And some commentary from
CNG:
This splendid coin (
lion/stag) is one of the last
Roman imperial issues to have a moneyer’s name on its
reverse. It reminds us of
Augustus’s support for
Republican tradition in allowing the names of the triumviri who
had charge of the
mint to put their names on the coinage. This magistracy was a relatively junior one, but was a stepping
stone on the cursus honorum that led to the consulate. Each member of the
collegium forming the IIIviri monetalis could choose the
types and sign the gold, silver and
aes coins for which he was responsible. Thus, not only could the
types vary between different collegia, but also from moneyer to moneyer within a
collegium.
Marcus Durmius, the moneyer here, was in a
collegium with P. Petronius Trupilianus and L. Aquilius Florus in c. 19 BC. The main topics of their
types were the return of the standards lost to
Parthia, the honours of 27 BC, and the so-called “family”
types, of which this is one. The
reverse is clearly based on the
types used at Velia some three hundred years earlier and it seems likely that the Durmii came from that
area.
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This coin (
Hercules obverse) commemorates the major diplomatic coup of
his reign: the recovery of the
Roman standards, lost by Crassus at the battle of
Carrhae in 54 BC, from the
Parthians. The reference to
Hercules, like that of
Liber in lot 694, is a special mythological allusion to the event, and an ad hoc use of such
mythology by
Augustus that would be later considered unsuitable and discarded from the canon of
his public image.
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As noted by
Sutherland and
Carson in
RIC (p. 34), the
types on the coinage of Durmius concerned a variety of areas: the
Parthian campaign, Augustus' honors of 27 BC, various Victories, and 'family types'. With the depiction of elephants and the timing of this issue (
elephant biga), there is little doubt that the
reverse type, employed on the coinage of all three triumvir monetalis of this year, refers to the honors paid to
Augustus following
his triumphant return from the east. Although
his achievements were more diplomatic than
military, they were considerable. The recovery of the standards lost by Crassus at
Carrhae was especially important, and thus the
military was accorded much glory in Augustus' victories. The
obverse is likely a reference to the family of the moneyer of this issue, M. Durmius, but the historical record of this individual or any of
his relatives is lacking.
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The
reverse type (
Man-faced bull) of this
rare and interesting coin immediately recalls Greek
types of
Campania and presumably was intended to proclaim the
ethnic origin of the otherwise unknown moneyer
Marcus Durmius. While noting the increased diversity in the
Roman aristocracy by the date this coin was struck, Gary Farney (
Ethnic identity and aristocratic competition in
Republican Rome [
Cambridge, 2007], p. 211) notes: “
Still, one must wonder what
Roman noblemen of the traditional aristocracy thought of how the moneyer chose to present
his Campanian identity… Campanians were often accused of excessive pride in their origins, being arrogant enough (from the
Roman perspective) to continue to dub their magistrates praetores. With this in mind, other
Romans might have attributed this issue to Durmius’ innate arrogance, particularly because the coins recall the ‘independent’
history of
Campania.”
In addition to the light it sheds on a transforming aristocracy under the early empire, this issue is an excellent demonstration of the acute
Roman awareness of Greek numismatic
history. Indeed, Suetonius (Aug. 75) hints that
Augustus himself might have been a collector of “coins of every device, including old pieces of the kings and foreign
money”.
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