are two kneeling figures, one presenting an olive branch, while the other is bound as a prisoner. This device alludes to the surrender of Jugurtha, the defeated king of Numidia, by Bocchus, king of Mauritania, with whom he had sought refuge.

EMILIA GENS.

A coin of the Emilian family, struck about the period above referred to, bears an interesting type relating to the tutorship of Ptolemy Epiphanes, King of Egypt, which was conferred upon the Romans; when M. Lepidus, one of that family, in 201 B.C., was appointed to the office, and is represented on this coin in the act of placing a crown upon the head of the youthful king. The inscription is TVTOR REGIS (guardian of the king), and beneath, M. LEPIDVS: the obverse has a turretted head, representing the city of Alexandria, with ALEXSANDREA. This coin was struck with the authority of the senate, as the S. C., (Senatus Consultum,) by decree of the senate, is placed in the upper part of the coin. The S. C. becomes universal on the copper coinage of the empire, as of that of the money of the truly national standard, while it is seldom or never found on the gold and silver after the reign of Augustus, the coinage of those metals becoming the exclusive privilege of the emperors.* Another coin of this family represents

M. Lepidus on horseback, with the inscription "M. Lepidus annorum XV. prætextatus hostem occidit, civem servavit," signifying that M. Lepidus, at the age of fifteen, when he still wore the toga pretexta,† killed an enemy, and saved the

* See Chapter on regulation of Roman coinage, &c.

+ The toga pretexta was a robe bordered with purple, which the Roman youth wore till their fifteenth year, after which they assumed the toga virilis.

life of a citizen. A public statue was decreed by the senate to the youthful hero for this exploit. The head on the

obverse is probably that of Venus Victrix.

The type of the latter coin is repeated on coins of the triumvir Lepidus. Another coin of this family commemorates the victory of Paulus Æmilius Lepidus over Perseus, the last king of Macedon, when that kingdom became a Roman province. Lepidus stands at the side of a trophy in an attitude of command, and Perseus and his two sons as prisoners on the other. Above is the word TER, signifying, possibly, that the triumph accorded to Paulus Æmilius for his final campaign in Macedonia lasted three days. Another coin of the same family represents the subjection of Aretas, king of Arabia, by M. Æmilius Scaurus. The country is ingeniously typified by the camel, besides which Aretas is seen kneeling and presenting an olive branch. The number of coins of this family recording ancestral deeds may be accounted for by the triumvirate of Lepidus, during which, most probably, the greater number of them were struck.

PLAUTIA GENS.

The coins of the family of Plautia commemorate the capture of Hypersæus, and several heads of persons they claimed as ancestors also render them interesting, such as those of Numa, Tatius, Ahala, &c.

CLAUDIA GENS.

The first of the plebeian family Claudia who bore the name of Marcellus, was the Roman general who took Syracuse, and reduced Sicily to the condition of a Roman province. In his earlier career in Gaul he had slain with his own hand Britomartus, the Gallic leader, in an engagement of cavalry. At a subsequent triumph which was decreed to him by the Senate, the magnificent arms and armour of Britomartus were carried before him as a trophy, and were afterwards dedicated by him as spolia opima in the Temple of Jupiter-the third and last time in Roman history that such an offering was made.

A coin, supposed to be struck by his descendant Cornelius P. Sertulus Marcellinus, consul, in 18 B.C., records both the conquest of Sicily and the slaying of the Gallic chieftain. The obverse has the portrait of the conqueror of Sicily, accompanied by the Sicilian symbol, the triquetra, *with the name of the person under whose auspices the coin was struck, MARCELLINVS; the reverse exhibiting Marcellus, covering his head with his toga after the manner prescribed in religious ceremonies, in the act of depositing the spolia opima in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius.

Coin of the Claudian

Family.

