Roman Republican Currency - Coinage and Political Messages

Coinage and Political Messages

Eventually a new reverse appeared, first Luna driving a biga (two horse chariot) in 194–190 BC, and then Victory driving a biga in 157 BC – thought to refer to the final defeat of Perseus of Macedon at the battle of Pydna by Lucius Aemilius Paulus in 168 BC. These Victory "bigati" became the most common type of denarius. Denarii were marked with special symbols (such as a star or an anchor) from very shortly after their introduction and soon monograms indicating the tresviri monetales (mint masters, often called moneyers, that were responsible for the issue) were on the coins. In some cases the symbols are "punning". The example reverse shown to the left (Crawford 187/1 showing Luna driving a biga) is one such; a shell symbol appears above the horses along with the letters "PVR" below. The shell is thought to be a murex shell; this was the source of Tyrian purple (in Latin: purpureo) and this, along with the letters, is thought to refer to a Furius Purpureo. This type of reference to the moneyers became more and more explicit, and eventually developed into self-advertising to further the political career of the moneyers.

Families who had already had members in the Senate were more likely to have further family members elected to political office (and thus become senators). This was so much more likely that only a few consular novi homines (new men) are known to history. Advertising on coins was thus often about the moneyer's family. In the coin reverse shown on the right (Crawford 268/1b), the legend around the outside indicates that moneyer was N. Fabius Pictor. The seated individual is wearing a cuirass, holding a spear in his left hand and an apex, the characteristic hat worn by the flamines, in his right. At his side there is a shield inscribed QUIRIN. This is taken to refer to Q. Fabius Pictor (probably the son of Quintus Fabius Pictor the annalist) who was elected praetor in 189 BC and assigned the province of Sardinia by lot (Livy 37.50.8). He was also the flamen Quirinalis and because of this, P. Licinius Crassus, the pontifex maximus of the day did not allow him to take the Sardinian office because of various taboos surrounding the flamen's person, and the need for the flamen to perform certain rites in Rome (Livy 37.51.3–7). The Sardinian praetorship was exchanged for both the urban and peregrine praetorships, and N. Fabius Pictor remained in Rome. The entire incident was part of the political manoeuvring of Scipio Africanus against his attackers, which included the Fabii.

Over time, the politics of the day became more and more visible in the coinage. In 54 BC, the first triumvirate had control of Rome, and Pompey was its preeminent member. There were rumours that Pompey was to be made dictator. In this context, the coin on the left (Crawford 433/2) was a powerful political message. The moneyer, Marcus Junius Brutus, placed on the coin two figures from Roman history that he claimed as ancestors:

• • Lucius Junius Brutus of the Junius Gens, who was made the first consul of the republic of Rome in 509 BC after he expelled Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last of the Roman kings, and
  • Gaius Servilius Ahala, who killed Spurius Maelius – a knight who endeared himself to the populace of Rome by providing free grain during a famine – reputedly in a bid for seeking kingship – in 439 BC. Marcus Brutus was also known as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, as he had been adopted into the gens Servilia, from which he was descended on his mother's side.

In the face of famine in 57 BC Pompey had been made a special commissioner to control the supply of grain; this included the control of all ports and trading centres for five years. There was earlier bad blood between them; Pompey had put down an earlier insurrection by Marcus Aurelius Lepidus in which Brutus's father had been involved; Pompey had had him executed. It was the opposition of Cato the Younger, Brutus's half brother on his adopted family's side, to Pompey's requests for land for his veterans of the war against Mithradates that gave Pompey the incentive to be part of the triumvirate. M. Brutus was clearly making a pointed, uncompromising statement of opposition to Pompey and the triumvirate while praising his ancestors.

In 44 BC, Julius Caesar was preparing for war with Parthia to avenge the defeat inflicted by the Parthians on Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae. To this end, an enormous variety of denarii and aureii were being minted in large numbers. The coin on the right is from January–February 44 BC. The Venus holding Victory and a sceptre on the reverse was a reference to the claim of the gens Julia to descend from Aeneas and thus Anchises and the goddess Venus. This was innocuous to Romans, but the obverse showing Caesar himself wearing the gold laurel wreath that the Senate had voted for him was an enormous departure from tradition and deeply offensive. While the coinage had been used to show ancestors, this is the first time that the head of a living Roman had been displayed on Roman coinage. It was widely perceived as part of a larger series of moves by Caesar to make himself king – and kings were anathema in Rome ever since the foundation of the republic. Other coins minted at the same time bore the text "DICT QVART", indicating that Caesar had been dictator for four years running. A later version (Crawford 480/10, February–March 44 BC) showed "DICT PERPET"; Caesar had been made dictator for life. He was assassinated, by Brutus among others, on the Ides of March, 44 BC.

The assassination could not revive the republic. Two years later, just prior to the Battle of Philippi, Brutus produced a coin (Crawford 508/3, modern forgery shown to the left) celebrating the freeing of the republic from Caesar's tyranny. The reverse showed two daggers flanking a pileus (a cap used in the ceremony freeing slaves) and the legend "EID MAR". On the obverse, Brutus, the "noblest Roman", had placed his own head. The republic survived, by convention more than reality, until Octavian, Caesar's nephew and heir was declared Augustus in 27 BC.