Junius Silanus issued this bronze as during the final months before the Social War erupted in 91 BC — a conflict in which Rome's Italian allies, denied citizenship after the assassination of the reformer Marcus Livius Drusus the Younger, took up arms against Rome itself. The moneyer's full designation, D•SILANVS L•F, identifies him as Decimus Silanus, son of Lucius, placing him within one of Rome's more durable senatorial families. Crawford dates the entire RRC 337 series to precisely this year, making it a snapshot of a mint operating in the last days of the pre-war Republic.
Junius Silanus issued this bronze as during the final months before the Social War erupted in 91 BC — a conflict in which Rome's Italian allies, denied citizenship after the assassination of the reformer Marcus Livius Drusus the Younger, took up arms against Rome itself. The moneyer's full designation, D•SILANVS L•F, identifies him as Decimus Silanus, son of Lucius, placing him within one of Rome's more durable senatorial families. Crawford dates the entire RRC 337 series to precisely this year, making it a snapshot of a mint operating in the last days of the pre-war Republic.