Crawford 422/1b, Roman Republic, 58 BC., Marcus Aemilius Scaurus and Publius Plautius Hypsaeus, Denarius

Roman Republic (Rome mint 58 BC.), Marcus Aemilius Scaurus and Publius Plautius Hypsaeus.
Denarius (17-18 mm, 3,72 g), silver, axis about coin alignment ?? (ca. 200°),
Obv.: King Aretas of Nabataea, presenting olive branch in uplifted right hand, kneeling right beside camel which he holds by reins; above, in two lines, M SCAVR / AED CVR; in the field, [E]X - S C; in exergue, [REX ARE]TAS.
Rev.: Jupiter in fast quadriga left, holding reins and hurling thunderbolt; below horses, scorpion; above, in two lines, [P] HVPSAEVS AED CVR; in field right, CAPTV; in exergue, in two lines, [C] HVPSAE COS / [P]RElVE.
Crawford 422/1b ; Sydenham 913 ; Babelon (Plautia) 8, (Aemilia) 8.
toned, small flan, striking error at the left edge of the reverse, otherwise EF

Marcus Aemilius Scaurus was a Roman politician of the 1st century BC. Pompey the Great was briefly married to his sister Aemilia Scaura and, even after her death, he continued to take personal interest on the young man. During the Third Mithridatic War, Pompey asked for Scaurus by name to become his military tribune, and charged Scaurus, at the time quaestor with the responsibility for the Judea region. Scaurus moved to campaign against Aretas, but in 62 BC ended his campaign after accepting Aretas' nominal submission and payment of three hundred talents to Scaurus.On this coin Scaurus celebrates his victory over King Aretas III of the Nabateans. Aretas (Arabic: Haritha) was the Greek form of a name borne by kings of the Nabataeans resident at Petra in Arabia. Scaurus returned to Rome and was elected curule aedile a few years later, in 58 BC, with Publius Plautius Hypsaeus as his colleague. Together, they minted denarii showing the scene of the surrender of the Nabataean king Aretas III to Scaurus. What makes this coin unusual is that the issuer defeated King Aretas of Nabataea just a few years earlier so the coin commemorates his own success rather than that of an ancestor.

The coin was issued jointly with the other curile aedile who provided the design for the reverse. It is signed at the top P HYPSAE AED CVR and shows Jupiter in a quadriga trampling a scorpion. Publius Plautius Hypsaeus was a politician of the Roman Republic, a Praetor and ally of Pompey the Great. Hypsaeus was later tried under Pompey's retroactive laws on violence and corruption (52 BC) for bribery. The scene is explained by the legend in exergue and at the right C HYPSAE COS PREIVE CAPTV. The issuing aedile's ancestor, a consul, had captured the city Privernum in 329 BC. Perhaps it seemed necessary to name the ancestor honored by this side of the coin since the other side honored the aedile himself.