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Denarius SICILIA, Carthage and Medusa
| Issuer | Lucius Clodius Macer |
|---|---|
| Year | 68 |
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| Currency | Denarius, Reform of Augustus (27 BC – AD 215) |
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| Obverse description | Turreted and draped bust of Carthago facing right, personifying the city of Carthage, with a mural crown adorning the head. A cornucopiae appears in the field behind the bust, symbolizing prosperity. The surrounding Latin legend reads L C MACRI CARTHAGO S C, invoking the authority of the Senate and the name of the issuer, Lucius Clodius Macer. The portrait is rendered in the hammered style characteristic of the brief usurpation coinage of AD 68, with bold if somewhat irregular relief. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Lucius Clodius Macer, legate of Africa Proconsularis, struck this denarius in 68 AD during his brief rebellion against Nero — and, as it turned out, against Galba as well. He controlled Rome's primary grain supply from North Africa and used that leverage aggressively, reportedly threatening to starve the capital into submission. Galba had him assassinated before the year was out, ending what amounted to an independent military coinage of only a few months' duration.
RIC I 23 is among the rarer numbered types in this small series, which survives in far fewer examples than the parallel Vespasianic and Galbic issues of the same civil war year.