Description:
This rare silver denarius coin was minted in Rome by moneyer L. Cassius Q.f. Longinus in 75 BC. The obverse side shows Liber, wearing an ivy wreath with a thyrsus over his shoulder and the reverse depicts Libera, also wearing an ivy wreath. In ancient Roman religion, Liber was the god of wine and fertility and Libera was his female equivalent. Liber means the "free one" in Latin and to the Romans he personified and championed freedom, as opposed to dependent servitude. His springtime festival on March 17th, became associated with free speech and the rights attached to coming of age.
Liber was a patron deity of Rome's plebeian commoners, the largest, least powerful class of citizens. Through Liber, the plebs carried out various types of protests and disobedience to the civil and religious authority claimed by Rome's Republican patrician elite. The Aventine Triad (also known as the Plebeian Triad), was the sacred temple district established in 493 BC Rome for the joint cult of the Roman deities Ceres, Liber and Libera. During the time this coin circulated, the Roman philosopher Cicero described Liber and Libera as the children of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture. Over the centuries, Liber became increasingly associated with the Roman god Bacchus and Greek god Dionysus, whose mythology he came to share.
