Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Triton XXVI 10-11 Jan 2023
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The Republicans. Brutus. Early 42 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.96 g, 12h). Military mint, probably at Smyrna; P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, legatus. Emblems of the pontificate: securis, simpulum, and secespita; BRVTVS below / Emblems of the augurate: capis and lituus; LENTVLVS/SPINT in two lines below. Crawford 500/7; CRI 198; Sydenham 1310; RSC 6; BMCRR East 80-1; Kestner 3770; RBW 1766. In NGC encapsulation 5780848-005, graded MS(star), Strike: 5/5, Surface: 5/5. Exceptional iridescent tone and strike. Among the finest known.
Ex Nomos AG 2 (18 May 2010), lot 159.
Although religion was an essential part of Roman daily life, Rome had no separate priestly class or caste. Instead, religious practice was interwoven with civic and political life and all public men and women were expected to learn, observe and practice civic rites. Priesthoods were bestowed on members of rich, powerful or politically connected families; politicians and military men often served as Pontiffs (high priests), Flamens (cult leaders), and Augurs (interpreters of signs), while their daughters were named Vestals (keepers of the sacred flame). This coin of Marcus Junius Brutus, leader of Caesar's assassins, depicts the tools of the Pontificate on the obverse, including the securis victima (sacrificial axe), simpulum (dipper for libations), and secespita (sacrificial knife). The reverse depicts tools of the Augurate: The capis (ritual bowl for entrails) and the lituus (augur's wand, used to divide the sky into quadrants for studying the flight of birds).
Ex Nomos AG 2 (18 May 2010), lot 159.
Although religion was an essential part of Roman daily life, Rome had no separate priestly class or caste. Instead, religious practice was interwoven with civic and political life and all public men and women were expected to learn, observe and practice civic rites. Priesthoods were bestowed on members of rich, powerful or politically connected families; politicians and military men often served as Pontiffs (high priests), Flamens (cult leaders), and Augurs (interpreters of signs), while their daughters were named Vestals (keepers of the sacred flame). This coin of Marcus Junius Brutus, leader of Caesar's assassins, depicts the tools of the Pontificate on the obverse, including the securis victima (sacrificial axe), simpulum (dipper for libations), and secespita (sacrificial knife). The reverse depicts tools of the Augurate: The capis (ritual bowl for entrails) and the lituus (augur's wand, used to divide the sky into quadrants for studying the flight of birds).