My 2nd RR. Gens Furia

expat · June 17, 2023

Opened this morning.

Commemorative issue: Victories over Allobroges and Arverni
AR denarius 20.5mm, 3.01g. Rome 119 BCE

The gens Furia, originally Fusia, was one of the most ancient and noble patrician houses at Rome. Its members held the highest offices of the State during the period of the Roman Republic. The first of the Furii to attain the consulship was Sextus Furius Medullinus in 488 BC.

This coin commemorates the victories achieved in 121 BC by Consuls Domitius Ahenobarbus and Q.Fabius Maximus over the Allobroges and the Averni in Gaul.
The Roman Conquest of Southern Gaul, 125–121 BC
The Romans’ expansion in southern Gaul was intended to help its ally Massilia and open a land route to Roman possessions in Spain. In 121 bc the Allobroges were defeated at Vindalium, and a Gallic confederation was routed on the banks of the Isara. They were then taken under direct Roman control. Unlike the Arverni, who, after the defeat, negotiated a treaty allowing them independence although with their territory severely diminished.
RCV I# 156, RSC# 18, RRC# 281/1, CRR# 529

Post your Janus images or anything vaguely relevant

Edited June 17, 2023 by expat

DonnaML · June 17, 2023

Nice coin and good writeup, @expat. Here's my example of the same type:

Roman Republic, M Fovri L.f. Philus, AR Denarius 119 BCE. Obv. Laureate head of Janus, M•FOVRI•L•F around / Rev. Roma with Corinthian helmet standing left holding scepter, crowning trophy surmounted by helmet and flanked by carnyx and shield on each side, Gallic arms around; star above, ROMA to right, PHLI in exergue. RSC I Furia 18 (ill.), Crawford 281/1, Sydenham 529, Sear RCV I 156 (ill.), BMCRR Italy 555. 20.13 mm., 3.66 g. [According to Crawford (Vol. I p. 297), this reverse probably refers to "the defeat of the Allobroges and Arverni and the triumphs of 120."]

This coin doesn't actually depict Janus, but instead shows the Dioscuri with a single "Janiform" head:

Roman Republic, C. Fonteius, AR Denarius, 114-113 BCE. Obv. Laureate, Janiform head of the Dioscuri, control mark N under left chin [mark of value * (= 16) under right chin is worn off], one dot beneath head / Rev. Galley left with three rowers, gubernator (pilot) at stern, rudder beneath stern, apotropaic eye on side, three-pronged ram with wolf’s head above extending from prow, banners/streamers extending from stern, C • FONT above (N and T in monogram), ROMA below. Crawford 290/1, RSC I Fonteia 1 (ill.), Sear RCV I 167 (ill.), Sydenham 555, BMCRR Italy 597-616. 20 mm., 3.90 g. Ex Auctiones GmbH, eAuction 67, Lot 55, 15 March 2020; ex CNG Auction May 2012, Lot 293; ex Bruce R. Brace Collection.*

* According to H.A. Seaby in RSC I (at p. 48), the Janiform head on the obverse relates to the origins of the Fonteia gens -- which claimed as its founder Fons or Fontus, supposedly the son of Janus -- and the galley on the reverse relates to the naval exploits of the moneyer’s ancestor P. Fonteius Capito, who was praetor in Sardinia in 169 BCE. Crawford disagrees. (See Vol. I at p. 305.) He states that there is no good evidence for the existence of Fontus, and that the Janiform head should instead be regarded as that of the Dioscuri, because the gens Fonteia came from Tusculum, the chief cult-center of the Dioscuri in Latium. Crawford also states that the reverse is “doubtless” an allusion to the transmarine origin of Telegonus (the son of Ulysses and Circe), who was the legendary founder of Tusculum. Sear agrees with Crawford.

Bruce R. Brace "was a scholar and by many considered to be a dean of Roman Numismatics in Canada. Coins from his extensive collection were sold by CNG in 2012 and 2013." https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/an..._ex_bruce_r_brace_library/630746/Default.aspx . According to Google, he was the former General Chairman of the Canadian Numismatic Association, the recipient of their J.D. Ferguson Award in 1984, and the former honorary curator of the McMaster University Museum of Art coin collection, at least a portion of which is now known as the Bruce R. Brace Coin Collection.

And then there's Nero's coin depicting the Temple of Janus:

Nero, AE As, 65 AD Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate head right, [NER]O CAESAR • AVG • GERM IMP / Rev. Temple of Janus with closed double doors on right, garland hanging above doors, latticed windows and wall to left [flan flaw at wall], PACE P R VBIQ PARTA IANVM CLVSIT, S|C across fields. RIC I Nero 306, BMCRE I Nero 227, Sear RCV I 1974 (ill. p. 390), Cohen 171. 27 mm., 9.61 g., 7 h.

Speaking of the Temple of Janus, here's a British historical medal from the Mudie series:

Great Britain, Napoleon's Flight from Elba/Congress of Vienna, 1815 (struck 1820). Obv. French eagle with thunderbolt (symbolizing Napoleon) approaches the French coast, Isle of Elba in background, to left TEMPLUM. JANI (Temple of Janus), with four-sided Janus on corner of roof, its doors lying broken (symbolizing the breaking of peace). In exergue: XXVI. FEBRUARY MDCCCXV. / Rev. Mercury, displaying a scroll inscribed TO ARMS, flying over globe carrying the news of Napoleon's flight, DECLARATION OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. In exergue: XIII MARCH. By N.G.A. Brenet/ A.J. Depaulis. AE 41 mm., 41.8 g. Mudie 32, Eimer 1064, BHM 869, Bramsen II 1597.