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Gareth Harney

@OptimoPrincipi

Mar 19

Newly photographed Roman Republican denarius struck by Quintus Minucius Thermus in 103 BC, in the third of seven consulships held by Gaius Marius. Thermus connects himself with the heroics of a namesake ancestor who won the corona civica, the second highest Roman military award..

As consul in 193 BC the elder Thermus defeated the Ligures in battle near Pisa, where he earned the corona civica by saving the life of a fellow soldier and then slaying the attacking enemy. Thermus can be seen on the left with his oval shield, defending an injured comrade below.

He was also likely the same "Thermus" who served as military tribune under Scipio at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. Thermus led a surprise attack on Hannibal's supply train, killed 4000 of the African enemy, took as many prisoners, and brought the supplies back to the Roman camp.

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Gareth Harney

@OptimoPrincipi

Mar 12

1) Newly photographed Roman Republican denarius minted by Marcus Sergius Silus around 116 BC. The coin has a remarkable depiction of the moneyer's famous grandfather - and a fascinating connection to the history of prosthetics!..

2) On his galloping horse we see the Roman general Marcus Sergius, remembered for his legendary exploits in the Punic Wars a century before the coin was struck. He is shown wielding his sword and in the same hand holding a severed enemy head!

3) Amazingly, Pliny the Elder describes in detail the heroism of Sergius in his 'Natural History'; he was wounded twenty-three times, had two horses slain underneath him, was twice taken prisoner by Hannibal and both times escaped captivity. But perhaps most memorably..

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Gareth Harney

@OptimoPrincipi

Mar 11

1) The Augusteum of Narona; a temple dedicated to the cult of the Emperor. Founded by the governor Dolabella in 10 BC, the temple was added to over many decades. Fragments of 17 marble statues depicting Roman emperors and the imperial family were discovered here in 1995-6.

2) Beginning with statues of Augustus and Livia on a raised podium, further members of the wider imperial family were soon added such as Agrippa, Gaius and Lucius Caesar. Germanicus, Tiberius, Claudius and their wives later expanded the remarkable statue group further.

3) It is possible that statues of Caligula and Nero might have been originally added to the group but subsequently removed after their reigns. The last known addition, a statue of Vespasian (right) was placed with the otherwise Julio-Claudian group c.70 AD.

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Gareth Harney

@OptimoPrincipi

Feb 19

1) Ancient fake news? Newly photographed denarius showing an event that almost certainly never took place. This coin struck at the beginning of Hadrian's reign shows Trajan adopting Hadrian, thus making him his successor, clasping hands and exchanging the necessary documentation.

2) If the message wasn’t clear enough to viewers, the scene is emblazoned with the self-explanatory declaration “ADOPTIO”. That this unique coin was required at all shows Hadrian clearly felt the need to publicly tackle simmering conspiracy theories around his accession..

3) Murky details surrounding Trajan’s death in Selinus and documents signed by Trajan’s widow Plotina rather than the emperor himself caused rumours to spread. A close attendant of Trajan’s, Phaedimus, also died a few days after his master, adding to conspiratorial suspicions..

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Gareth Harney

@OptimoPrincipi

Feb 18

The brutal birth of Rome in high-definition! New shot of this spectacular denarius struck in 89 BC - showing the legendary Rape of the Sabines where Romulus and his men, wanting to populate their newly founded city, abducted women of the neighbouring Sabine tribe for their wives.

In a remarkable depiction, two of Romulus’ soldiers can be seen, each carrying off a Sabine woman in their grasp; the women struggle and strike out against their abductors, their flowing robes adding movement and urgency to the scene.

Little is known of the moneyer Lucius Titurius Sabinus but his family clearly traced its descent from the Sabines and perhaps from King Tatius himself. He would have been a quaestor or military tribune prior to his stint as moneyer in 89 BC, likely serving in the Social War.

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Gareth Harney

@OptimoPrincipi

Feb 17

This denarius was minted in 49 BC as Caesar crossed the Rubicon. Struck under the moneyer Manius Acilius Glabrio, we see Valetudo leaning on a column and holding a snake. Valetudo was the Roman equivalent of Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health and hygiene..

Glabrio was the stepson of Pompey the Great, raised in his house after Pompey married his mother Amelia Scaura. This coin was likely in support of Pompey, the idea being that he and the optimates were fighting to preserve the health (Salus) of the Republic as Caesar approached..

With Pompey's retreat, Caesar took control of Rome in 49 BC and seized large quantities of gold and silver from the state treasury in the Temple of Saturn - part of which may have been this newly minted issue by Glabrio.

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