Roman Republic Denar 55 v. Chr. moneyer Quintus Cassius Longinus VF

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Roman Republic (Rome mint 55 BC.), moneyer Quintus Cassius Longinus.
AR Denarius (17-18 mm, 3,86 g), silver, axis about coin alignment ↑↓ (ca. 170°),
Obv.: head of young Jupiter (or Bonus Eventus or Genius Populi Romani ?) right, scepter behind.
Rev.: eagle on thunderbolt, lituus on left and jug on right; in exergue, [Q.] CASSIV[S].
Crawford 428/3 ; Sydenham 916 ; Babelon (Cassia) 7 ; BMCRR Rome 3868 .

Quintus Cassius Longinus, the brother or cousin of Cassius (the murderer of Julius Caesar), was one of the tresviri monetales of the Roman mint in 55 BC. Cassius was also a governor in Hispania. He served as a quaestor of Pompey in Hispania Ulterior in 54 BC. In 49 BC, as tribune of the people, he strongly supported the cause of Caesar, by whom he was made governor of Hispania Ulterior. He treated the provincials with great cruelty. 47 BC Cassius was wrecked in a storm at the mouth of the Iberus (Ebro), in which he was killed.

The identity of the head on the obverse is in doubt. The sceptrum, fulmen and aquila point to this being the bust of a young Jupiter, for whom such insignia are normally reserved. The priestly implements on the reverse likely allude to an ancestor of the moneyer who belonged to the college of pontiffs, and if we take the symbolism of this coin to be in reference to Jupiter, then it is probable that this coin is in reference to a family member who was once Flamen Dialis, (high priest of Jupiter), a position of great importance and privilege in Rome that entitled the holder of that office to many honours and to a seat in the Senate.

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