Roman Republic (Rome mint 128 BC.), moneyer Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (or Cnaeus Domitius Calvinus?).
Denarius (18-19 mm, 3,88 g), silver, axis irregular alignment ?? (ca. 50°),
Obv.: Head of Roma with winged helmet r., behind, grain ear; mark of value ? (monogram XVI = 16 As ) under chin.
Rev.: ROMA / CN. DOM , Victory in galloping biga right, holding crown in right hand and reins in left hand; below, a hunter standing to the right, brandishing a javelin in the face of an attacking wild dog or lion.
Crawford 261/1 ; Syd. 514 ; B. Domitia 14.
For this type Crawford found an estimate of 71 obverse dies and 89 reverse dies.
The moneyer seems to be the grandson of the consul of 162 BC who had the same name. He is also the son of the consul of 122 BC, proconsul the following year. He was to triumph over Bituit, the king of the Arvernes, create the province of Narbonnaise (Provincia) and founded Narbonne in 118 BC. Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus was tribune of the plebs in 104 BC and consul in 96 BC with Caius Cassius Longinus, then finally censor in 92 BC with Lucius Licinius Crassus.
David Sear had doubts depending on whether it is Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus or Cneius Domitius Calvinus. The ambiguity of this coin is based on the small character who fights against a dog or a lion. During the war which opposed him to the Romans, king Bituit would not have hesitated to launch hordes of wild animals against the Roman legions and the ancient authors had made the connection between this anecdote and the reverse of this denarius. Although traditionally attributed to Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus, one of the founders of Narbonne, it can in no way refer to the war which opposed the Romans to the Arvernian coalition which was finally crushed in 121 BC after three years of war. It cannot refer to an event seven years later.
This coin may also refer to the traditional presents of a Roman aedil to the people: Games (man fighting the lion) and bread (grain corn ear on obv.).
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