Art Institute of Chicago

Denarius (Coin) Depicting the Goddess Roma

Roman, minted in Rome

Date

109-108 BCE

Medium

Silver

Culture

Italy

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The front (obverse) of this coin depicts the head of Roma facing right wearing a helmet decorated by plume and two stars: behind is a symbol (X-type cross with horizontal line through center). On the back (reverse) is a galley with helmet on prow, acrostolium on poop deck; the whole within an oak wreath. The denarius, introduced in 211 BCE, was the principal silver coin of Rome for five hundred years. The profile head of the goddess Roma—the personification of Rome—was the most popular image depicted on silver denarii in the second and first centuries BCE.

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