Crawford 417/1a, Roman Republic, Rome mint, moneyers L. Aemilius Lepidus Paullus and L. Scribonius Libo, 62 BC., AR Denarius.

Roman Republic, Rome mint, moneyers L. Aemilius Lepidus Paullus and L. Scribonius Libo, 62 BC.,
AR Denarius (18-20 mm / 3,72 g),
Obv.: [P]AVLLVS. LEPIDVS - CONCORD head of Concordia r., wearing veil and diadem.
Rev.: PVTEAL SCRIBON / LIBO , Puteal Scribonianum (Scribonian well, the "Puteal Scribonianum" well in the Forum Romanum near the Arch of Fabius), decorated with garland and two lyres, hammer at base.
Crawf. 417/1a ; Syd. 927 ; Bab. / Seaby Aemilia 11 ; Kestner 3422 ; BMC Rome 3383 ; CNR Aemilia 62 .
Rare

A puteal was a classical wellhead, round or sometimes square, set round a well opening to keep people from falling in. Such well heads (putealia) might be of marble, enriched with bas-reliefs. - The puteal is on the reverse of the coin adorned with garlands and two lyres. It is generally stated that there were two putealia in the Roman forum; but C. F. Hermann, who has carefully examined all the passages in the ancient writers relating to this matter (Ind. Lect. Marburg. 1840), comes to the conclusion that there was only one such puteal at Rome. It was in the forum, near the Arcus Fabianus, and was dedicated in very ancient times either on account of the whetstone of the Augur Navius (cf. Liv. I.36), or because the spot had been struck by lightning. It was subsequently repaired and re-dedicated by Scribonius Libo, who had been commanded to examine the state of the sacred places. Libo erected in its neighbourhood a tribunal for the praetor, in consequence of which the place was, of course, frequented by persons who had law-suits, such as money-lenders and the like.

The Puteal Scribonianum (Scribonian Puteal) or Puteal Libonis (Puteal of Libo), building in the Forum at Rome, dedicated or restored by a member of the Libo family, perhaps the praetor of 204 BC, or the tribune of the people in 149 BC. In its vicinity the praetor's tribunal, removed from the comitium in the 2nd century BC, held its sittings, which led to the place becoming the haunt of litigants, money-lenders and business people. According to ancient authorities, the Puteal Libonis was the name given to an erection (or enclosure) on a spot which had been struck by lightning; it was so called from its resemblance to the stone curb or low enclosure round a well (puteus) that was between the temples of Castor and Vesta, near the Porticus Julia and the Arcus Fabiorum (arch of the Fabii), but no remains have been discovered. The idea that an irregular circle of travertine blocks, found near the temple of Castor, formed part of the puteal is now abandoned. See Horace, Sat. ii.6.35, Epp. i.19.8; Cicero, Pro Sestio, 8; for the well-known coin of Lucius Scribonius Libo, representing the puteal of Libo, which rather resembles a cippus (sepulchral monument) or an altar, with laurel wreaths, two lyres and a pair of pincers or tongs below the wreaths (perhaps symbolical of Vulcan as forger of lightning), see C. Hulsen, The Roman Forum (Eng. trans. by J. B. Carter, 1906), p. 150.

L. Scribonius Libo, was the father-in-law of Sextus Pompey, the son of Pompey the Great. On the breaking out of the civil war in 49, he sided with Pompey, and was given command of Etruria. Shortly afterwards he accompanied Pompey to Greece, and was actively engaged in the war that ensued. On the death of Bibulus (48) he had the given command of the Pompeian fleet. In the civil wars following Caesar's death, he followed the fortunes of his son-in-law Sextus Pompey. In 40, Octavian married his sister Scribonia, and this marriage was followed by a peace between the triumvirs and Pompey (39). When the war was renewed in 36, Libo for a time supported Pompey, but, seeing his cause hopeless, he deserted him in the following year. In 34, he was consul with Mark Antony.

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