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AR Denarius (Rome, 128 BC)
O/ Helmeted head of Roma right; wreath behind; ROMA below.
R/ Victoria in biga right, holding reins in both hands; corn-ear below; T CLOVLI in exergue.
3.76g; 19mm
Crawford 260/1 (65 obverse dies/81 reverse dies)
- Naville Numismatics Live Auction 40, lot 483.
Titus Cloelius:
The gens Cloelia (spelled here Cloulia) was originally patrician; its main branch was the Siculi, but it died out during the second century BC.
Our moneyer could be the Titus Cloelius from Terracina mentioned by Cicero in Pro Roscio Amerino (64-65). Cicero tells that he was murdered and his two sons subsequently accused, but finally absolved as they had been found sleeping nearby; the judges thought it was impossible for someone who had just committed parricide to find rest. His son Titus was also moneyer in 98 BC (Crawford 332).
T. P. Wiseman* showed that the Cloelii belonged to the Populares, as the corn-ear on the reverse alludes to the corn-dole, which in this context would refer to the Gracchi's social program. Titus' son was also recorded as a Marian legate in 83.
* T. P. Wiseman, "T. Cloelius of Tarracina," in Classical Review, n°17, 1967, pp. 263–264.
Collection : Roman Republic