Antoninus Pius, 138-161. As (Copper, 27 mm, 10.94 g, 12 h), Rome, circa 140. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P Laureate head of Antoninus Pius to right. Rev. TR POT COS III / S - C Mars, holding spear in his right hand and round shield in his left, descending right through the air to sleeping Rhea Silvia, reclining left on the ground, naked to waist and with her hands behind her head. BMC 1370. Cohen 885. RIC 694a. Rare and unusually attractive for this difficult issue, with an excellent reverse. Somewhat smoothed, 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.