DR-612 | Crawford: 448/2a
Lucius Hostilius Saserna
Lucius Hostilius Saserna

Gens: Hostilia
Moneyer: Lucius Hostilius Saserna
Date and mint: 48 BC - Rome


Obverse: Bearded male bust, probably Vercingetori, X to right, draped. Dotted border.
Legend:
Symbols: Obverse behind, Gallic shield

Reverse: Biga, right, led by charioteer holding whip in left hand and reins in right hand; behind, a warrior facing backwards and holding the shield in his left hand and throwing the spear with his right. Dotted border.
Legend: L HOSTILIVS SASERN

Comment: The gens Hostilia was an ancient Roman family of patrician origin, which gave the Republic several magistrates and consuls from an early period. Among its members stands out Lucio Hostilio Saserna, moneyer in 48 BC, during the civil war between Caesar and Pompey. His figure is remembered above all thanks to the coins he minted, since he later aligned himself with Mark Antony after the assassination of Caesar.

The Saserna denarius is framed in a context of full political and military confrontation. To reinforce Caesar's legitimacy in the face of Pompey, the moneyer evoked the victories in Gaul, a campaign that had closed just a few years earlier with the decisive battle of Alesia (52 BC), where Caesar defeated and captured Vercingetorix. This Gallic leader was displayed in chains at Caesar's triumph in Rome and later executed, becoming a symbol of the dictator's military greatness.

The obverse of the coin shows a bearded bust that most scholars identify with Vercingetorix, based on the presence of a Gallic shield behind the head and the similarity with the representation of the imprisoned leader next to a trophy on another denarius of Caesar. The reverse reinforces the allusion to Gallic victories with motifs alluding to Romen military power.

In this way, the issuance of Saserna functioned as a propaganda resource at the service of Caesar: it presented the defeated Gaul as a war trophy and as tangible proof of the general's success, at a time when the currency became a decisive means to legitimize political power in the middle of the civil war.

Provenance: Leu Numismatik AG (2021)
Price: 22,501 €