Family Coins.
These comprise about one hundred and seventy-five, of which one hundred and twenty-six are in the collection. They were struck to record the heroic deeds which first introduced any notable ancestor to fame, and hence are to-day family charts of respectability for many of the patricians of Rome, albeit some of them have plebeian roots. Be that as it may, they are as much the trusted patents of aristocracy as is the “Book of the Peerage” of England. Here are found the same distinctions between patrician and plebeian which mark all countries, the patricians being always designated by a symbol of warfare, while the plebeians were indicated by the tools and instruments of common trade. The more noticeable of the coins are as follows: No. 16, Acilia; the reverse a female leaning against a pillar, with a serpent clutched in her right hand, indicating the wisdom or courage of some ancestor. No. 20, Æmilia; on the obverse of this curious coin is a figure kneeling by the side of a camel, presenting an olive branch, from which depends a fillet or ancient diadem; on the reverse, a figure guiding a triumphal chariot, a scorpion in the field. Josephus tells us of an invasion of Arabia, and that Aretus, the king of the country, purchased peace of the Romans for five hundred talents. The diadem hanging from the olive branch chronicles the entire humiliation of Aretus, and the scorpion doubtless indicates the month of the Roman triumph. No. 30, Aquillia, a small silver coin; the reverse shows a woman kneeling before a soldier. The motto below the figures (or in the exergue of the coin, as is the art term) is “Sicil.” This commemorates the suppression of a revolt of slaves in Sicily, which was achieved by Manlius Aquillia. No. 41, Calpurnia, the family of Cæsar’s noble wife; reverse, a horseman riding at full speed, a head of wheat above him; legend, L. Piso-Trugi. The coin recalls the fact that in the year 507 B.C. there was a famine in Rome, and Calpurnius Piso was dispatched to Africa to buy corn. This seemingly small service is magnified upon a large number of coins. Nos. 95 and 96, Hostilia, a coin with a sacrifice to Pallor and Pavor (fear and trembling), offered by Tullus Hostilius in some great emergency. No. 97, Julia; obverse, a helmeted head; legend, Cæsar; reverse, a warrior in a chariot drawn by two horses.
No. 98, Junia; obverse, head of Liberty; reverse, Junius Brutus guarded by lictors, and preceded by a herald, showing that an ancestor of Junius Brutus was the first consul of Rome. Nos. 181, 182, Tituria. The reverse shows two soldiers throwing their shields upon a prostrate female, illustrating the famous story of the “Tarpeian Rock.” Reverse represents the Romans carrying off Sabine women—a witness in coin of the fact that the family of Tituria trace their ancestry from the Sabines. To do justice to this case is impossible, for here are coins relating to the ancestors of Antonia, Aurelia, Cornelia, Fulvia, Horatio, Lucretia, Lucilla, Sempronia, Titia Valeria, and many others familiar to the readers of history.
This era of coins terminated about the time of the birth of Christ, when the