
The Mounted Dioscuri Charge to the Defense of Rome
This reverse of a Roman Republican denarius depicts Castor and Pollux mounted on proud steeds and riding towards the right. In their hands they carry long spears while military cloaks trail behind them in the wind. Castor and Pollux, known as the Dioscuri or Heavenly Twins, were believed to be protectors of Rome from the earliest days in Latium when Rome was a tiny city on the Palatine Hill. The Palatine was one of the seven hills that were later enclosed by the walls of Rome, the Eternal City. The reverse legend on this coin reads C.SCR ROMA. It is an abbreviation of C. Scribonius, the name of the moneyer and identifies the issuing city as Rome. This well struck but worn example is about 21mm in diameter
The coin is listed in Seaby's Roman Silver Coins Vol I and by Cohen as Scribonia I.