ROMAN REPUBLIC
Sextus Pompeius Fostlus
Moneyer, 137 BC
AR Denarius. 3.76g, 19.3mm
MINTED: Rome mint, 137 BC
REF: Crawford 235/1a; Sydenham 461
OBVERSE: Helmeted head of Roma right, capis (jug) to left, X (mark of value) below chin.
REVERSE: FOSTLVS SEX POM, She-wolf standing right, head left, suckling the twins (Remus and Romulus); to left, shepherd Faustulus standing right; in background, fig tree with woodpecker perched on trunk and two other birds in upper branches; ROMA in exergue.

Grade/Notes:
Fine. Toned, with some porosity. Clear central devices.
A significant issue with an interesting mythological type.
 
Historical Notes: 
This issue was amongst the first Roman Republican denarii to feature a reverse other than the traditional types with the Dioscuri, a quadriga or a biga.  For the collector, it marks the introduction of more interesting reverses, including those featuring mythological scenes, types of historical significance, or allusions to the moneyers' ancestors.  In this instance, the moneyer Fostlus chose to feature a scene from the central founding myth of Rome, where the shepherd (Faustulus, or Fostulus) discovers twin boys, Romulus and Remus, who had been abandoned by the banks of the River Tiber, being suckled be a she-wolf.  Romulus would become the founder of Rome.