Pirates!

In this small corner of the coin, we can see a strange wing shape. This is an aplustre - an ornament found on ancient Greek and Roman ships. It was located high above the stern and spread out like a fan. The question is, what is it doing on this coin?

The Cilician pirates dominated the Mediterranean Sea in the time of Pompey. They had been a nuisance to the Roman senate, and by his time many campaigns had been staged against them. Finally, Pompey was sent out to deal with them, having been granted an extraordinary force and rights over the Mediterranean. Pompey routed the pirates in a mere 89 days by a divide-and-conquer-strategy. Pirates who surrendered to him personally were treated with clemency, and they, in turn, betrayed the places where their fellow pirates were hiding.

Once the campaign was done, Pompey spared many of the pirates after realizing they were driven to desperation. He sent the pirates to Asia Minor, and many new settlements were founded. Not only did this episode show Pompey’s leniency, but it also marked him as one of the key players on the Roman political stage.

After the pirates had attacked the port of Ostia and Pompey was granted emergency powers to deal with them, he was also given the position of praefectus annonae (“prefect of the provisions”). The Roman official given this role was in charge of managing the daily dole of grain. He succeeded in this role by ensuring the grain supply would keep being imported uninterrupted by pirate attacks- hence the corn-ear at the bottom right of the reverse of the coin.

Want to know more about Rome’s relationship with grain? Then click below.