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Roman Republic, Denarius

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Roman Republic, Denarius (obverse) Roman Republic, Denarius (reverse)

In the 50's BC architectural designs became fashionable on Roman coins. The reverse of this denarius depicts the Villa Publica, built in the 5th century BC on the Campus Martius at the outskirts of Rome.

In 98 BC, the villa was restored by Titus Didius, to whom the legend T. DIDI. IMP. VIL. PVB. on the reverse refers. Presumably the issuer of this coin, Publius Fonteius Capito, was connected to him in some way.

The image of the goddess Concordia on the obverse had a current connotation. In 56 BC the conference of Lucca had taken place, a meeting where Gaius Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus had promised each other harmony (Lat. concordia), in order to continue to pull the political strings in Rome.

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