DR-580 | Crawford: 434/1
Quintus Pompeius Rufus
Quintus Pompeius Rufus

Gens: Pompeia
Moneyer: Quintus Pompeius Rufus
Date and mint: 54 BC - Rome


Obverse: Bust of Sulla, right. Dotted border.
Legend: SVLLA COS

Reverse: head of Q. Pompeius Rufus, right. Dotted border.
Legend: RVFVS COS Q POM RVFI

Comment: This denarius was minted by Quintus Pompey Rufus, grandson of the dictator Sulla and the consul of the same name Pompey Rufus, colleagues in the consulate of 88 BC. The issue constitutes a direct family tribute, as it presents both grandparents on both sides and, in addition, it offers the only known portrait of Sulla on a coin. The same magistrate issued another piece with the curule chairs of both, reinforcing the memory of their consular dignity.

The coinage takes place at a particularly delicate moment: in 54 BC. Julia, daughter of Caesar and wife of Pompey, died, which broke the personal bond between the two and accelerated the deterioration of their alliance. Shortly after, in 53 BC, Crassus and his son Publius would lose their lives in the disastrous battle of Carrhae, further destabilizing the political balance.

The choice to commemorate Sulla and Pompey Rufus was not only a family tribute, but also a political demand in times of growing instability. The figure of Sulla, remembered as the man who imposed order through force, functioned as a warning and as an affirmation of the power that the Senate and the republican tradition still aspired to preserve. A message that, without a doubt, was not comfortable for César.

Provenance: Bertolami Fine Arts (2018)
Price: 6,853 €