Sextus Pompeius Fostlus, silver denarius, 3.85 g.
Title
Sextus Pompeius Fostlus, silver denarius, 3.85 g.
Creator
Sextus Pompeius Fostlus
Date
137 BCE
Description
Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma facing right; below chin, mark of value, X; behind, capis.
Reverse: She-wolf standing facing right, head turned back, suckling the twins Romulus and Remus; behind, fig-tree with three birds; to left, the shepherd Faustulus, leaning on a staff in left hand, raising right hand; around, [SE]X PO FOSTLVS; [ROMA] in exergue.
Style/Period: Roman Republic
In order to advance the prestige and nobility of his family, this Pompeius claims descent from Faustulus, the shepherd who according to tradition took in and raised the orphaned twins Romulus and Remus. Here Pompeius has depicted Faustulus discovering the she-wolf suckling the twins. The inscription may refer either to the original Faustulus or the minting magistrate himself. In the fig tree, the ficus Ruminalis, a woodpecker, a common symbol for this special fig tree, is perched on the trunk. The other two birds on the upper branches are merely decorative. The tree and the birds, as well as the capis on the obverse, allude to the cult of Rumina, an obscure goddess who had a shrine and a similar fig tree near the Lupercal.
-- Bradford W. Wendel, LU '96
Bibliography: E. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine (Paris and London 1885-1886) Pompeia, 1; H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum (London 1910), I, 131-132, no. 927; T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, II (New York 1952) 449; E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London 1952) 54, no. 461a; F. W. Walbank, "Political Morality and the Friends of Scipio," Journal of Roman Studies 55 (1965) 1-16; M. H. Crawford, "Foedus and Sponsio," Papers of the British School at Rome 41 (1973) 1-7; C. H. V. Sutherland, Roman Coins (New York 1974) 53, nos. 68-69; M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (London 1974), 267-268, no. 235/1c; R. A. G. Carson, Principal Coins of the Romans, I (London 1978), 31, no. 83.
-- Bradford W. Wendel, LU '96
Bibliography: E. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine (Paris and London 1885-1886) Pompeia, 1; H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum (London 1910), I, 131-132, no. 927; T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, II (New York 1952) 449; E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London 1952) 54, no. 461a; F. W. Walbank, "Political Morality and the Friends of Scipio," Journal of Roman Studies 55 (1965) 1-16; M. H. Crawford, "Foedus and Sponsio," Papers of the British School at Rome 41 (1973) 1-7; C. H. V. Sutherland, Roman Coins (New York 1974) 53, nos. 68-69; M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (London 1974), 267-268, no. 235/1c; R. A. G. Carson, Principal Coins of the Romans, I (London 1978), 31, no. 83.
Identifier
C008
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Files
Citation
Sextus Pompeius Fostlus, “Sextus Pompeius Fostlus, silver denarius, 3.85 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/369.