Art Institute of Chicago

Denarius (Coin) Portraying Pompey the Great

Roman, minted in Sicily

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

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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