Roman Denarius Coin

Inv. No.: c053
Provenance: Sextus Pompeius
Date: 42-38 B.C.
 
Obv.: Pompeius Magnus; sacrificial bowl to left; augur staff to right.
MAG.PIVS IMP.[ITER.]

Rev.: Neptune standing between Anapus and Amphinomus, who carry their parents on their shoulder; Neptune holds stern in right hand and rests right foot on prow.
[PRAEF.]CLAS.ET ORAE MARIT.EX S.C.

The obverse is an attempt to perpetuate the memory of Pompey exploits. The portrait of Pompey has a rugged simplicity. There is no attempt at idealisation or rejuvenation.

In 43 B.C. the Senate put Sextus Pompeius in command of the fleet, with the title praefectus classis et orae maritimae (ommander of the fleet and the sea coast?. Anapus and Amphinomus were two brothers of Catana (Sicily), who saved their parents from a conflagration caused by an eruption of Mt Etna. The coin type perhaps suggests that their pietas towards their parents is matched by that of Pompey the Great and his son Sextus towards the Roman state; Sextus himself had assumed the title of Pius. Again, it may show that the coins were minted at Catana. The figure of Neptune refers to Sextus?victory over Octavian legate Salvidienus, who tried to dislodge him from Sicily in 42 B.C. As a result, his soldiers proclaimed him

filius Neptuni</>.

Comparanda:
S 1344.