Marsic Confederation

Triton XX, Lot: 511. Estimate $2500. Sold for $2500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

The Social War. Coinage of the Marsic Confederation. 90-88 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.55 g, 8h). Mint in Campania; C. Paapius C.f. Mutilus, moneyer. Series 4. Draped bust of Mars right, wearing slight beard and crested Corinthian helmet with plume at side; viteliú (in Oscan) to left; behind neck, x (mark of value) with pellet above and below / Oath-taking scene: youth kneeling left, head right, holding pig, at which four standing soldiers (two on each side) point their swords; c. paapii. c. (in Oscan) in exergue. Campana, Monetazione, Series 4, 83 (D53/R72); Sydenham 637; HN Italy 425; BMCRR Social War 35–6; Kestner –; RBW 1225 (same dies). Good VF, toned, test cut on edge, old scratches under tone.

The revolt of Rome's Italian allies (socii, hence ‘Social War’) broke out toward the close of the year 91 BC and was the culmination of longstanding grievances occasioned by the Senate's inept handling of foreign relations. The Marsi were especially prominent in this movement, hence the name ‘Marsic Confederation,’ which is often applied to the rebel state. The main fighting was in the years 90-89 BC and the rebellion assumed alarming proportions when both consuls for 90 BC were defeated by rebel armies. Rome appeared to be in serious danger of defeat, but the movement collapsed as suddenly as it had begun. The victory was probably achieved largely through the political concession of granting Roman citizenship to the enemy. Thereafter, all of Italy south of the Po was united by this common bond. The coinage of the Marsic Confederation is of great interest, consisting principally of silver denarii, some of which bear the names of the rebel generals. This exceptional specimen records a certain Gaius Paapius [Mutilus], consul of the rebel state and commander of the Samnite forces. Mutilus was defeated by Sulla in the later stages of the war and his subsequent history is uncertain, though it is possible that he survived to extreme old age when a wealthy man described as “a leader of the Samnites during the Social War” was proscribed by the Triumviral government in 43 BC (cf. Appian, Civil Wars, iv. 25). The reverse depicts an oath-taking scene symbolizing the unity of the confederation of Italian states. Interestingly, the entire coin type is closely modeled on an issue of the moneyer Tiberius Veturius whose coinage is dated by Crawford (234/1) to circa 137 BC. Veturius' reverse shows two soldiers taking the oath and is generally interpreted as referring to an agreement made with the Samnites in 321 BC (treaty of Caudium). This would have made it especially appropriate for an issue of the Samnite leader in the Social War.