The capture of Perseus

The officials named on Roman republican coins sometimes took the opportunity to publicise their relative’s acts from times past. An example of this is on the following coin.

Struck in 62 BC by Paullus Lepidus the obverse features a veiled head of Concordia, surrounded by the moneyer’s name. The moneyer was a supporter of Cicero who had the concordia ordinum as a central feature of his policies.

The reverse, however, is rather interesting (to me at least). It depicts a tophy of arms with a large figure and two small ones to the left and another large figure on the right.

The legend TER(tius) above and PAVLLVS below and commemorates the third imperatorial titles (or victories) of L Aemilius Paullus, the large figure on the right, an ancestor of Paullus Lepidus.  His last and greatest claimed victory was in 168 BC over Perseus, the last King of Macedon and his half brother, Philippus, and also his son Alexander at the battle of Pydna. It is these figures that we see on the left of the trophy. Alexander was kept in custody at Alba Fucens, together with his father. He became a skillful toreutes, learned the Latin language, and became a public notary.

The coin at the top of this note is for sale and can be purchased by following the link to Mauseus on vCoins HERE.

The triumph of Aemilius Paullus - Carle Vernet (1789)

In the footsteps of the legionaries

Having just got back from a rather damp expedition to the Lake District to walk in the footsteps of the legionaries I was reminded of an expedition earlier this summer in better weather to trek another Roman road. We were on holiday and took a day to visit the Roman road on Wheeldale Moor on the North York Moors.

After some initial exploratory clearing in the 1890’s, the currently extant section was uncovered by archaeologists between 1912 and 1920 and runs for approximately 1.2 miles (just under 2km).

There is no clear consensus on the route of any portion of the structure extending beyond that already excavated. It is most commonly conjectured that the structure originally linked the Roman practice forts at Cawthorne Camps with the Roman garrison fort at Lease Rigg, south west of Sleights. However, there is little if any archaeological evidence for this since it has not been excavated. Even more uncertainly, it is conjectured that the original length of the road may have stretched all the way from Derventio Brigantum (possibly modern-day Amotherby near Malton) to Roman coastal fortifications and signal stations near Whitby, possibly passing northward from Malton via Stape and crossing the River Esk at Grosmont.


The extant secition of the structure appears to show a continuous surface metalled with closely fitted slabs of dolomitic limestone with flat upper surfaces, sitting on top of cut turf over black peat. The use of dressed stone rather than gravel as a surface dressing is held to be either a sign against its Roman construction (it being instead either very late Roman when standards of construction were slipping, or else pre-Roman), or alternatively a fact that can be explained by the original gravel surface having washed away through weathering and the stones that remain representing what was originally underlying support rather than the original surface dressing.

Due to the boggy nature of the ground, the structure is crossed by numerous drainage culverts with small becks and water runoff trickling through them.

The Sacellum Genii Senatus

The shrine of the Genius of the Roman Senate is a coin type from the reign of Antoninus Pius known from coins dated 158-9 AD.

The depiction is of a cult statue of the “Genius” or spirit of the Senate on a pedestal, togate and holding a branch and wand. All this is framed by columns and a domed ceiling.

The actual location of the shrine in Rome is not known, although it could have been part of the palatine complex. Nor is the reason for the type being used only in 158-9 known.

The scarce dupondius (RIC 1014) at the top of this note is for sale and can be purchased by following the link to Mauseus on vCoins HERE.