Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXIII 24-25 Mar 2022
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L. Marcius Philippus AR Denarius. Rome, 56 BC. Head of Ancus Marcius to right, wearing diadem; lituus behind, ANCVS below / Aqueduct on which stands equestrian statue, flower at horse's feet; PHILIPPVS to left, AQVA MAR (partially ligate) within arches of aqueduct. Crawford 425/1; BMCRR Rome 3890; RSC Marcia 28. 4.12g, 18mm, 3h.
Good Extremely Fine; well centred and struck on a broad planchet.
This coin published in Richard Schaefer's Roman Republican Die Project (RRDP), binder 7, p. 188, available online at: http://numismatics.org/archives/ark:/53695/schaefer.rrdp.b07#schaefer.rrdp.b07_0232;
Ex Alan J. Harlan Collection, Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XXII, 8 January 2019, lot 877.
The Marcia gens claimed decent from Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, who is said to have been the first to bring water to Rome by means of an aqueduct. The equestrian statue is that of Q. Marcius Rex, who, when praetor in 144 BC, was commissioned by the Senate to repair the old aqueducts and to build one which would give a supply of water to the Capitol.
This aqueduct, known as the Aqua Marcia, still stands in parts today and together with the Aqua Anio Vetus, Aqua Anio Novus and Aqua Claudia, is regarded as one of the four great aqueducts of ancient Rome. It was largely paid for by spoils from the recent Roman conquests of Corinth in 146 BC and the destruction of Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War, in the same year. The Aqua Marcia supplied water to the Viminal Hill in the north of Rome, and from there to the Caelian, Aventine, Palatine, and Capitoline regions of the city. Its extension to the Capitoline Hill caused a controversy at the time, because traditionalists were concerned about a passage in the Sibylline Books warning against bringing water there.
Good Extremely Fine; well centred and struck on a broad planchet.
This coin published in Richard Schaefer's Roman Republican Die Project (RRDP), binder 7, p. 188, available online at: http://numismatics.org/archives/ark:/53695/schaefer.rrdp.b07#schaefer.rrdp.b07_0232;
Ex Alan J. Harlan Collection, Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XXII, 8 January 2019, lot 877.
The Marcia gens claimed decent from Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, who is said to have been the first to bring water to Rome by means of an aqueduct. The equestrian statue is that of Q. Marcius Rex, who, when praetor in 144 BC, was commissioned by the Senate to repair the old aqueducts and to build one which would give a supply of water to the Capitol.
This aqueduct, known as the Aqua Marcia, still stands in parts today and together with the Aqua Anio Vetus, Aqua Anio Novus and Aqua Claudia, is regarded as one of the four great aqueducts of ancient Rome. It was largely paid for by spoils from the recent Roman conquests of Corinth in 146 BC and the destruction of Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War, in the same year. The Aqua Marcia supplied water to the Viminal Hill in the north of Rome, and from there to the Caelian, Aventine, Palatine, and Capitoline regions of the city. Its extension to the Capitoline Hill caused a controversy at the time, because traditionalists were concerned about a passage in the Sibylline Books warning against bringing water there.