Q. Cassius Longinus (ca. 55 BC). AR denarius (19mm, 3.87 gm, 6h). NGC AU 4/5 - 5/5. Rome. Q•CASSIVS-LIBERT, draped bust of Libertas right, wearing taenia, pendant earring, and beaded necklace / Curule chair within temple of Vesta, shown as a circular edifice with a domed roof surmounted by statue of Vesta standing left, decorated with griffin heads on dome base, supported by six columns; urn in left field, tablet inscribed A C (Absolvo Condomno) in right field. Crawford 428/2. Sydenham 918. Cassia 8. From the Rockport Collection. Privately purchased from Heritage Auctions in the 1980s. Sold with original custom holder listing older catalog references. The moneyer's ancestor, L. Cassius Longinus Ravilla, proposed a new method of jury voting, a form of 'secret ballot', in 137 BC. Known as the Lex Cassia Tabellaria, it provided that in most court cases tried by jury, jurors could mark their verdict on a small tablet and drop it into a basket to be counted by a court official. The exception was cases of treason, where a voice vote or show of hands was required. The practice also extended to voting on laws proposed in the Comitia Tributa and Concilium Plebis, the people's assemblies. Combined with the obverse, this reverse alludes to the Trial of the Vestal Virgins of 113 which set up the special commission, presided over by Ravilla, of two of the three delinquent Virgins - Licinia and Marcia (Aemilia was found guilty during the first trial in 115 BC).

HID09801242017

© 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

To the auctioneer's website