From Republic to Empire: The Story of the Roman Denarius, Part III

By Michael T. Shutterly for CoinWeek …..
 

Part I | Part II

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The Age of Strongmen: 105 BCE – 50 BCE

The third stage in the development of the Roman Republican denarius extended from c. 105 to c. 50 BCE, when the symbols of the Republic virtually disappeared from the coins. Of the 130 or so moneyers active during this period and whose names are known today, only 10 used some form of the “Head of Roma” design; in contrast, every moneyer for every denarius minted from c. 214 until c. 120 BCE–with the sole exception of Tiberius Veturius’ denarius in 137 BCE–had depicted the head of Roma on all of his denarii.

Designs continued to present images related to the oligarchs who ruled Rome, but the generic “family” images of earlier years were more and more frequently overtaken by images related to specific powerful men striving for personal power.

Marius

The Roman general Gaius Marius won huge victories in the Cimbrian War (113–101 BCE) and in the near-simultaneous Jugurthine War (112–106 BCE). His successes led to his election as Consul in 107, and then re-election five years in a row from 104 through 100 BCE. He was awarded a Triumph for each victory.

In 101 BCE, Gaius Fundanius issued a denarius commemorating Marius’ second Triumph. The reverse portrays a Triumphator (the man awarded a Triumph) in a quadriga (four-horse chariot) with a youth riding the nearest horse. No facial features are visible, but it is generally understood that the Triumphator is meant to be Marius himself, and the youth is meant to be Marius’ eight-year-old son. If true, this is the first time a living human being was shown on an official Roman coin. This coin sold for $160 against a $100 estimate at an auction in July 2019.

As great a general as Marius was, he had a subordinate who eventually proved himself to be even greater.

Lucius Cornelius Sulla was a member of one of Rome’s greatest families. The gens Cornelia produced more generals and more consuls (at least 75) than any other. While serving on Marius’ staff during the Jugurthine War in the North African Kingdom of Numidia, Sulla secured the capture of King Jugurtha himself, which ended the war. Sulla also enjoyed great success in the Cimbrian War. The rivalry between the two men led to a civil war that Sulla ultimately won (although after Marius’ death).

Marius died early in his seventh consulship in 86 BCE, while Sulla was fighting a war in Greece. Marius’ supporters continued to control Rome for the next several years while Sulla remained in the East, building his forces for his eventual return.

Sulla

In 84 or 83 BCE, a military mint under Sulla’s control struck a denarius featuring the goddess Venus (Sulla’s patroness) and Sulla’s name on the obverse. The reverse depicts an augur’s jug and wand between two military trophies with abbreviated inscriptions translating to “Military Commander Again”. The design of this denarius is personal to Sulla, expressing his power and authority (he became an augur sometime before 88 BCE) and celebrating his military victories. This coin sold for $2,750 against a $500 estimate at an auction in September 2019.

Sulla finally returned to Italy in early 83 BCE, launching another civil war. During this time, his proquaestor (acting chief financial officer) Lucius Manlius Torquatus issued a denarius in Sulla’s name that paralleled Marius’ triumphal denarius, celebrating Sulla as a Triumphator. This coin sold for $875 against a $500 estimate at an auction in September 2006.

Sulla eventually marched on Rome, taking the city at the Battle of the Colline Gate on November 1, 82 BCE. Shortly afterward, he ordered the Roman Senate to meet him at the Temple of Bellona (a Roman goddess of war) on the Campus Martius (“Field of Mars“), where he butchered more than 3,000 prisoners. The Senate promptly named him Dictator legibus faciendis et reipublicae constituendae causa (“Dictator for the making of laws and the settling of the constitution”).

Under Roman law, a dictatorship could not last longer than six months, but Sulla served as Dictator for two years: no one was strong enough to remove him from office. During his dictatorship, Sulla murdered everyone he considered an enemy or a threat. Gaius Julius Caesar, Marius’ 19-year-old nephew, was spared due to the intervention of Gnaeus Pompeius, one of Sulla’s chief lieutenants, who was then known by his enemies for his ruthlessness as Adulescentulus Carnifex – “the teenage butcher” – and by his soldiers for his military success as Pompeius Magnus – “Pompey the Great”. Sulla only reluctantly spared Caesar, remarking that “In this Caesar there are many Mariuses.”

When not killing people, Sulla revised the Roman legal code and reorganized the state to remake society according to his idea of what Rome had been when it was ruled by “the best”, before the common people became uppity and began exercising political power.

