Lot 364: L. Aemilius Lepidus Paullus. 62 B.C. AR denarius. Rome.

L. Aemilius Lepidus Paullus. 62 B.C. AR denarius (18 mm, 4.00 g, 6 h). Rome. PAVLLVS · LEPIDVS CONCORDIA, veiled and diademed head of Concordia right / TER above, [PAVLLVS] in exergue, trophy; to left, three captives (King Perseus of Macedon and his two sons) standing right; to right, Paullus standing left. Crawford 415/1; Sydenham 926; Aemilia 10. Toned, shallow banker's mark on obverse, deposits on reverse. Nearly very fine. 

The reverse portrays the moneyer's ancestor, the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus, who defeated King Perseus of Macedon at Pydna in 168 B.C., thus ending the Third Macedonian War and, effectively, Hellenistic Macedonia as an independent political entity. The previous consuls whom Rome had sent to subdue the Macedonians were untried in military command and completely ineffective, and it was only Perseus' persistent lack of military intelligence that prevented a total rout of the Roman legions. Matters changed with the arrival of Aemilius Paullus on the scene, as he was an experienced commander who had fought extensively in the Hanniballic Wars. After the defeat of Macedonia, he went on to conquer Epirus, laying waste seventy of its towns and taking 150,000 captives as slaves. Back in Rome, the Senate awarded him a splendid triumph, and the title of Macedonicus.

• Offered By: Barry P. Murphy
• Lot #: 364
• Listing #: 227425
• Closed: Friday, September 28, 2018 5:00:30 PM CT
• Estimate: $75