DR-534 | Crawford: 415/1
Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus
Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus

Gens: Aemilia
Moneyer: Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus
Date and mint: 62 BC - Rome


Obverse: Bust of Concordia, right, veil and diadem. Dotted border.
Legend: PAVLLVS LEPIDVS CONCORDIA

Reverse: Trophy; to the right, togate figure of Lucio Emilio Pablo; On the left, three captives (King Perseus of Macedonia and his sons). Dotted border.
Legend: TER / PAVLLVS

Comment: This denarius pays tribute to the illustrious ancestor of the coin, Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, winner of King Perseus in the battle of Pydna (168 BC). On the reverse, Paulo himself appears next to the trophy of his victory, witnessing the surrender of the Macedonian captives.
The bust of Concordia on the obverse alludes to family unity and harmony, and perhaps also to the political climate of 62 BC, a time of tensions between republican elites.
The coin combines family propaganda and a moral message, exalting ancestral virtue and the ideal of concord in an increasingly divided Roma.

Provenance: Numismatica Ars Classica (2016)
Price: 1,440 €