Antoninus Pius, 138-161. As (Copper, 27 mm, 10.93 g, 12 h), Rome, circa 140. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Antoninus Pius to right, seen from behind. Rev. TR POT COS III / S - C Mars advancing right, holding spear in his right hand and shield in his left, descending through the air toward Rhea Silvia reclining to left, asleep. BMC 1372. Cohen 885 var. (laureate head). RIC 694c var. (laureate and draped bust, without cuirass). Rare. Struck from dies of fine style and unusually well preserved for the issue. Light surface roughness, otherwise, very fine.


This remarkable reverse type alludes to the early mythology of Rome and the mother of its legendary founding twins, Romulus and Remus. Rhea Silvia had been forced into the priesthood of the Vestal Virgins by her uncle, Amulius, who had usurped the throne of Alba Longa - a throne that rightfully belonged to her father, Numitor, whom Amulius had deposed and imprisoned. To secure his power, Amulius condemned Rhea Silvia to celibacy as a Vestal Virgin, hoping to prevent any heirs. However, while she slept, she was visited by Mars, the Roman god of war, who impregnated her with the twin sons.

After their birth, the infants were placed in a wicker basket and set adrift on the Tiber River to escape Amulius’s wrath. The basket became caught in the roots of a fig tree near the site of what would become Rome. There, the twins were famously discovered and nursed by a she-wolf. Later, they were found by the shepherd Faustulus, who brought them home and raised them with his wife. When they came of age, Romulus and Remus avenged their grandfather by killing Amulius and restoring Numitor to the throne of Alba Longa - before going on to found the city of Rome.