I was consulting an old blog post for another footnote and noticed this funny command from Cicero to get money from Moneta to let him take a reasonable sum with him as he travels to join Pompey.
I of course went first to Shackleton Bailey’s commentary which pointed me to his fanciful restoration of Att. 15.15 with another reference to Moneta and the idea that the temple served as a bank.
Luckily Woytek 2003 has sensible things to say correcting this view and others.
I still feel I’m not positive that I understand what is going on in the passage. First we need to remember that Philotimus is deeply in debt to Cicero, cf. Att. 7.3.7 Dec 50. So it may be a statement that he needs to pay up at whatever inconvenience be it divine intervention or extortionate usury. I think this is my preferred explanation.
“I don’t care your debtors aren’t pay up, Pray to Moneta, As I will extract mine from you come hell or high water”
Another possibility is that Cicero has some thought of taking fresh coin in some official capacity granted or presumed to have been granted by Pompey or the consuls etc. Pompey withdraws from the area of Rome in late January. The consuls sail to Greece 4 March, Pompey 17 March. Caesar summons a senate meeting on the outskirts of Rome 1 April and shortly there after before leaves for Spain. In the interim he seized the public treasury. For dates and sources see Attalus
Many had spoken in favour of a massacre: and Caesar himself was not by nature and inclination averse to cruelty, but he thought that mild measures would win popularity. But, if he lost popular favour, he would be cruel. He had been put out when he found that he had offended the populace itself by seizing the treasury: and so, though he had fully made up his mind to harangue the people before leaving, he had not ventured to do so, and he had gone off in a very disturbed state of mind
Att. 10.4.8
So there was still coined money to be had from the government, but this seems more outlandish an explanation as the viaticus (travel fund) is clearly personal.
Below is the last Pompeian issue struck by the Roman mint before they left the city and eventually Italy.
After Caesar’s arrival another Moneyer begins striking on his behalf at the Roman Mint:
In this chronology I follow Woytek 2003: 95ff.
And for fun notice the graffiti on both obverses in the field to the front of head, the second coin is in the form of ‘speaking lines’ . I thought I had a post on this but my searches are coming up empty.
Liv Mariah Yarrow 