Ave!

L. Papius Celsus, Denarius, She Wolf reverse, Scarce!

AR;18mm/3.6gm        Mint of Rome - 45 BC

Con/ Sharply struck with fresh dies but, sadly, off-centered, otherwise, Good Very Fine. Toned.

Obv/ Head right of Juno Sospita, wearing goat-skin headdress.

Rev/ She-wolf right adding kindling to fire; to right (off flan), eagle left fanning flames.

Ref/ SYD 964

Seller's Note/ Juno Sospita was a Roman goddess, specifically an aspect of Juno, the queen of the gods, who was revered as a protector and savior, particularly in times of war and for the state. She was closely associated with Lanuvium, a Latin town south of Rome, and later became a protector of Rome itself. She was often depicted wearing a horned goatskin helmet and carrying a spear and shield, signifying her role as a warrior goddess. 

The curious scene depicted on the reverse of this type refers, not only to  to a foundation myth for the city of Lanuvium, parent city of Rome. According to a legend related by Dionysius of Halicaranassus in Roman Antiquities, the hero Aeneas saw a fire burning in a nearby forest and went to investigate. As he drew closer, he saw the fire was being fed by a she-wolf, who was dropping sticks into the blaze, while an eagle standing nearby fanned it with his wings. A fox kept intruding, trying to snuff out the fire by wetting his tail in a nearby stream and beating the flames down with it, but was driven off by the eagle and wolf. The fox was interpreted as Carthage, trying to snuff out Rome before its flame could burn brightly, while the eagle and she-wolf are symbols of the Roman army and people respectively.