Roman Republic Crawford 426/2 Silver Denarius

Monetary Context in the Late Roman Republic

During the late 50s BC, the Roman monetary system functioned predominantly on a silver and bronze bimetallic framework centered on the silver denarius, which served as the cornerstone of civic payments, legionary wages, and inter-regional commerce. Under the authority of the Senate, junior magistrates known as tresviri aere argento auro flando feriundo, or moneyers, oversaw the daily operations of the public mint. By the mid-first century BC, these offices were systematically utilized by aspiring noblemen to broadcast their aristocratic lineage, military triumphs, and political alignments before the Roman electorate. The issue catalogued as Crawford 426/2 was struck in 56 BC by Faustus Cornelius Sulla during an extraordinary phase of political realignment following the renewal of the triumviral alliance at Luca. Rather than relying on traditional civic emblems or remote ancestral legends, Faustus deployed a programmatic series of types that commemorated both his paternal inheritance as the son of the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix and his marital alliance with Pompey the Great, whose daughter Pompeia he had married. The issue emerged during an era marked by intense competition among the Roman aristocracy, when the physical coin functioned as mobile propaganda aimed at an urban and military populace increasingly influenced by charismatic dynastic figures.

Mint Organization and Technical Production

The production of Crawford 426/2 occurred at the civic mint of Rome, situated on the Capitoline Hill adjacent to the Temple of Juno Moneta. The physical manufacture of these silver denarii followed the traditional manual striking process of the late Republic. Silver flans were cast in open ceramic or stone molds to approximate the target weight of approximately 3.90 grams, with individual specimens typically clustering between 3.70 and 4.05 grams and diameters averaging between 18 and 20 millimeters. Once heated to achieve malleability, each blank was positioned between an anvil die and a handheld punch die and struck with a heavy hammer. Die study estimates and hoard survival patterns compiled by Michael Crawford indicate that Faustus's coinage in 56 BC was substantial, though Crawford 426/2 was issued alongside companion types including Crawford 426/1 and 426/3. The technical execution of the dies demonstrates exceptionally fine die-engraving, with subtle spatial rendering on the reverse globe and intricate drapery on the obverse lion skin. The coin was struck at a high fineness, generally exceeding 95 to 98 percent pure silver, consistent with standard Republican monetary regulations governing denarius production.

Obverse Design and Iconography

The obverse of Crawford 426/2 bears the right-facing head of young Hercules, draped around the neck and crown in the skin of the Nemean lion. Hercules held profound political and religious significance for the Sullan lineage. Lucius Cornelius Sulla had dedicated a tenth of his property to Hercules following his victorious dictatorship and claimed Hercules as a personal divine protector alongside Venus. In this representation, the youthful and idealized features of the hero depart from archaic depictions of a heavily bearded Hercules, echoing the heroic portraiture of Hellenistic rulers and aligning the Sullan family with divine strength and virtus. Behind the nape of the neck runs the vertical legend FEELIX. The entire composition is enclosed within a delicate border of dots. The integration of the lion skin headdress serves as an explicit visual shorthand for invincible strength, while the physical placement of the patron's cognomen directly behind the hero's head establishes an inseparable link between the deity, the dictator, and the issuing moneyer.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse of Crawford 426/2 displays one of the most symbolically intricate iconographic programs of the late Republic. At the center rests a terrestrial globe flanked by four triumphal laurel wreaths, arranged with three large wreaths around the perimeter and a fourth, smaller wreath below. Flanking the lower composition are an aplustre, the decorative carved stern ornament of a warship, situated to the left, and an ear of corn placed to the right. A lunar crescent floats directly above the globe, while the moneyer's name FAVSTVS is inscribed in the lower field or exergue, framed by an outer dotted border. Numismatists interpret this cluster of symbols as a direct homage to the extraordinary accomplishments of Pompey the Great. The three larger wreaths represent Pompey's celebrated triumphs over three distinct continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa, while the central globe embodies his claim to have pushed the boundaries of the Roman Empire to the limits of the known world. The aplustre recalls Pompey's swift clearing of the Mediterranean pirates under the Lex Gabinia of 67 BC, and the corn-ear commemorates his appointment in 57 BC under the Lex Cornelia to oversee the vital grain supply of Rome. The crescent moon represents sidereal protection or Diana, a deity intimately associated with both Pompey and Sulla, uniting cosmic destiny with familial virtus.