The branch of the Claudian family bearing the surname of Marcellus became very influential on the accession of Augustus to supreme power, in consequence of the previous marriage of his sister Octavia to one of that family, whose son Marcellus was at one time intended as the successor of Augustus, having married his cousin Julia, the daughter of the emperor; but he died at the early age of twenty, universally regretted for his great virtues and accomplishments. It was at this period probably that the great events of the Marcellian branch of the Claudian family were placed on the coinage by different members of the family at that time holding office in the mint.

TITURIA GENS.

A coin of the Titurian family, represents the maid Tarpeia crushed by the shields of the Sabine soldiers, to whom she had betrayed the Capitol, and who had promised her the "ornaments" they wore upon their arms (frequently gold torques) as the price of her treachery. Disgusted with her want of patriotism, though profiting by it, they cast upon her their shields, also worn upon the arms, and so caused the death of the betrayer, as shown on the coin. This coin appears older than the era of the general class in which I have placed it; but it does not on that account invalidate the principle of classification I have adopted; as

• See coins of Sicily.

the type is national rather than referring to the story of a particular family. The same observations refer also to another of the family series, that with the type of the Dioscuri watering their horses by moonlight at the fountain, after the battle at Lake Regillus. The first of these coins was struck by Lucius Titurius Sabinus, who was of Sabine origin.

A COIN BEARING THE FAMILY NAME NUMMONIA.

This coin was struck in honour of Caius Nummonius Valla by one of his descendants. He appears as a Roman fighting his way single-handed into an enemy's intrenched camp, and it would seem, received his surname Valla, from the vallum, or palisade, which he forced, as represented on the coin. This is one of the family coins which, as historic records were recoined by Trajan.

Gold coin of C. N. Valla.

A COIN OF L. PLAUTIUS PLANCUS.

On a coin of this family the following types and inscriptions are found. On the obverse a female mask resembling the head of Medusa, with the inscription PLANCVS; and on the reverse a winged figure of Aurora, leading the four horses of the sun. These types have been explained by the following legend of the early times of Rome. The tibicines, or pipers, who were indispensable to the ceremonial of public festivals, having taken offence at an edict of the censor, Appius Claudius, quitted the city, and retired to Tibur, the modern Tivoli. The primitive Romans were much distressed at this revolt of the state orchestra, and in the following censorship, that of Plautius, a stratagem was resorted to by which the indignant pipers were restored to their admiring public. Plautius himself went to Tibur, and after making friends as a stranger with the self-exiled musicians, invited them to supper, where the plentiful supply of strong wine in due time produced that pleasing

excitement, during which the votary of Bacchus is not altogether clearly cognisant of passing events, or their significance. Plautius seized this moment to present each piper with a mask, so that no one could recognise the other, and so disguised, persuaded them all to enter a waggon and take a nocturnal promenade, to which the excited musicians were no wise averse. As the day broke the waggon and its inmates entered the gates of Rome, and when, as each removed his mask, he found himself accompanied by his brother pipers, and the waggon surrounded by old friends vociferating their cordial greetings at the happy return of their beloved musicians, not one of them could resist the influences of the moment, and amidst general hilarity the musicians were re-installed in all their former dignities, and a yearly festival was appointed to celebrate for ever the happy event. This simple legend of the primitive manners of the early Romans might still find its like in remote corners of Europe, where rustic festivities are observed in commemoration of events, quite as simple and patriarchal in their character.

Plancus, whose name appears upon the coin in question, claimed descent from the ingenious censor, in allusion to which he placed the mask on one side of his coins, and on the other Aurora, the latter type denoting the hour at which the return to Rome took place.

MARCIA GENS.

Coins struck under the influence of the Marcian family, which claimed descent from Aucus Martius, have the portrait of Ancus Martius on the obverse, with ANCVS, and on the reverse, the aqueduct which carried the stream of water called the Aqua Marcia, to Rome. It was one of the most important monuments of its class, and was constructed by the Prætor Q. Marcius in B. c. 145; the letters A. Q. V. A. M. occur between five arches of the aqueduct, which is sur'mounted by an equestrian statue. The inscription PHILIPPVS refers to a surname borne by a branch of the family.