Roman Republic

L. Sulla and L. Manlius Torquatus, Dictator and Moneyer 82 BC

Crawford 367/4; Sydenham 756; Calicó 16, Superb Extremely Fine

Military mint moving with Sulla. L · MANLI PRO · Q, head of Roma right, wearing crested helmet decorated with a wing, single-pendant earring, and ornate necklace. Reverse: L · SVLLA · IM in exergue, Sulla, holding branch and reins, driving triumphal quadriga right; above, Victory flying left, crowing him with wreath.

Ex Dr. Lawrence A. Adams Collection (Triton XIX, 5 January 2016), 2183; purchased privately from CNG in November 1992

Following his victory in the First Mithridatic War, the rogue consul L. Cornelius Sulla immediately returned to Italy to deal with the Marian party that opposed his hold on power. In 82 BC, Sulla marched on Rome for the second time in his career and defeated his enemies at the hard fought battle of the Colline Gate just outside the city. Sulla entered Rome as a triumphant general (depicted here) and met the Senate at the Temple of Bellona to be confirmed as dictator while 8,000 prisoners could be heard in the distance being executed on the Campus Martius. It was a chilling start to Sulla’s final dictatorship.