30
3041
Mn. Aquillius Mn.f. Mn.n. Silver Denarius (3.8 g), 65 BC.
Rome. III VIR behind, VIRTVS before, helmeted and draped bust of Virtus
right.
Reverse:
(MN) AQVIL (MN) F (MN) N, SICIL in exergue, the consul Mn. Aquillius standing left, head right, raising a prostrate Si-
cilia before him, and holding shield. Crawford 401/1; Sydenham 798; Aquillia 2. Well struck on a nice large flan and lustrous.
Mint State.
The types on this handsome denarius recall the virtue of the moneyer’s grandfather, Manius Aquillius, who diligently
quelled the slave revolt in Sicily (104-101 BC) that had defied three earlier governors. In 104 BC, the consul Marius took com-
mand in Gaul to subdue the Cimbri and Teutones, and the Senate granted him permission to request troops from Rome’s al-
lies so that he might pursue the war. When he asked Nikomedes of Bithynia for troops, the king responded that he had none
to spare as most of his men had been seized by Roman tax farmers as slaves. The Senate then decreed that no citizen of al-
lied states could be held in slavery to serve in Rome’s provinces, and instructed the praetors to see to their liberation.
In Sicily, the Roman governor P. Licinius Nerva freed about 800 slaves, but then a group of influential landown-
ers and wealthy elites convinced the governor to desist. The slaves who had not yet been freed stole away from the
farms in open revolt. Licinius initially pursued these slaves and inflicted a serious defeat upon them, but when he failed
to follow up his victory this emboldened other slaves in the province and the revolt quickly escalated. Soon there
was a slave army of 40,000 ravaging the province, inflicting serious defeates on Roman forces sent to pursue them.
All this changed in 101 BC with the arrival of the moneyer’s ancestor, the governor Manius Aquillius. He quickly wore down the slave
army, reducing their strongholds to rubble and killing many. He defeated their leader in single combat in a notable battle, although
he himself suffered a serious head wound. After recovering, he quickly mopped up further resistance and pacified the province.
Estimated Value ................................................................................................................................................................... $1,000
-
1,300
Ex Ponterio 145 (11-12 January 2008), 253.
