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Roman World 1A image gobbet commentary
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Gobbet commentary on roman coin of Sextus Pompeius Fostlus in 137 BC
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Exam number: B2311075. Identify the key features of this coin and discuss its use as a historical source.
This object is a Roman denarius coin issued by the moneyer Sextus Pompeius Fostlus in 137
B.C, depicting the goddess Roma with a helmet and a jug on the obverse. This is a significant
historical source as it is a coin that is distinctively Roman, showing how their coinage shifted
from Greek and Hellenistic styles. The goddess Roma is the personification of Rome, while
also being a symbol of military strength with her armour.
On the reverse, it depicts the foundation myth of Romulus and Remus, with Fostlus’ ancestor,
the shepherd Faustalus who brought them up, leaning on a staff and raising his arm. It also
shows the she-wolf suckling the twins and birds in a fig tree. Romulus and Remus, the
children of Mars and Rhea Silvia were forced to be abandoned at birth at the River Tiber,
then saved and nurtured by a wolf. The twins then went on to overthrow their uncle Amulius
and Romulus founded Rome after he killed his brother during a dispute over an oracle. This
is an important historical source as the image outlines how Romulus and Remus were popular
icons and how people held great pride in believing these men were their ancestors, especially
since they were the sons of a god as this meant the Romans had divine ancestry and
protection. This is also an important historical source as it is one of the early examples of
coins being used to depict mythological scenes and allusions to ancestors to promote
themselves, a tradition that went on for centuries later - this demonstrates how the deification
of coins and art was a common strategy used by the elite in political propaganda1. This
highlights the competitive nature of being a politician at this time. This coin was minted after
the Punic Wars when Rome became the dominant maritime power in the Mediterranean and
gained control over the whole of the Italian peninsula by 338 BC. Thus, the nature of these
1
Noreña, C.F. (2011), ‘Coins and communication’, in M. Peachin (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Social
Relations in the Roman World, Oxford, 251
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