L.F. Sabinus - Rape of the Sabine women (S2389)
L.F. Sabinus - Rape of the Sabine women (S2389)
Apologies for the title, but that's exactly what this coin depicts.
L. TITURIUS L.F. SABINUS. Denarius (89 BC). Rome.
Obv: SABIN. Bareheaded and bearded head of King Tatius right; monogram to right.
Rev: L TITVRI. Two soldiers, facing each other, each carrying off a Sabine woman in his arms.
Crawford 344/1a.
Condition: good-very fine.
Weight: 3,7 g.
Diameter: 19 mm.
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The "Rape of the Sabine Women" is a legendary event in the early history of Rome, where the first generation of Roman men, lacking wives to establish families, organized a festival and invited neighboring Sabine people. During the festivities, the Romans abducted the Sabine women and forced them into marriage. The act led to a war between the Romans and Sabines, which eventually ended when the Sabine women, now wives and mothers of Roman children, intervened to broker peace, effectively merging the two communities. This narrative, albeit fraught with violence and patriarchal dynamics, was traditionally interpreted as a foundational myth explaining the growth and consolidation of Roman society.
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I am curious about how historians work out what coins like these represent? I am not challenging what is stated as being represented here, just looking to understand.
To me its difficult to make out what is even on the coin in terms of shapes and figures. Is there additional context used, like the event and the date the coin was created?
There are many ways to determine what is depicted on a coin, even if the quality leaves something to be desired. There are plenty of other coins made with the same dies. This is a nearly flawless example: https://www.harneycoins.com/post/the-rape-of-the-sabine-women-a-founding-myth-of-rome-on-my-latest-roman-denari
Furthermore, the same motif has been used in other artistic works outside of coinage, such as sculptures, mozaics, frescoes, ... The story of the rape of the Sabine women was already a popular founding myth (although probably not exactly taken literally, even then) so it wasn't really a surprise to see a scene of it popping up on coins. There are a myriad of such other mythical depictions, like the she-wolf with Romulus & Remus for example.
If someone were to find the particular coin depicted here without all that context, however, it would indeed be hard to make out exactly what's going on.
Thanks so much!
To add to this, Republican moneyers often used the office to create coins with motifs associated with both their gens (tribe/family), here Gens Tituria, and their family name, here Sabinus.
And so here we have a coin featuring King Tatius and the famous abduction (rape) of the Sabine women.