Anchor, silver denarius, 3.80 g.

Anchor, silver denarius, 3.80 g.

209 - 208 BCE

Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma facing right; behind, mark of value, X. Border of dots.

Reverse: Dioscuri charging on horseback facing right; below, anchor; on tablet, ROMA. Line border.

Style/Period: Roman Republic

With the devaluation of silver coinage c. 220 BCE and the financial demands of the Second Punic War, the Senate and the triumviri monetales instituted a substantial change in the Roman monetary system. The system of silver and bronze coins would be minted with a set value and weight for each coin. The silver coin was named the denarius with a set value of 10 bronze asses. This is denoted by the mark of value X. The image of Roma on the obverse is an image of the personification of the city of Rome. Some early scholars believed it to be an image of Bellona, a Roman war goddess who was perhaps an offshoot of Mars. The Dioscuri on the reverse were the legendary penates or protectors of the city. They were believed to have assisted the Roman armies to victory several times in Roman history, most notably at the battle of Lake Regillus in the fourth century BCE. The images of Roma and the Dioscuri served to renew confidence in the strength and vigor of Rome in the troubled times of the Second Punic War. The anchor on the reverse was used as a privy mark by minting magistrates to denote the location of its mint in southern Italy. The denarius would remain the standard Roman silver coin until the monetary reforms of Augustus.
-- Bradford W. Wendel, LU '96

Bibliography: H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum (London 1910), II, 155, no. 21; E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London 1952) 15, no. 144; M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (London 1974), 156, no. 50/2.

Classics Department Collection.

C003

Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890