Roman Republic Silver Denarius 102BC C. Fabius C.f. Hadrianus

Roman Republic Silver AR Denarius 102 B.C.

Moneyer: C. Fabius C.f. Hadrianus

Obverse: Bust of Cybele, right, wearing turreted crown and veil. Border of dots.

Reverse: C·FABI·C·F, Victory in biga, right, holding reins in left hand and goad in right hand, accompanied by stork (or flamingo?) below. Border of dots.

Date: 102 B.C., RRC (Crawford) 322/1a

Size: 21mm diameter, 3.89g weight

Composition: Silver

Bent flan (see edge picture and video), banker's mark on reverse

Cybele was an ancient Anatolian (Phyrgian) mother goddess. She was adopted by Greek colonists in Asia Minor, who spread her worship to mainland Greece. The Romans adopted her in the late 200s B.C. after an oracle recommended her recruitment as a religious ally in Rome's second war against Carthage. The Romans reinvented her as a Trojan princess, tying her to their own ancestral history as supposed descendants of the Trojans.