C. Clodius C.f. Vestalis, 43 BC. Aureus (Gold, 20 mm, 8.10 g, 10 h), Rome. C•CLODIVS - C•F• Draped bust of Flora to right, wearing wreath of flowers and pendant earring; in field to left, lily. Rev. VESTALIS Vestal virgin, veiled, seated left on stool, holding culullus (two-handled bowl) in her right hand. Babelon (Claudia) 12. Bahrfeldt 73. Calicó 10. Crawford 512/1. CRI 316. RBW 1788. Sydenham 1134. Very rare. Beautifully centered and struck on a very broad flan, an excellent piece and surely among the finest known examples of this difficult issue. Minor marks and a few faint scratches, otherwise, about extremely fine.


Traditionally dated by Crawford to 41 BC, the coinage of C. Clodius Vestalis has been reassigned by Bernhard Woytek to 43 BC, a chronology now widely accepted in numismatic literature. The revised date places the issue in one of the most turbulent years of the late Republic, following Caesar’s assassination and in the year that would see the formation of the Second Triumvirate and the beginning of the proscriptions. Against this background, the types chosen by the moneyer are strikingly traditional and personal: the obverse depicts Flora, crowned with flowers, while the reverse shows a seated Vestal Virgin holding a culullus.

The latter is generally identified as Claudia, daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher, consul in 143 BC, whose sacred status as a Vestal famously enabled her to protect her father during his disputed triumph. Her appearance may also allude to the moneyer’s cognomen Vestalis, linking the issue to ancestral prestige and religious tradition. At a time when Roman politics was increasingly dominated by military power and civil conflict, such an appeal to family memory and the ancient religious institutions of the Republic was particularly pointed.