Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIX 26-27 Mar 2020
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Julia (daughter of Augustus) Æ Sestertius. Rome, AD 22/23. S P Q R IVLIAE AVGVST, elaborately ornamented carpentum drawn to right by two mules / TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVST P M TR POT XXIIII, large SC. RIC 51 (Tiberius); C. 6 (Livia); BMCRE 76 (Tiberius). 25.71g, 36mm, 3h.
Extremely Fine; magnificent 'Tiber' patina.
Acquired from Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Zurich.
This is one of the earliest kind of Roman carriages, of which we find mention (Liv. I.34). It was the carriage in which Roman matrons were allowed to be conveyed in the public festal processions (Liv. V.25; Isid. Orig. XX.12); and that this was a considerable privilege is evident from the fact that the use of carriages in the city was entirely forbidden during the whole of the republic. The privilege of riding in a carpentum in the public festivals was sometimes granted as a special privilege to women of the imperial family (Dio. Cass. LX.22, 33; Tac. Ann. XII.42). The carpentum was also used by private persons for journeys; and it was likewise a kind of state carriage, richly adorned and ornamented (Prop. IV.8.23; Juv. VIII.147, IX.132).
This carriage contained seats for two, and sometimes for three persons, besides the coachman (Liv. I.34; Medals). It was commonly drawn by a pair of mules (carpentum mulare, Lamprid. Heliog. 4); but more rarely by oxen or horses, and sometimes by four horses like a quadriga. For grand occasions it was very richly adorned.
The use of the carpentum on this sestertius therefore makes reference to the honour conferred on its owner, and likely also depicts its use in Julia's funeral procession.
Extremely Fine; magnificent 'Tiber' patina.
Acquired from Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Zurich.
This is one of the earliest kind of Roman carriages, of which we find mention (Liv. I.34). It was the carriage in which Roman matrons were allowed to be conveyed in the public festal processions (Liv. V.25; Isid. Orig. XX.12); and that this was a considerable privilege is evident from the fact that the use of carriages in the city was entirely forbidden during the whole of the republic. The privilege of riding in a carpentum in the public festivals was sometimes granted as a special privilege to women of the imperial family (Dio. Cass. LX.22, 33; Tac. Ann. XII.42). The carpentum was also used by private persons for journeys; and it was likewise a kind of state carriage, richly adorned and ornamented (Prop. IV.8.23; Juv. VIII.147, IX.132).
This carriage contained seats for two, and sometimes for three persons, besides the coachman (Liv. I.34; Medals). It was commonly drawn by a pair of mules (carpentum mulare, Lamprid. Heliog. 4); but more rarely by oxen or horses, and sometimes by four horses like a quadriga. For grand occasions it was very richly adorned.
The use of the carpentum on this sestertius therefore makes reference to the honour conferred on its owner, and likely also depicts its use in Julia's funeral procession.