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DOI article:Kopij, Kamil: Propaganda on the coinage related to Pompey the Great
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22229#0055
PROPAGANDA ON THE COINAGE RELATED TO POMPEY THE GREAT
Regardless of detailed analysis of the representations, which is impossible due
to the uncertain dating of the coinage, it was intended, generally speaking, to depict
Pompey as a victor, a commander who was granted the most prestigious Roman
award, a triumphal procession through the streets of Romę, for his military achieve-
ments. His many victories prove that the image shown is not that of Fortune, the
deity granting success by chance. Victory on the reverse and the priestly attributes
shown on the obverse point to the assistance of the gods30. They do not bestow their
favours on anybody, only on those who are worthy on account of their personal mer-
its. Only then do the gods send down Felicitas, i.e., prosperity, which has nothing to
do with sheer luck. We must be also aware of the fact that the interpretation of the
coin must have evolved over the period of its usage.
Other coins that can be considered in the context of this subject are a series of
two coinages of Faustus Comelius Sulla, which were struck probably during his
tenure as monetal triumvir31.
la. RRC 426/3 (PI. 1. Fig. 2)
Obverse: Bust of Venus r., draped, laureate and wearing diadem; behind, sceptre; behind,
inscription: S. C, downwards. Border of dots.
Reverse: Three trophies; on 1., jug; on r., lituus; in exergue, monogram: W Border of dots.
lb. RRC 426/4a
Obverse: Head of Hercules r, wearing lion-skin; on 1., inscription: monogram W Border of dots.
Reverse: Globe surrounded by three smali wreaths and one large wreath; below on 1., aplus-
tre; below on r., com-ear. Border of dots.
lc. RRC 426/4b (PI. 1. Fig. 3)
Obverse: Head of Hercules r., wearing lion-skin; on h, inscription S C downwards. Border
of dots.Reverse: Globe surrounded by three smali wreaths and one large wreath; below on
r., aplustre; below on h, corn-ear. Border of dots.
There are three theories explaining the dating of the above coinages. The first
one was proposed by Grueber32, who held that Faustus Sulla had minted them dur-
ing his quaestor’s tenn in 54 BC. He based his proposition on an assumption that the
coins bearing the inscription S*C (,senatus consultum) could be struck by senators
only, which proved to be a fałse view. However, if we assume the dating he had pro-
posed, we must confront the fact that the coinage had been ordered by two consuls
hostile to Pompey - Domitius Ahenobarbus and Appius Claudius Pulcher - unless
30 For morę on the use of priestly attributes in the coinage propaganda, see L. MORAWIECKI, “Pontificalia
atque auguralia insignia and Political Propaganda in the Coinage of the Roman Republic”, Notae Numismaticae
- Zapiski Numizmatyczne 1, 1996, pp. 37-57; STEWART, “The 'Jug' and 'Lituus'...”, pp. 150-179.
31 RRC nos 426/3, 426/4a, 426/4b; Triumvir: M. HARLAN, Roman Republican Moneyers and Their Coins
63 BC-49 BC, London 1995, pp. 106-107.
32 H. A. GRUEBER, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum. Vol II: Coinages ofRome (contin-
ued), Roman Campania, Italy, the Social War and the Provinces, London 1910, p. 489.
Regardless of detailed analysis of the representations, which is impossible due
to the uncertain dating of the coinage, it was intended, generally speaking, to depict
Pompey as a victor, a commander who was granted the most prestigious Roman
award, a triumphal procession through the streets of Romę, for his military achieve-
ments. His many victories prove that the image shown is not that of Fortune, the
deity granting success by chance. Victory on the reverse and the priestly attributes
shown on the obverse point to the assistance of the gods30. They do not bestow their
favours on anybody, only on those who are worthy on account of their personal mer-
its. Only then do the gods send down Felicitas, i.e., prosperity, which has nothing to
do with sheer luck. We must be also aware of the fact that the interpretation of the
coin must have evolved over the period of its usage.
Other coins that can be considered in the context of this subject are a series of
two coinages of Faustus Comelius Sulla, which were struck probably during his
tenure as monetal triumvir31.
la. RRC 426/3 (PI. 1. Fig. 2)
Obverse: Bust of Venus r., draped, laureate and wearing diadem; behind, sceptre; behind,
inscription: S. C, downwards. Border of dots.
Reverse: Three trophies; on 1., jug; on r., lituus; in exergue, monogram: W Border of dots.
lb. RRC 426/4a
Obverse: Head of Hercules r, wearing lion-skin; on 1., inscription: monogram W Border of dots.
Reverse: Globe surrounded by three smali wreaths and one large wreath; below on 1., aplus-
tre; below on r., com-ear. Border of dots.
lc. RRC 426/4b (PI. 1. Fig. 3)
Obverse: Head of Hercules r., wearing lion-skin; on h, inscription S C downwards. Border
of dots.Reverse: Globe surrounded by three smali wreaths and one large wreath; below on
r., aplustre; below on h, corn-ear. Border of dots.
There are three theories explaining the dating of the above coinages. The first
one was proposed by Grueber32, who held that Faustus Sulla had minted them dur-
ing his quaestor’s tenn in 54 BC. He based his proposition on an assumption that the
coins bearing the inscription S*C (,senatus consultum) could be struck by senators
only, which proved to be a fałse view. However, if we assume the dating he had pro-
posed, we must confront the fact that the coinage had been ordered by two consuls
hostile to Pompey - Domitius Ahenobarbus and Appius Claudius Pulcher - unless
30 For morę on the use of priestly attributes in the coinage propaganda, see L. MORAWIECKI, “Pontificalia
atque auguralia insignia and Political Propaganda in the Coinage of the Roman Republic”, Notae Numismaticae
- Zapiski Numizmatyczne 1, 1996, pp. 37-57; STEWART, “The 'Jug' and 'Lituus'...”, pp. 150-179.
31 RRC nos 426/3, 426/4a, 426/4b; Triumvir: M. HARLAN, Roman Republican Moneyers and Their Coins
63 BC-49 BC, London 1995, pp. 106-107.
32 H. A. GRUEBER, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum. Vol II: Coinages ofRome (contin-
ued), Roman Campania, Italy, the Social War and the Provinces, London 1910, p. 489.