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L.ROSCI FABATI (L. Roscius Fabatus) Serratus Denarius
Rome, 62 BC (re-dating by Michael Harlan)
Obvers: Head of Juno Sospita with goat skin. L.ROSCI
Revers: Girl and erected snake facing each other, below FABATI
Sear 363, Crawford 412/1, Albert 1329
Die estimation by Crawford: Obvers 240, Revers 241
The last serratus Denarius of the Roman Republic.
In Lanuvium origin of the moneyer, laid the center of the Juno Sospita cult which probably had included the feeding of a snake by virgins as chastity sample:
"In a grove is a vast deep cavern, the lair of a snake. On fixed holy days maidens bring barley cakes in their hands, their eyes bandaged. Divine inspiration guides them straight to the serpent at a gentle pace without stumbling. If they are virgin, the snake divines the answer and accepts the food, if not, it remains untasted. Ants break up the cakes of the deflowered girls and carry the pieces outside the grove and thus cleanse the spot. The people get to know the result and the girls are examined and the one who shamed her virginity is punished." (Aelian/On The Nature of Animals)
Collection : For sale