DR-288 | Crawford: 313/1b
Lucius Memmius
Lucius Memmius

Gens: Memmia
Moneyer: Lucius Memmius
Date and mint: 106 BC - Rome


Obverse: Laureate bust of Saturn, left. dotted border
Legend: ROMA
Symbols: Obverse before, control mark | Obverse behind, Harp

Reverse: Venus in biga, right, holding scepter and reins in left and reins in right; above, flying Cupid with crown. Dotted border.
Legend: L MEMMI GAL

Comment: The Memmia gens was a patrician family that had prominent roles in the politics of the Roman Republic, for example, in 109 BC, Consul M. Memmius stood out for his opposition to the reforms of the Gracchus brothers.

The moneyer value of this denarius is not known to have any notable fact in its Cursus Honorum other than having been Triumviro Monetalis, and it is not that little.

In 106 BC there were great divisions between the optimates and the popular ones due to the agrarian reforms proposed by the Gracchus brothers. Political instability and violence were the order of the day. There were also external conflicts such as the Third Mithridatic War and the Germanic invasions that crossed the Alps.

On the obverse we have Saturn, God of agriculture. Associated with the fertility of the land and prosperity as well as agricultural time and seasons.

On the reverse we have Venus driving a biga and Cupid with a crown, which symbolizes love, beauty and victory.

Together, Saturn and Venus, a message of prosperity, love and victory in the same coin. And of course, the religious and cultural meaning that this entails.

Provenance: Numismatica Ars Classica (2011)
Price: 895 €