| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 143 | Auction date: 7 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 318 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: The Dioscuri Collection. The Roman Republic. M. Iunius Brutus. Denarius 54, AR 18 mm, 4.13 g. BRVTVS Head of L. Iunius Brutus r. Rev. AHALA Head of C. Servilius Ahala r. Babelon Julia 30 and Servilia 17. Sydenham 932. RBW 1543. Crawford 433/2. Magnificent old cabinet tone and good extremely fine Ex NAC sale 64, 2012, 968. This denarius, issued by M. Junius Brutus, the man who would strike down Julius Caesar a decade later, strongly advertises his love of the Roman Republic that Caesar's actions were calculated to subvert. The obverse features the portrait of his namesake, the legendary L. Junius Brutus, who used the outrage of the rape of Lucretia to raise a popular revolt in Rome to expel the city's last Etruscan king, L. Tarquinius Superbus in 509 BC. With Superbus gone from the city and the kingship abolished, Brutus then set about creating a republican form of government led by two annually-elected supreme magistrates responsible for issues of war and peace known as consuls. Brutus was elected consul for the first year of the Republic alongside L. Tarquinius Collatinus, the bereaved husband of Lucretia. As if it was not enough that M. Junius Brutus could claim descent from the very founder of the Roman Republic, the portrait on the reverse illustrated his birth claim to descent from the C. Servilius Ahala. In 439 BC, Ahala was appointed magister equitum during the dictatorship of L. Quinctius Cincinnatus. This extraordinary magistracy was deemed necessary by the Roman patricians out of fear that the wealthy plebeian Spurius Maelius was plotting to overthrow the state and become king. After the appointment of the dictator, Ahala was charged with bringing Maelius before Cincinnatus to give an account of his actions. Maelius, reasonably fearing for his life, refused to come with Ahala and fled into the assembled crowd, but he was struck down by Ahala's dagger. Later etymological tradition claimed that the dagger was concealed in Ahala's armpit and was the source of his cognomen. Considering M. Junius Brutus' motivation in leading the assassination plot against Caesar, it almost sends a chill up the spine to see that he was telegraphing what was to come through his coin types. Unfortunately, history had progressed too far and the Republic become too corrupt by the time he took it upon himself to relive the legends of Brutus and Ahala and his actions did not bring about a renewal of the state so much as they hasten it ultimate destruction Estimate: 1000 CHF |  |
