205/1. Cornelia - denarius (151 BC)

AR fourre Denarius (Rome, 150 BC)

O/ Helmeted head of Roma right; X behind.

R/ Victory in biga right, holding whip and reins; P SVLA below; ROMA in exergue.

1.79g;17mm

Crawford 205/1 (83 obverse dies/104 reverse dies)

Publius Cornelius Sulla:

The Sullae belonged to the great patrician gens Cornelia, and are possibly only second in fame to the Scipiones, thanks to their most famous member, the Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix.  Our moneyer would be the Dictator's grandfather, of whom nothing is known.  Sulla's father was said to have left him in poverty (Plutarch, Sulla, 1), so something must have happened to our moneyer that prevented him from reaching senior magistracies, and his family must have suffered as a result. 

Collection : Roman Republic