Coin (reverse), Denarius

This silver denarius was minted in Rome in 115 or 114 BC. Unusually for denarii, coins of this issue do not list the name of the moneyer responsible them, but a date can be ascertained based on the designs. This picture shows the reverse of the coin.

The reverse portrays the goddess Roma holding a spear while seated on a pile of shields, a helmet lying to the side. On the right, the She-wolf is suckling the twins Romulus and Remus. On either side of Roma a bird is flying.

According to legend, the twins Romulus and Remus were thrown into the river Tiber, where they were rescued and nursed by a wolf. They were found by a shepherd who raised them. Later, they founded Rome, but Remus was killed in a quarrel over seniority.

The Roman currency system included the denarius (plural: denarii), a small silver coin, as the most common coin in circulation. Classical historians regularly say that in the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire the daily wage for a laborer was one denarius. The denarius was first struck in 211 BC during the Roman Republic, valued at 10 asses, giving the denarius its name which translates to "containing ten". In 118 BC it was re-tariffed at 16 asses, to reflect the decrease in size of the As. The As was a bronze or copper coin. The denarius continued to be the main coin of the empire until it was replaced by the antoninianus in the middle of the 3rd century AD.

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