Description:
This silver denarius coin was minted in Rome by moneyer Q. Titius in 90 BC. During this time, the Romans had absorbed Greek mythology as they conquered the Greek peninsula. In Roman religion, many of the gods were very similar with the same attributions as the Greek gods, however many Roman gods had different names.
Pegasus, the winged divine stallion, is featured on the obverse of this coin, springing to flight from a tablet with the moneyer's name inscribed Q TITI. In traditional Greek folklore, Pegasus, who is normally depicted as pure white, first set foot on Earth after his birth at Corinth, Greece. A young Corinthian nobleman named Bellerophon captured Pegasus while it drank from a spring. He then tamed Pegasus so he could ride on its back and defeat both the Chimera monster and the Amazon warriors, tasks which would otherwise have been impossible for a mortal.
The Roman Republic introduced the denarius coin in 211 BC. It became the principal denomination in the Roman world until the middle of the third century A.D and one denarius was around two days’ pay for a Legionnaire. This denarius coin depicts an aged and bearded Mutinus on the reverse. In ancient Roman religion, Mutinus Titinus was a phallic marriage god. His shrine in Rome was honored as among the most ancient landmarks in the city.
