Antoninus Pius, Silver Denarius
Dublin Core
Title
Antoninus Pius, Silver Denarius
Subject
Antoninus Pius (138 - 161 CE) AR Denarius. Rome. 140 AD.
OBVERSE: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP (Antoninus Augustus Pius, pater patriae, or father of the country), laurelled head facing right.
REVERSE: TR POT COS III (Tribunician power, consul for the 3rd time). There is a she-wolf standing, facing right in a cave. Romulus and Remus are suckling beneath her.
OBVERSE: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP (Antoninus Augustus Pius, pater patriae, or father of the country), laurelled head facing right.
REVERSE: TR POT COS III (Tribunician power, consul for the 3rd time). There is a she-wolf standing, facing right in a cave. Romulus and Remus are suckling beneath her.
Description
Antoninus Pius was the longest reigning emperor since Augustus, taking power in 138 CE, after being adopted by Hadrian, and reigning relatively peacefully until his death in 161 CE. He was a largely successful emperor whose reign was celebrated by contemporaries and later scholars.
During the era in which Antoninus Pius had been consul for a third, but not yet fourth time, he released a group of coins that illustrated mythological themes, a largely unprecedented subject for imperial coinage. Found on the coins were images of a wolf suckling Romulus and Remus (as seen here), Mars and Rhea Silvia, Romulus by himself, a sow suckling eight piglets, and Aeneas with his son and father leaving Troy.
The inspiration for this minting of coins is under debate. They seem to be anticipating his decennial, or tenth anniversary of his reign; though, historically, the images are associated with the 900-year anniversary of Rome itself. They may have been inspired by a renewed interest in the foundations of Rome by the completion of the temple of Roma and Venus.
During the era in which Antoninus Pius had been consul for a third, but not yet fourth time, he released a group of coins that illustrated mythological themes, a largely unprecedented subject for imperial coinage. Found on the coins were images of a wolf suckling Romulus and Remus (as seen here), Mars and Rhea Silvia, Romulus by himself, a sow suckling eight piglets, and Aeneas with his son and father leaving Troy.
The inspiration for this minting of coins is under debate. They seem to be anticipating his decennial, or tenth anniversary of his reign; though, historically, the images are associated with the 900-year anniversary of Rome itself. They may have been inspired by a renewed interest in the foundations of Rome by the completion of the temple of Roma and Venus.
Source
Gift of James and Aneta McIntyre, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem, OR. 2006.010.034
Date
140 CE
Rights
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Format
0.726 in
0.125 oz
0.125 oz
Language
Latin
Type
Coin
Coverage
This item is on view at Hallie Ford Museum of Art, in the Mark and Janeth Sponenburgh Gallery.
Citation
“Antoninus Pius, Silver Denarius,” Hallie Ford Museum of Art Exhibits, accessed December 27, 2024, https://library.willamette.edu/hfma/omeka/items/show/85.