One year before war

Issued in 50 BCE, this coin was minted in a troubled world, with a divided society on the edge of a civil war. One year later in 49 BCE, Caesar would cross the Rubicon and for the next twenty years the Roman world would sink into terror and bloodshed. When the war ended, the world had changed: the republican system was replaced by a monarchical one and for the next three centuries the power lay in the hands of a single man. It is on the verge of this war that our coin was struck in Rome. Political tensions were high and the politicians troubled. The Roman Republic was ruled by an aristocratic elite, which was divided into two parties. The person responsible for issuing this coin, Publius Cornelius Lentullus Marcellinus, was affiliated with one of the leaders of that time: the famous Gaius Julius Caesar. In 50 BCE Caesar and his troops were stationed in Gaul, whereas his main rival, Pompey, had the support of the Senate, located in Rome. But not everybody in Rome was against Caesar: Marcellinus held the public office of a mint master, which meant he was responsible for producing money. And by choosing certain specific designs in his coins, he tried not only to defend Caesar’s actions, but also to glorify the history of his family…