Sentia, a plebian family, from which sprang
C. SENTIVS, who served as tribune of the
people 103 B.C.. -- It had the surname of
Saturninus. -- On the obverse of one of the many
denarii of this family, bearing the winged head
of Pallas, is inscribed ARG. PVB. -- on the
reverse is the name L. SENTIus C.F.
L. SENTIus Caii Filius, and the type
Jupiter in a quadriga. -- On the reverse of
another denarius we read L. SATVRNinus ; the
type being a naked man driving a four-horsed
car at full speed, and holding up in his right
hand a curved knife. -- It is not clearly known
who was the L. Sentius who had the charge of
coining these earlier denarii (prioris denariis)
out of the public silver -- ARGentum PVBlicum.
As to what the naked man on the latter coin
holds in his right hand, Eckhel agrees with
Havercamp in pronouncing it to be the falx (or
curved reaping hook), and, from that symbol
recognizing Saturn, the more likely to be figured
by Sentius on his coins, because the name of
that deity bore allusion to his own cognomen of
Saturninus. (See Saturn.) -- There are thirty-one
varieties, but differing only in minute particulars.
The silver common.