DR-681 | Crawford: 470/1b
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: Spanish city standing on the right, with a crenellated crown, raising its right hand to salute the Pompeian soldier who receives the shield of another Spanish city, kneeling on the left, with a crenellated crown. Dotted border.
Legend: M MINAT / SABI PR Q

Comment: The gens Minatia is one of the little-known Roman families, barely documented in history and practically linked to the figure of Marcus Minatio Sabinus, the magistrate responsible for this issue. 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 there appears an allegorical scene with a strong symbolic load: a standing Hispanic city, crowned with battlements and generally identified as Corduba, greets or welcomes a Pompeian soldier. In front of it, another city represented kneeling—also with a mural crown—hands over a shield, a gesture that symbolizes submission and military support. Modern bibliography agrees in pointing out that the main city is Corduba, but there is no consensus on the identity of the kneeling figure: some authors interpret it as another specific city, while others understand that it is a generic personification of the Hispanic communities or even of the two Hispanic provinces (Ulterior and Citerior). In any case, the scene reflects the urban and provincial support for 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: Roma Numismatics (2023)
Price: 14,905 €