P. Fonteius Capito. 55 BC. AR Denarius

P. Fonteius Capito. Denarius, Rome, 55 BC. AR, 3.77 g, 17.4 mm, 8 h.

Obv. Veiled and diademed head of Concordia right; around, [P·FON]TEIVS·CAPITO·III·VIR·CONCORDIA.

Rev. The Villa Publica at Rome, a colonnaded building with two turrets; to left, inscription T·DIDI downward; below, IMP; to right, VIL·PVB upward.

Refs: Crawford 429/2a; Babelon Didia 1, Fonteia 18; Sydenham 901.

Struck by P. Fonteius Capito during his tenure as moneyer in 55 BC, this issue reflects both familial commemoration and contemporary politics. The obverse type of Concordia is a conventional but pointed appeal to civic harmony, much invoked yet seldom realised in the years of the uneasy compact between Pompey, Crassus and Caesar. The reverse presents the Villa Publica on the Campus Martius, the ancient headquarters of the censors and a place where ambassadors were received and the census undertaken. Its appearance on the coinage emphasised Rome’s civic institutions and their oversight of magistrates.

The accompanying inscriptions recall T. Didius, an ancestor of the family named at left, while the legends IMP and VIL·PVB highlight both imperium and the civic function of the building. The design thereby married family distinction with a broader Republican symbolism, presenting the moneyer as rooted in Rome’s traditions at a moment when such traditions were under considerable strain. Struck in the year of Pompey and Crassus’ second consulship, it forms part of the wider late Republican practice of employing coinage to assert legitimacy and advertise family renown.