POMPEY THE GREAT (49-48 BC)

"The homeland is where freedom lies" According to Appian, these were the words Pompey the Great addressed to his legions before the Battle of Pharsalus. This coin, minted by proquaestor Varro for proconsul Pompey, celebrates the greatest achievements of the commander.

Jupiter Terminus, the divine guardian of boundaries, symbolizes the Senate’s grant of power to Pompey to save the Republic from Caesar. The images of a dolphin (Neptune) and an eagle (Jupiter) highlight Pompey’s most famous accomplishments at sea and on land: the defeat of the Cilician pirates in 66 BCE and the conquest of Mithridates VI of Pontus in 65 BCE.

The scepter represents the authority wielded by victorious generals, who were proclaimed imperator by their troops. Despite all this propaganda, Pompey the Great suffered defeat in the battle against Julius Caesar’s legions at Pharsalus in 48 BCE.