Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 114 13-14 May 2020
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Moneyer issues of Imperatorial Rome. L. Papius Celsus. 45 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.89 g, 3h). Rome mint. Head of Juno Sospita right, wearing goat skin headdress tied at neck / She-wolf standing right, placing stick on fire; on right, eagle standing left, fanning the flames. Crawford 472/1; CRI 82; Sydenham 964; Papia 2; RBW 1647. Deeply toned, some light marks beneath toning. Near EF.
From the collection of Professor David R. Beatty, C.M., O.B.E. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 76 (12 September 2007), lot 1273; Triton IV (5 December 2000), lot 412.
The curious scene depicted on the reverse of this type refers to a foundation myth for the city of Lanuvium, parent city of Rome. According to a legend related by Dionysius of Halicaranassus in Roman Antiquities, the hero Aeneas saw a fire burning in a nearby forest and went to investigate. As he drew closer, he saw the fire was being fed by a she-wolf, who was dropping sticks into the blaze, while an eagle standing nearby fanned it with his wings. A fox kept intruding, trying to snuff out the fire by wetting his tail in a nearby stream and beating the flames down with it, but was driven off by the eagle and wolf. The fox was interpreted as Carthage, trying to snuff out Rome before its flame could burn brightly, while the eagle and she-wolf are symbols of the Roman army and people respectively.
From the collection of Professor David R. Beatty, C.M., O.B.E. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 76 (12 September 2007), lot 1273; Triton IV (5 December 2000), lot 412.
The curious scene depicted on the reverse of this type refers to a foundation myth for the city of Lanuvium, parent city of Rome. According to a legend related by Dionysius of Halicaranassus in Roman Antiquities, the hero Aeneas saw a fire burning in a nearby forest and went to investigate. As he drew closer, he saw the fire was being fed by a she-wolf, who was dropping sticks into the blaze, while an eagle standing nearby fanned it with his wings. A fox kept intruding, trying to snuff out the fire by wetting his tail in a nearby stream and beating the flames down with it, but was driven off by the eagle and wolf. The fox was interpreted as Carthage, trying to snuff out Rome before its flame could burn brightly, while the eagle and she-wolf are symbols of the Roman army and people respectively.