I got thinking about RRC 423/1 because of the preceding post. I wanted to recall other images of Romans facing Romans. As I was browsing the CRRO entry (linked in last sentence), I noticed a few specimens with crossed swords. Crawford notice this as well: “On one reverse die the soldiers are crossing swords (Bologna, Cat. 367)”.
Besides the one in trade illustrated above, I spotted one in Paris and one in the BM 2002,0102.4306 (why oh why do they not yet have stable URLs?!).
Didn’t bother to check whether they are all the same die. I wonder if this crossed sword interpretation might help us think about what the design means. I have often thought it might represent an oath scene or some sort…
Liv Mariah Yarrow 