The Founding of Lanuvium

Somewhere along the way, Dionysius of Halicarnassus got it wrong - confusing Lanuvium and Lavinium.  Perhaps not surprising as both cities are within 30km of Rome, and the names are very similar.

Juno Sospita was a unique local manifestation of the Roman goddess Juno, often depicted with a horned goatskin helmet and shield. Her cult at Lanuvium played a central role in both local identity and wider Roman religious politics, especially as the city became fully integrated into the Roman state. This coin from 45 BC (with Juno Sospita on the obverse) - leaves no doubt about the Lanuvian origins of the Papia gens (family of the moneyer L. Papius Celsus).

Our moneyer may be the son of L. Papius the moneyer of Crawford 384 in 79BC (see The Last Days of Sulla) who also featured Juno Sospita on his coins.

Juno Sospita

Imperatorial Rome, L. Papius Celsus. 45 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.74g, 6h). Rome mint.

Obv: Head of Juno Sospita right, wearing goat skin headdress tied at neck; border of dots.

Rev: She-wolf standing right, placing stick on fire; to right, eagle standing left, fanning the flames. CELSVS III VIR L PAPIVS in exergue.

Ref: Crawford 472/1; Sydenham 964; CRI 82; Papia 2; RBW 1647.

Kindling of Rome's Greatness

The story of the wolf & eagle nurturing a spontaneous fire on the reverse is told by Dionysius of Halicarnassus and associated with the wrong city:

"While Lavinium was building, the following omens are said to have appeared to the Trojans. When a fire broke out spontaneously in the forest, a wolf, they say, brought some dry wood in his mouth and threw it upon the fire, and an eagle, flying thither, fanned the flame with the motion of his wings. But working in opposition to these, a fox, after wetting his tail in the river, endeavored to beat out the flames; and now those that were kindling it would prevail, and now the fox that was trying to put it out. But at last the two former got the upper hand, and the other went away, unable to do anything further.

Aeneas, on observing this, said that the colony would become illustrious and an object of wonder and would gain the greatest renown, but that as it increased it would be envied by its neighbors and prove grievous to them; nevertheless, it would overcome its adversaries, the good fortune that it had received from Heaven being more powerful than the envy of men that would oppose it."
-Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, 1.59.4-5

Aeneas was clearly a very imaginative fellow - kindling the greatness of Rome wouldn't have been my first thought upon seeing a spontaneous fire in the woods. 

The Triumphs of Caesar

The second coin from the same series and the same moneyer celebrates Julius Caesar's triumphs with a personified Triumphus (an unusual personification).  The only other coin I know of that might show Triumphus personified in Crawford 438 from Servius Sulpicius AR Denarius. Rome, 51 BC.  That coin not usually attributed as nothing more than a "draped figure standing on left".

Imperatorial Rome, L. Papius Celsus. 45 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.62g, 6h). Rome mint.

Obv: Head of Triumphus right, wearing helmet and trophy over shoulder; TRIVMPVS above.

Rev: She-wolf standing right, placing stick on fire; to right, eagle standing left, fanning the flames. CELSVS III VIR L PAPIVS in exergue.

Ref: Crawford 472/2; Sydenham 965.

In the years 46–44 BC, Julius Caesar solidified his control over the Roman state following his Civil War victory over Pompey’s faction. In 46 BC, after defeating the last Pompeian resistance at the Battle of Thapsus in North Africa, Caesar returned to Rome and celebrated multiple triumphs for his conquests in Gaul, Egypt, Asia, and Africa.

Caesar returned to Rome “in triumph". He served as sole consul in 45 BC (after his co-consul died), a unusual concentration of power. Triumphus (triumph personified) on this second coin certainly celebrates the triumphs of Julius Caesar. The laurel wreath crowning the head and the trophy (a display of captured arms) reinforce the theme of military conquest and celebratory triumph.

He reformed the calendar (the Julian calendar started on January 1, 45 BC) and expanded the Senate by including many new members. And in early 44 BC, he was appointed dictator perpetuo - Dictator for Life - before being assessinated on the the ides of March,

"Yet after all, his other actions and words so turn the scale, that it is thought that he abused his power and was justly slain. For not only did he accept excessive honours, such as an uninterrupted consulship, the dictatorship for life, and the censorship of public morals, as well as the forename Imperator, the surname of Father of his Country, a statue among those of the kings, and a raised couch in the orchestra; but he also allowed honours to be bestowed on him which were too great for mortal man: a golden throne in the House and on the judgment seat; a chariot and litter in the procession at the circus; temples, altars, and statues beside those of the gods; a special priest, an additional college of the Luperci, and the calling of one of the months by his name. In fact, there were no honours which he did not receive or confer at pleasure."
Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar 76 

L. Papius Celsus

Lucius Papius Celsus was the moneyer (issuer) of the denarius in 45 BC. He is known only from his coinage. He belonged to the plebeian gens Papia, and the cognomen Celsus indicates a branch of that family. The Papia gens had roots in Lanuvium, a Latin town about 32 km southeast of Rome, famed for the cult of Juno Sospita.

Sources:

• Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Roman Antiquities, 1.59. Accessed via LacusCurtius. "Dionysius' Roman Antiquities - Book I, Chapters 44.3–71."

• Suetonius. The Life of Julius Caesar, 76. In The Lives of the Caesars.

• Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 43–44. Accessed via LacusCurtius. "Cassius Dio - Book 44."

• Crawford, Michael H. Roman Republican Coinage. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974. No. 472/1–2.

• CoinWeek. “Juno on Ancient Coins - Roman Queen of the Gods.” CoinWeek, January 14, 2021.