DR-383 | Crawford: 348/2
Lucius Rubrius Dossenus
Lucius Rubrius Dossenus

Gens: Rubria
Moneyer: Lucius Rubrius Dossenus
Date and mint: 87 BC - Rome


Obverse: Bust of Juno, right, diademed and veiled and with Scepter on her shoulders. Dotted border.
Legend: DOS

Reverse: Triumphal quadriga (with lightning bolt on side panel), right; above, Victoria with crown. Dotted border.
Legend: L RVBRI

Comment: The Rubria gens was a plebeian family of little relevance in the political history of Roma, although its surname Dossenus is striking for being related to a character from the Atlantean farce, which perhaps refers to a popular origin or a burlesque nickname. He barely left a mark in the annals of the Republic beyond the coins issued by Lucius Rubrio Dossenus, whose name survives precisely thanks to these coinages.

The moneyer man Lucio Rubrio Dossenus held his position in 87 BC, a year marked by the first civil war. Sulla had left for the East and in Rome, Marius and Cinna took control, with episodes of violence and massacres that terrified the city. In this scenario of chaos, the use of images of protective and triumphant divinities served as a reminder that Roma was under the tutelage of the gods and that victory and stability would return.

The obverse shows the bust of Juno, veiled and diademed, with the scepter on her shoulder and the abbreviated legend TWO. This detail is the big difference with respect to the previous variant (Crawford 348/1), where Jupiter laureate appeared. The identification as Juno is confirmed by several sources (British Museum, Sear, WildWinds), which emphasize the feminine attributes: veil, diadem and the scepter as a sign of sovereignty.

On the reverse appears a triumphal chariot driven to the right, with a lightning bolt engraved on the side panel, a symbol of divine power. Victoria flies over it, crowning the winner with a laurel wreath, while the legend L RVBRI appears in the exergue, which identifies the moneyer magistrate.

The propaganda message of this variant is subtle: in the face of the power of Jupiter (348/1), here the authority of Juno Regina, protector of Roma and guarantor of civic and religious order, is invoked. Its veiled presence reinforces the idea of solemnity and sacredness, at a time when the Republic was torn by civil war. The association with triumph on the reverse conveyed the hope that, with the help of the gods, Roma would overcome the conflict and restore victory and legality.

Provenance: Numismatica Ars Classica (2013)
Price: 1,775 €