Lot 2148

Description

Republic, Mn. Cordius Rufus, (c.46 B.C.), silver denarius, Rome mint, obv. conjoined heads of the Dioscuri to right, each wearing pileus surmounted by star, RVFVS III VIR behind and below, dotted border, rev. Venus Verticordia standing to left holding scales and sceptre, Cupid on shoulders, MN CORDIVS behind, (S.320A, Cr.463/1b, Syd.976c, Cordia 1). Off centre on obverse, otherwise good very fine.

Venus Verticordia, the goddess who 'turns the hearts of men', to whom a temple was specially dedicated at Rome after the corruption of the vestal virgins, may not only be a punning allusion to the Cordia gens but may also refer to the family of Julius Caesar, which claimed its descent from Venus herself. The Cordia family came originally from Tusculum where there was a special cult of the Dioscuri.