Object type
coin
Culture/period
Roman
Materials
silver
Technique
minting
Mint
Roma
Production date
-153
Current location
Centre Interpretació
Archaeological site
Olèrdola. Entrada recinte (sector 01)
Township
Olèrdola (Europa, Espanya, Catalunya, Barcelona, Alt Penedès)
Dimensions
17 mm
Description
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Coin in the Republican Roman series, mint: Rome. Obverse: Head of Rome (the city is represented by a female bust draped with head turned right and winged helmet) and the sign or mark "X" value. Reverse: the goddess Victoria driving a chariot. On the right, under the feet of horses: C Mayans; in the epigraph, ROMA. This denarius was found in the Sector 01 entrance to the site of Olèrdola, during the 1986 excavation, on 12 August.
Caius Maiani, who is named on the coin, was one of the three magistrates elected annually (tresviri monetales) who controlled the minting of coins during the Roman Republic. The tresviri came from prominent families and marked with their name the coins they supervised. Unfortunately, we know very little about C. Maiani.
The denarius was established within the framework of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) in response to the new military and commercial landscape that was created in the Mediterranean at that time.
The iconography that appears in this Republican denarius is the most common and it shows us the power of the state and the divinities of Rome. Thus, on the obverse, we find the female personification of Rome, with the attributes of the goddess Minerva and the Roman state, along with the symbol X (ten) identifying the value of the denarius (ten asses, the bronze currency unit). The reverse reinforces the message with an image of a deity, the Winged Victory, with the names of Rome and the state responsible.
CRAWFORD, H.H. 1975, Roman Republican Coinage, Cambridge University Press. Form type. No. 203 / 1a
© Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Olèrdola
Omeka ID
2202