DR-306 | Crawford: 323/1
Lucius Iulius
Lucius Iulius

Gens: Julia
Moneyer: Lucius Iulius
Date and mint: 101 BC - Rome


Obverse: Bust of Roma with helmet, right. Dotted border.
Legend:
Symbols: Obverse behind, ear of wheat

Reverse: Victoria in biga, right, holding reins with both hands. Dotted border.
Legend: L IVLI

Comment: The denarius of Lucius Julius was minted in Rome in the year 101 BC. and belongs to the Julia gens, a highly prestigious patrician family that claimed its origin in the goddess Venus through Aeneas and her son Julus. Among its most relevant members at this stage are Lucius Julius Caesar, consul in 90 BC, and the dictator Gaius Julius Caesar himself in the following generation, whose political projection consolidated the fame and influence of the lineage.

Of this Lucio Julio, the moneyer magistrate, we hardly know any other positions besides his work at the mint. His presence in the college of monetates confirms, however, the weight of the family in republican politics at the end of the 2nd century BC.

The year 101 B.C. It was key in the military history of Roma. After Marius's great victory over the Cimbri at the Battle of Vercelas, the Germanic threat that had put the Republic in check was finally quelled. This triumph strengthened Mario's position and returned a climate of confidence to Rome, although it also began a period in which military prestige would become a political instrument of the first order.

The obverse presents the bust of Roma with a helmet on the right and an ear of wheat behind, a detail that links to the idea of fertility and supply at a time when food security was as important as military security. The reverse shows Victoria driving a biga on the right, with the reins in both hands and the legend L IVLI. The combination of symbols is clear: Roma and its prosperity protected by the gods, and the military victory celebrated after the defeat of the Cimbri, projecting a message of success and continuity on the name of the Julius.

Provenance: Numismatica Ars Classica (2008)
Price: 630 €