DR-240 | Crawford: 287/1
Sine nomine
Sine nomine

Moneyer: Sine nomine
Date and mint: 115 BC/114 BC - Rome


Obverse: Bust of Roma, right, winged Corinthian helmet with curl on the left shoulder. Dotted border.
Legend: ROMA
Symbols: Obverse behind, x

Reverse: Roma, wearing a Corinthian helmet, seated on the right on a pile of shields, holding a spear in his left hand; at the feet, helmet; before, she-wolf, on the right, nursing twins; on both sides, birds flying. Dotted border.
Legend:

Comment: The Crawford 287/1 denarius is an anonymous issue, without the name of the moneyer magistrate, something unusual at this stage of the Republic, when the majority of coinage already included the authorship of the moneyer tresviri. This omission, whether by decision of the moneyer college or for another technical reason, reinforces the institutional nature of the message: here the protagonist is not an individual or a family, but Roma itself, converted into a political and cultural symbol.

In the years 115 and 114 BC, Roma was going through a phase of relative stability after the social crisis opened by the Gracchus brothers. Although its agrarian reforms had been suppressed and its leaders eliminated, social tensions were still present: the question of land distribution, the rights of the Italian allies and the struggle between optimates and populars continued to dominate the debate. The Senate and the equestrian elite attempted to restore cohesion by appealing to the traditional values of the Republic. In this climate, a broadcast that exalted Roma itself as the guarantor of order and legitimacy fit perfectly with the political needs of the moment.

The obverse presents the head of Roma on the right, with a winged Corinthian helmet and a lock of hair falling over the shoulder, accompanied by the inscription ROMA in exergue and the value mark X behind. It is the classic personification of the city, a tutelary and protective divinity, presented as a warrior and watchman.

The reverse displays a much more elaborate iconographic program than was usual at the time: Roma sitting on a pile of shields, with a spear in her hand and a helmet at her feet, an image of military power and peace guaranteed by arms. In the foreground the Capitoline she-wolf appears nursing Romulus and Remus, a clear reference to the founding myth. Behind the scene rises the ficus Ruminalis, a sacred tree linked to the Lupercal, and birds perch and fly above it, usually interpreted as augural signs that recall the divine omens at the birth of Roma. According to tradition, both the wolf and the woodpecker (bird of Mars) were sent by the god to protect the twins. In this way, the composition unites military supremacy, origin myth and divine favor in a single image.

The message is direct: Roma is strong, legitimate, protected by the gods and victorious. The omission of the name of the currency contributes to reinforcing this idea, depersonalizing the issue and underlining that legitimacy does not come from a specific gens, but from the community itself.

The prestige of the reverse was such that in Augustan times it was reused: the British Museum preserves a golden of Augustus that almost literally copies the design, proof of the fortune and validity of the motif as a civic emblem.

Altogether, the Crawford 287/1 denarius constitutes one of the most complex and emblematic reverses of the average Republican denarius. It is not a family or personal currency, but an authentic institutional proclamation that, after the upheavals of the end of the 2nd century BC, reminded citizens that Roma remained eternal, powerful and protected by the gods.

Provenance: Roma Numismatics (2014)
Price: 3,200 €