Sulla resigned his dictatorship in 80 BCE and took office as a traditional Republican consul, signaling that he considered his work complete and that Rome could now return to constitutional republican government. After serving his term as Consul, Sulla retired to his estate to write his memoirs, dying in 78 BCE.

The First Triumvirate

Political life in Rome remained relatively subdued over the next few years. The fear of another Marius or Sulla seizing power led Senators to form multiple shifting alliances to thwart the ambitions of any single strongman. While these alliances succeeded in preventing any one man from gaining too much power, they often led to political gridlock, preventing anything from getting done.

During this period, Pompey the Great would have been the man most likely and most able to follow in Sulla’s footsteps, but he spent most of the 70s BCE putting down revolts in Spain and North Africa and most of the 60s in the East, suppressing piracy, winning battles, creating new Roman provinces, and establishing Roman government institutions in the region.

The next most dangerous man in Rome was Marcus Licinius Crassus. Like Pompey, he had been one of Sulla’s commanders during the Civil War, and he continued to serve Sulla during the dictatorship. Crassus was the richest man in Rome: he was rich enough to hire an army, and in 71 BCE, he raised an army of 10 legions to put down the slave revolt of Spartacus. Unfortunately for Crassus, Pompey left Spain and arrived in Italy just in time to round up the fugitive remnants of Spartacus’ army and take credit for suppressing the rebellion. Pompey and Crassus served together as Consuls in 70 BCE, but their mutual animosity prevented them from accomplishing much. Crassus spent most of the 60s amassing even greater wealth.

In December 62 BCE, Pompey returned from the East at the head of his army amid fears that he would attempt to seize power, just as Sulla had done 20 years before. The Senate’s fears were groundless: Pompey reveled in his reputation as Rome’s greatest general and was content to rest on his laurels in retirement. Upon landing in Italy, Pompey disbanded his army and returned to Rome as a private citizen.

Unfortunately for all concerned, the Senate refused to ratify the treaties Pompey had made in the East and refused to honor his promises to distribute land to his soldiers. At the same time, the Senate refused to pass laws that Crassus needed for his business ventures.

Not entirely coincidentally, Julius Caesar returned to Rome in 60 BCE following a successful campaign in Spain for which he expected a formal Triumph. He also sought election to the Consulate. He did not have the financial resources to run for office, due in large part to an enormous debt he owed Crassus, who had financed Caesar’s successful campaign to become Pontifex Maximus (the highest priest of the Roman state religion) in 63.

Late in 60 BCE, Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar formed an alliance that has come to be known as the First Triumvirate: Pompey and Crassus would support Caesar’s election as Consul, whereupon Caesar would arrange for the passage of the legislation that Pompey and Crassus needed. After serving his term as Consul, Caesar would take office as a provincial governor and would loot his Province to repay his debts to Crassus and obtain enough wealth for himself for the (unspoken) next step in his career. Caesar and Pompey further sealed the deal with Pompey’s marriage to Caesar’s daughter, Julia.

All went as planned. Caesar was elected Consul for the year 59 BCE, Pompey and Crassus got their legislation passed, and when his Consulship ended, Caesar became Governor of three separate provinces. Two of Caesar’s provinces bordered unconquered Gaul, which Caesar proceeded to conquer.

Scaurus and Hypsaeus

Scaurus’ obverse design reflected then-recent history. In 62 BCE, as Pompey’s deputy and Governor of Syria, Scaurus accepted the surrender (and enormous bribe) of the Nabatean King Aretas III. This represents the first time a moneyer struck a coin commemorating a specific event from his career.

Hypsaeus’ reverse design commemorated the capture of the city of Privernum in 329 BCE by the Consul Gaius Plautius Decianus. Hypsaeus was not related at all to Decianus, but falsely claimed that the Consul was an ancestor, and he substitutes his cognomen (clan name) Hypsaeus for the Consul’s true cognomen (Decianus) in the reverse inscription.

We thus have a denarius on which one politician boasts about his previous success, while another politician lies about his background. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Hypsaeus was quite pleased with the reverse design he provided for the denarius he shared with Scaurus in 58 BCE because he repeated it on a different coin the following year. On the denarius of 57 BCE, Hypsaeus doubled down on his fraudulent claims about his ancestry. The reverse repeats his claim from the previous year of descent from the Consul C. Plautius Decianus, while the obverse sets forth his claim of descent from Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. This coin sold for $700 against a $200 estimate at an auction in May 2020.

Sic Semper Tyrannis