L. Cornelius and C. Claudius Marcellus denarius -49

This silver denarius was minted in the spring of 49 BC, at the height of the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey. Issued by the Pompeian consuls L. Cornelius Lentulus and C. Claudius Marcellus, it accompanied Pompey's army on its journeys to the East, serving to finance the military effort and assert the legitimacy of the senatorial camp. Its iconography is very telling: the triskele evokes Sicily, a strategic region for the supply of wheat, while the winged head of Medusa symbolises protection and power. On the reverse, Jupiter holding the thunderbolt and the eagle embodies divine authority and the defence of republican order. This coin is thus much more than a simple means of payment: it bears witness to a decisive moment when the Roman Republic was tipping towards the end of its political equilibrium.