Obolos 31

Sex. Pompeius Fostlus, 137 BC. Denarius (Silver, 19 mm, 4.00 g, 12 h), Rome. Helmeted head of Roma to right; behind, jug; below chin, X (mark of value). Rev. SEX PO FOSTLVS / ROMA She-wolf standing right, head left, suckling Romulus and Remus; behind, the shepherd Faustulus standing to right; in background, birds in a fig tree (ficus Ruminalis). Babelon (Pompeia) 1. BMCRR 926-7. Crawford 235/1 a-c. RBW 972. Cabinet toning. Good very fine.

From a Swiss collection.

It was the childless shepherd, Faustulus, shown on the reverse of this coin holding his staff, who discovered the twins, Romulus and Remus, along the banks of the Tiber while they were being suckled by the she-wolf Lupa. He and his wife, Acca Laurentia, then raised the boys in their home as if they were their own. Years later, after Romulus had killed his brother in a fit of rage, he founded the city of Rome on the old family homestead.

The fig tree depicted in the background of the reverse-scene is the mythical ficus Ruminalis in whose branches the basked of the twins got stuck when floating down the river Tiber.