Lucius Marcius Philippus, silver denarius, 3.86 g.

Lucius Marcius Philippus, silver denarius, 3.86 g.

Lucius Marcius Philippus

c. 113 - 112 BCE

Obverse: Head of Philip V of Macedon, right, wearing helmet with goat's horns and diadem; to left, AA; under chin, Φ. Border of dots.

Reverse: Statue of horseman with laurel branch over shoulder, right; beneath, prancing horse, a flower; on statue base, L PHILLIPPVS; below, star. Border of dots.

Style/Period: Roman Republic

This coin commemorates the success of the ancestor of Lucius Marcius Philippus, L. Marcius Q. f. Philippus, who had been engaged in a diplomatic mission to Philip V of Macedon, from which he returned with a treaty of friendship. The portrait of Philip V on the obverse bears no resemblance to any portraits of Philip on Greek coins. The reverse of the coin further commemorates the gens Marcia by showing a triumphant figure on horseback. The laurel branch designates the rider as a triumphator. The flower beneath the horse alludes to the conception of Mars, the Roman god of war, whose mother Hera was impregnated while disguised as a flower. The symbol on the obverse designates that the coin was minted in Rome.
-- Bradford W. Wendel, LU '96

Bibliography: E. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine (Paris and London 1885-1886) Marcia, 12; H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum (London 1910), II, 277, no. 532; T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, II (New York 1952) 445; E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London 1952) 73, no. 551; M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (London 1974) 307, no. 293/1; R.A. G. Carson, Principal Coins of the Romans, I (London 1978) 38, no. 112.

Classics Department Collection

C017

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