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Denarius Pomponia: Quintus Pomponius Musa, Q•POMPONI MVSA, Erato
| Issuer | Roman Republic (509 BC - 27 BC) |
|---|---|
| Year | 66 BC |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Standing draped female figure, identified as Erato, the Muse of lyric and love poetry, shown in three-quarter view facing slightly right. She holds a large lyre (kithara) at her side with both hands, the instrument resting on a low base or support. She wears a long chiton and himation, and a stephane or crown upon her head. The moneyer's legend Q·POMPONI to the left and MVSA to the right flanks the central figure vertically, identifying the issuing magistrate Quintus Pomponius Musa. |
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| Additional information |
Quintus Pomponius Musa issued a celebrated series of ten denarii in 66 BC, each reverse type depicting one of the nine Muses plus Hercules Musarum — a deliberate pun on his own cognomen. The series is exceptional for its ambition; no other moneyer of the Republic produced a coherent thematic set at this scale in a single issue. Erato, Muse of lyric poetry, is one of the more frequently encountered types within the group, though the complete ten-piece set remains genuinely difficult to assemble in matched condition.
The political motivation behind the series was almost certainly personal vanity dressed as cultural patronage, timed during a period when the college of moneyers still had latitude for individual expression before the late Republic tightened control over coin imagery.