Senatus Consulto

The obverse of this coin has no text except ‘S.C’. This stands for the Latin Senatus Consulto: “by decree of the senate”, which means that the minting of these coins was sanctioned by the Roman Senate. Because neither the name of Faustus Sulla nor that of Pompey is depicted on this coin, the letters S.C. feature very prominently.

One might wonder if people looking at this coin associated the Senate’s approval only with the minting of these coins or also with their approval of Pompey as a leader.

Let’s see if the other side of this coin will make this clear.