Roman Republican Silver Denarius, Q. Fabius Labeo, 124 BCE
Silver
3.3 Grams
C.5376
Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma right, LABEO before, X under chin, ROMA behind Reverse: Jupiter in quadriga right, prow below horses, Q. FABI in exergu The bust of the goddess...
Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma right, LABEO before, X under chin, ROMA behind
Reverse: Jupiter in quadriga right, prow below horses, Q. FABI in exergu
The bust of the goddess Roma, with its winged helmet, is a popular obverse type during the Republican period. The helmet itself is reminiscent of Hellenistic and Roman helmets of the time period, categorized by scholars as the Italo-Attic type. Officers and deities are often depicted as wearing this helmet long after such a design had gone into general disuse by the military. As such, it continued to be employed as a symbol connected with deities and heroic figures of the past. The reverse type, incorporating the prow of a ship, may commemorate the naval victories of an ancestor and namesake, against the Seleucid monarch, Antiochus the Great.
Crawford 273/1. RSC Fabia 1.
Reverse: Jupiter in quadriga right, prow below horses, Q. FABI in exergu
The bust of the goddess Roma, with its winged helmet, is a popular obverse type during the Republican period. The helmet itself is reminiscent of Hellenistic and Roman helmets of the time period, categorized by scholars as the Italo-Attic type. Officers and deities are often depicted as wearing this helmet long after such a design had gone into general disuse by the military. As such, it continued to be employed as a symbol connected with deities and heroic figures of the past. The reverse type, incorporating the prow of a ship, may commemorate the naval victories of an ancestor and namesake, against the Seleucid monarch, Antiochus the Great.
Crawford 273/1. RSC Fabia 1.