C. Licinius L.f. Macer | AR Denarius

Reference: RRC 354/1
Date: 84 BCE
Obverse: Bust of Vejovis seen from behind, with head turned to left and with thunderbolt in right hand. Border of dots. Multiple punch banker's marks
Reverse: C·LICINIVS·L·F / MACER: Minerva in quadriga, right, holding shield and reins in left hand and spear in right hand. Border of dots. Banker's mark on horse.
Mint: Rome
Size: 18.4 mm
Weight: 2.76 grams

Fantastic iridescent toning on this silver denarius from the famous Roman politician C. Licinius Macer during his early career as a mint official at Rome. Caius Licinius Macer (the mint official who designed and oversaw production of this coin) was a Roman praetor, historian, and poet known for his outspoken advocacy of plebeian rights. While his histories did not survive into the modern period, Livy and other Roman historians relied on them as source material, particularly for early Roman history. 

This coin is also interesting because it bears a depiction of the Italian (originally Etruscan) god, Vejovis, who is identifiable by his youth and the thunderbolt/pilum that he holds in his right hand. The Romans believed that Vejovis was one of the first gods to be born. He was a god of healing, and became associated with the Greek Asclepius. His worship seems to have never spread beyond Latium, making him a very Roman, Roman god.

Caius Licinius Macer was a bit of a firebrand and clashed with the so called "Optimates" during the final years of the Roman Republic. Below is an excerpt of a speech which the Roman historian, Sallust, alleges Macer made to the Senate in support of economic reforms to lessen oligarchical control: 

" Therefore all have now acquiesced in the domination of a few who, using the label of “military necessity”, have taken control of the treasury, the armed forces, the kings, and the provinces.  These people have erected a castle with your spoils; meanwhile you, just like cattle, surrender yourselves–a coherent group–to individual masters for their exploitation and amusement.  In such a way you have lost everything passed down to you by your ancestors, except the only thing left is that you can select by your votes what may once have been your protectors, but who are now your absolute masters…'So what, then, do you think should be done?', some of you will ask.  First of all you (I mean those who have sharp tongues but craven hearts) must stop indulging this habit of thinking that liberty doesn’t exist outside of houses of legislation.

Previously, my fellow citizens, each citizen was safeguarded by the community as a whole, rather than the community looking for protection from one single man.  No mortal man was able to give or to snatch away such things from you on a whim.  So enough words have been said.  For the issue is not closed out due to ignorance.  I am not sure, but it seems a kind of torpor has taken hold of you, so that you are roused neither by glory nor by shame.  You have given up everything for your current unworthiness.  You believe you have enough liberty because  your backs are spared from the lash, and because you are allowed to go here and there at the whim of your elite masters. And even these things the country people do not receive; they are killed in the power disputes of the elites and given as gifts to the magistrates in the provinces.  Their battles are fought, and their conquests are made, for the benefit of a select few:  as far as the plebians are concerned, no matter what the outcome is, they are seen as defeated.And more of this will happen on a daily basis as long as they take more care in preserving their domination than you do in seeking your freedom. " -- Historiae, III.48
Unfortunately, his history of Rome does not survive, but Livy and other Roman historians relied heavily on it for their accounts of the earlier periods of Roman history. (Cited from: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/remembering-the-roman-historian-c-licinius-l-f-macer.304220/)

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