DR-680 | Crawford: 470/1a
Marcus Minatius Sabinus / Gnaeus Pompeius filius
Marcus Minatius Sabinus / Cneo Pompeius filius

Gens: Minatia / Pompeia
Moneyer: Marcus Minatius Sabinus / Gnaeus Pompeius filius
Date and mint: 46 BC/45 BC - ?


Obverse: Bust of Pompey the Great, right. Dotted border.
Legend: CN MAGNVS IMP (o variación)

Reverse: Córdoba standing right among a pile of weapons, with a tower crown, holding a scepter in his left hand and with his right welcoming the Pompeian soldier who passes from stern to right. Dotted border.
Legend: M MINAT / SABIN PR Q

Comment: The gens Minatia is a little-known Roman family, barely documented in history and practically only linked to the figure of Marcus Minatio Sabinus, the magistrate responsible for this broadcast. The gens Pompeia, on the other hand, achieved great notoriety thanks to Gnaeus Pompey the Great, one of the undisputed protagonists of politics and war in the 1st century BC. His lineage and prestige were inherited by his sons, Gnaeus and Sextus Pompey, who continued the fight against Caesar after their father's death.

The denarius was minted in Hispania after the Pompeian defeat at Thapso (46 BC). The remnants of the army, along with veterans of other campaigns and local troops, regrouped under the command of Gnaeus and Sextus Pompey around bases such as Corduba. From there they reorganized the resistance and managed to concentrate a very large army that faced Caesar in the decisive battle of Munda (March 17, 45 BC), the last major clash of the civil war, where the Pompeian side was finally annihilated.

The coin has a clear propaganda intention. On the obverse appears the portrait of Pompey the Great, reminding the troops of the figure of his father and thus legitimizing the leadership of his son Gnaeus Pompey the Younger. On the reverse appears an allegory of Corduba, represented as a female figure receiving a soldier with a welcoming gesture, underlining the city's role as a center of operations and bastion of the Pompeian cause in Hispania.

In this way, the denarius links the memory of the father with the action of his children, vindicating the political and military heritage of Pompey in the Hispanic scenario that preceded the final outcome of the civil war.

Provenance: Numismatica Ars Classica (2024)
Price: 14,035 €