Manlius Cordius Rufus
AR silver denarius. Struck 46 BCE.
RVFVS III VIR, jugate heads of the Dioscuri right; stars above.
Reverse - MN CORDIVS, Venus Verticordia holding scales and sceptre; on her shoulder, Cupid.
RCV 440, Crawford 463/1b; RSC Cordia 1, Sydenham 976c, Babelon 2 Cordia, Rolland 408, BMC 4037. 19mm, 3.8g.
In BCE 46, the Battle of Thapsus was fought. Consuls were G. Julius Caesar for the 3rd time and M. Aemilius Lepidus for the first.
Also in that year was the Roman adoption of the Julian Calendar.
This issue was struck on a scale commensurate with Rome’s requirements at the time of Caesar’s quadruple triumph when 5,000 denarii were paid to each legionary and 10,000 to each centurion. The Venus reverse is probably intended as a tribute to Caesar whose gens claimed descent from that goddess. Sear, The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators at p. 45.
