources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_War_(91–88_BC)
https://www.unrv.com/empire/social-war.php
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/spqr/history-5-social-war.htm
https://www.commandsandcolors.net/a...bc-88-bc/222-xh-social-war-history-v3pdf.html

We easily read ourselves into the history of Rome.

 

A coin worth owning, even if Caius Marius C. f. Capito was not related to Caius Marius of Arpinum and Sulla had control of Rome by the time it was minted.

Here's a story you may enjoy from Appian:
Then Sulla assembled the people and said to them, "Know, citizens, and learn from me, that I caused the death of Lucretius because he disobeyed me." And then he told the following story: "A husbandman was bitten by fleas while ploughing. He stopped his ploughing twice in order to clear them out of his shirt. When they bit him again he burned his shirt, so that he might not be so often interrupted in his work. And I tell you, who have felt my hand twice, to take warning lest the third time fire be brought in requisition."
- Appian Bellum Civile 1.11.101

Michael Harlan in his book on Moneyers 81-64 BCE wonders if, perhaps, the story might have inspired the coin or the coin inspired the story...

 

RR Anon 86 BCE AR Den Apollo Jupiter Quad Sear 266 Craw 350A-2