The George W. La Borde Collection of Roman Aurei Part I
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Commodus caesar, 177 – 192
Aureus 178, AV 7.33 g. L AVREL COM – MODVS AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. TR· P III·IM – P II COS·P·P· Castor standing l., holding horse by bridle with r. hand and spear with l. C 760. BMC M. Aurelius and Commodus 774 and pl. 69, 11 (this obverse die). RIC 648. Calicó 2337a (this coin).
In exceptional state of preservation. An absolutely perfect Fdc
Provenance
Sold by Bank Leu, auction 10, Zurich, 29 May 1974, lot 198, estimated CHF 15’000, for CHF 46’000.
Sold by M&M Basel 68, 15 April 1986, lot 379.
Sold by Spink & Son, auction 7023, London, 27 September 2007, lot 151.

The reverse of this lovely aureus shows one of the Dioscuri, Castor, holding a spear in one hand and a horse by the bridle in the other. In mythology, the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, were the twin sons of Zeus and Leda, the wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. Their cult first appears at Rome in 484 B.C. after the battle of Lake Regillus against the Etruscans, when it was said that they appeared on the battlefield to lead the Romans to victory and simultaneously at the Forum in Rome to announce to the worried families of the soldiers their victory. A temple to them both, but usually referred to simply as the Temple of Castor, was built there in their honour. While they play prominently on the coinage struck during Republican times, their appearance on Imperial coins is actually quite rare. Castor had special relevance as the patron of the equites, the Roman social order of knights, and his depiction here symbolizes Commodus as the Prince of Youth (princeps iuventutis), in which role he presided over the Trojan Games where youths from Rome’s most noble patrician families competed against each other in horse races in the circus. The obverse is a wonderfully centred and particularly fine-style portrait of the young emperor.