Epigraphy and Legend Variations

The epigraphic choices on Crawford 426/2 are particularly notable for their deliberate archaism and political clarity. The obverse displays the legend FEELIX, rendered with a double E. This spelling exemplifies the geminatio vocalium, a grammatical and epigraphic practice attributed to the second-century BC Roman poet and grammarian Accius, in which a long vowel was denoted by doubling the letter. While this orthographic practice had largely fallen out of regular usage by the mid-first century BC, Faustus deliberately revived it on his coinage to evoke an ancient, venerable dignity and to reflect the specific spelling adopted on his father's historical dedications and monuments. The reverse features the moneyer's personal praenomen FAVSTVS, positioned neatly in the lower exergue. The name Faustus, meaning the favored or fortunate one, was given to Sulla's son in conjunction with his twin sister Fausta, mirroring the dictator's adopted surname Felix. On some dies, the lettering on both faces exhibits subtle variations in size, spacing, and the angle of the strokes, yet the textual content remains strictly uniform across the type, without monograms or control-marks disrupting the clarity of the message.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard classification established by Michael Crawford in Roman Republican Coinage, type 426 is divided into four distinct denarius and bronze varieties struck under the single authority of Faustus Cornelius Sulla in 56 BC. Crawford 426/1 pairs a bust of Diana with a reverse scene depicting the surrender of Jugurtha by King Bocchus of Mauretania to Sulla. Crawford 426/2 represents the Hercules and globe type described here. Crawford 426/3 presents a head of Venus on the obverse paired with three military trophies flanked by a lituus and capis on the reverse, while Crawford 426/4 comprises a scarcer bronze sestertius issue. Earlier numismatists proposed divergent chronologies: Herbert Grueber in 1910 placed the issue in 62 BC, connecting it to the immediate aftermath of Pompey's return from the East, whereas Edward Sydenham assigned it to circa 63 to 62 BC. Modern numismatic consensus, underpinned by Crawford's hoard seriations and prosopographical evidence, firmly dates the issue to 56 BC, when Faustus was in his mid-twenties and laying the groundwork for his quaestorship, which he held in 54 BC. The issue stands apart from typical college emissions because Faustus struck as a sole magistrate rather than jointly with his fellow triumviri monetales.

Hoard Evidence and Monetary Circulation

Crawford 426/2 circulated extensively throughout the Roman world during the final years of the Republic and well into the Imperial era. Hoard evidence from Italy, Spain, Gaul, and the Balkans documents that denarii of Faustus Cornelius Sulla were absorbed into general circulation and remained active for decades. Significant late Republican hoards, such as the San Cesario and Brandosa hoards in Italy, demonstrate that Crawford 426/2 was hoarded alongside other high-purity silver issues of the 50s and 40s BC. Because the denarii of this period maintained exceptional silver purity, specimens of Crawford 426/2 continued to circulate during the civil wars of Julius Caesar and the Second Triumvirate, frequently appearing in hoards deposited during the Cantabrian Wars and the early Augustan principate. Over decades of hand-to-hand exchange, many surviving examples accumulated moderate to heavy wear and occasional banker's marks, small punches applied by ancient money-changers to test the interior core for silver plating. The type represents a prominent example of how factional political imagery persisted in the physical currency long after the deaths of both Sulla and Faustus.

References

1. Roman Republican Coinage. p. 450, no. 426/2
2. Coins of the Roman Republic Online: RRC 426.2. RRC 426.2
3. Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum. Vol. 1, pp. 484-485, nos. 3844-3848
4. The Coinage of the Roman Republic. no. 883