The Abduction of the Sabine Women

237, Lot: 299. Estimate $100. Sold for $74. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

L. Titurius L.f. Sabinus. 89 BC. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.95 g, 7h). Rome mint. Bare head of King Tatius right; palm frond below chin / Two Roman soldiers, carrying off the Sabine women. Crawford 344/1b; Sydenham 698a; Tituria 2. VF, toned, some roughness.

From the Collection of Professor L. Fontana.

Allegedly occurring early in Rome’s history, the abduction of the Sabine women was an effort to provide wives to many of Romulus’s mostly male followers. After first unsuccessfully negotiating with the Sabines, Romulus then devised a festival which would be attended by many of Rome’s neighbors. At Romulus’s signal, the women were seized and the Sabine men were driven away, with the women ultimately being made citizens with civic and property rights, and the would-be mothers of free men.