Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 135 21 Nov 2022
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The Roman Empire. Commodus augustus, 177 – 192.
Aureus 178, AV 7.25 g. L AVREL COM – MODVS AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. TR P III IM – P II COS P P Castor standing l., holding horse by bridle in r. hand and spear in l. hand. C 760. BMC M. Aurelius 774. RIC M. Aurelius 648. Calicó 2337b.
Struck on very large flan and from fresh dies. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
The reverse of this lovely aureus shows one of the Dioscuri, Castor, holding a spear in one hand and a horse by the bridle in the other. In mythology, the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, were the twin sons of Zeus and Leda, the wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. Their cult first appears at Rome in 484 B.C. after the battle of Lake Regillus against the Etruscans, when it was said that they appeared on the battlefield to lead the Romans to victory and simultaneously at the Forum in Rome to announce to the worried families of the soldiers their victory. A temple to them both, but usually referred to simply as the Temple of Castor, was built there in their honour. While they play prominently on the coinage struck during Republican times, their appearance on Imperial coins is actually quite rare. Castor had special relevance as the patron of the equites, the Roman social order of knights, and his depiction here symbolizes Commodus as the Prince of Youth (princeps iuventutis), in which role he presided over the Trojan Games where youths from Rome's most noble patrician families competed against each other in horse races in the circus. The obverse is a wonderfully centred and particularly fine-style portrait of the young emperor.
Graded MS Strike 5/5 Surface 4/5, NGC certification number 6556713-023
Aureus 178, AV 7.25 g. L AVREL COM – MODVS AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. TR P III IM – P II COS P P Castor standing l., holding horse by bridle in r. hand and spear in l. hand. C 760. BMC M. Aurelius 774. RIC M. Aurelius 648. Calicó 2337b.
Struck on very large flan and from fresh dies. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
The reverse of this lovely aureus shows one of the Dioscuri, Castor, holding a spear in one hand and a horse by the bridle in the other. In mythology, the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, were the twin sons of Zeus and Leda, the wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. Their cult first appears at Rome in 484 B.C. after the battle of Lake Regillus against the Etruscans, when it was said that they appeared on the battlefield to lead the Romans to victory and simultaneously at the Forum in Rome to announce to the worried families of the soldiers their victory. A temple to them both, but usually referred to simply as the Temple of Castor, was built there in their honour. While they play prominently on the coinage struck during Republican times, their appearance on Imperial coins is actually quite rare. Castor had special relevance as the patron of the equites, the Roman social order of knights, and his depiction here symbolizes Commodus as the Prince of Youth (princeps iuventutis), in which role he presided over the Trojan Games where youths from Rome's most noble patrician families competed against each other in horse races in the circus. The obverse is a wonderfully centred and particularly fine-style portrait of the young emperor.
Graded MS Strike 5/5 Surface 4/5, NGC certification number 6556713-023