Art Institute of Chicago

Denarius (Coin) Portraying Pompey the Great

Roman, minted in SicilyLinkedCulture matchlcp-299ce7ed0183

Date: 42-40 BCE, issued by Roman Republic, Sextus Pompeius Magnus
Medium: Silver
Culture: Sicily
Department: Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Institution: Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID: 96048

From the Art Institute of Chicago record

The front (obverse) of this coin portrays the head of Pompey the Great, facing right. Priestly instruments, a praefericulum (tall vase with handle) and lituus (staff), appear to left and right. On the back (reverse), Anapius and Amphinomus carry their parents; between them, Neptune stands with his foot on a ship prow. Coins were an efficient form of publicity, particularly when new rulers needed to legitimize their succession or strengthen their reputation. After Pompey’s defeat by Julius Caesar, his sons tried to revitalize their father’s reputation and thereby enhance their own stature by issuing coins with Pompey’s portrait, such as this one.

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