![ROMAN REPUBLIC. A. Plautius, Denarius, 55 BC [ARR-43] - Image 2](https://colonialcoins.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/43-3-1.jpg)
Description
Roman Republic, Aulus Plautius of gens Plautī Silvānī, as aedīlis curūlis, Silver Denarius (3.80g, 17mm), Commemorative issue – Megalesia celebrations and the Judaean conquests of Pompey, Rome mint 55 BC. Obverse: Turreted head of Cybele (Magna māter) facing to the right, moneyer’s name “A PLAVTIVS” downward to right, “[A]ED· CVR· S·C” downward to left. Reverse: Bacchius Judaeus (Aristobulus II, High Priest and King of Judaea) kneeling to the right, holding reins in left hand and offering up olive branch with right, camel stands to the right by his side, “BACCHIVS” below, “IVDAEVS” upward to right. Crawford-431/1; Sydenham-932. An attractive piece of A. Plautius, struck in 55 BC during his time as Republican Moneyer and as one of the two aedīlēs curūlis, an office in charge of infrastructure and the organization of events, worn over high points, the reverse quite choice and well centred, lightly toned, a nice piece, Very Fine.
Aulus Plautius was a member of gens Plautīa, specifically the family branch of gens Plautī Silvānī, and was a prominent statesman towards the end of the Roman Republic, holding several magistracies over his career: tribūnus plēbis (Tribune of the Plebs) in 56 BC, aedīlis curūlis in 55 BC, praetor urbānīs in 51 BC, prōpraetor of Prōvincia Bīthȳnia et Pontus, and later as prōpraetor of Prōvincia Cyprus with proconsular command. He was a friend of the statesman Mārcus Tullius Cicerō (Cicero) and a supporter of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great), and was the father and grandfather of two honoymous men: his son, Aulus Plautius, a Senator who served as suffect consul of 1 BC, and, more noteably, his grandson, Aulus Plautius, Suffect Consul of 29 AD and governor of Prōvincia Pannonia, and later the Emperor Claudius’ appointed General in command of the Roman Invasion of Britannia. At the head of several legions, including legiō II Augusta which was commanded by the future Emperor Titus Flāvius Vespasiānus (Vespasian), the grandson Aulus Plautius conquered much of the southern portion of England and subsequently served as its first governor from 43 to 47 AD – following his retirement, he returned to Rome to an ovation, during which emperor Claudius himself walked by his side to and from the Capitol, demonstrating his high favour with the Julio-Claudian Emperor.
