Watch List notes:

M. Aquillius M.f. 65 B.C. AR denarius (19 mm, 3.75 g, 5 h). Rome. III VIR behind, VIRTVS before, helmeted and draped bust of Virtus right / (MN) AQVIL (MN) · F (MN) N, SICIL in exergue, the consul Man. Aquillius standing left, head right, raising a prostrate Sicilia before him, and holding shield. Crawford 401/1; Sydenham 798; Aquillia 2. Toned. Good very fine.

The types on this handsome denarius recall the virtue of the moneyer's grandfather, Manius Aquillius, who diligently quelled the slave revolt in Sicily (104-101 B.C.) that had defied three earlier governors. In 104 B.C., the consul Marius took command in Gaul to subdue the Cimbri and Teutones, and the Senate granted him permission to request troops from Rome's allies so that he might pursue the war. When he asked Nikomedes of Bithynia for troops, the king responded that he had none to spare as most of his men had been seized by Roman tax farmers as slaves. The Senate then decreed that no citizen of allied states could be held in slavery to serve in Rome's provinces, and instructed the praetors to see to their liberation.

In Sicily, the Roman governor P. Licinius Nerva freed about 800 slaves, but then a group of influential landowners and wealthy elites convinced the governor to desist. The slaves who had not yet been freed stole away from the farms in open revolt. Licinius initially pursued these slaves and inflicted a serious defeat upon them, but when he failed to follow up his victory this emboldened other slaves in the province and the revolt quickly escalated. Soon there was a slave army of 40,000 ravaging the province, inflicting serious defeates on Roman forces sent to pursue them.

All this changed in 101 B.C. with the arrival of the moneyer's ancestor, the governor Manius Aquillius. He quickly wore down the slave army, reducing their strongholds to rubble and killing many. He defeated their leader in single combat in a notable battle, although he himself suffered a serious head wound. After recovering, he quickly mopped up further resistance and pacified the province.