DR-639 | Crawford: 455/1a
Caius Antius Restio
Caius Antius Restio

Gens: Antia
Moneyer: Caius Antius Restio
Date and mint: 47 BC - Rome


Obverse: Bust of C. Antius Restio, right. Dotted border.
Legend: RESTIO

Reverse: Hercules walking to the right with a cloak over his left arm, holding the trophy in his left hand and the mace in his right. Dotted border.
Legend: C ANTIVS C F

Comment: Gaius Antius Restius, who appears on the obverse, was a tribune of the reformist plebs, remembered for having promoted a law against luxury at banquets (lex Antia de convivis), which restricted the excessive spending and ostentation of the Roman aristocracy.
His moralizing and austere stance was framed in the climate of political tensions of the late Republic, where traditional customs faced the growing luxury of the elite.

The moneyer Gaius Antius Restius (son), by issuing this denarius in 47 BC, wanted to pay tribute to his father and his ideals of moderation and civic virtue.
The obverse shows the paternal portrait, while the reverse, with Hercules carrying the trophy and the mace, symbolizes moral strength, duty and victory over excesses, values that he associated with the figure of his father.

Provenance: Tauler & Fau (2021)
Price: 3,200 €