Moneta is out today in paperback!. "Riveting . An utterly original history of Rome that compels from start to finish. A wonderful read." ― Mail on Sunday. "An excellent 1,000 year history of Rome told in an engaging new way . well worth a few denarii." ― The Times

21) With Sulla’s entry into Rome, Lucius most likely found himself proscribed along with hundreds of the dictator's political opponents, declared an enemy of the state with a price on his head. Yet here in this silver coin his name and appeal to political freedom live on. *End*

20) While we do not know if the coin earned the moneyer Lucius Censorinus any fairer hearing from Sulla, we do learn that his close relative Gaius was captured and beheaded at Sulla's orders – and his head sent to Praeneste to crush the morale of the Marian troops there.

19) . and therefore twice depict the statue as an orientating landmark, on both the extreme left and right of the reliefs. Though damaged, Marsyas can be seen holding his wineskin just as he does on the Republican denarius, which had been minted almost 200 years earlier.

18) The statue featured on the coin would also be depicted on the later Plutei reliefs of Trajan, which commemorate the emperor's cancellation of debts and charitable initiatives for children in poverty. The remarkable pair of reliefs show the Roman Forum from opposing sides.

17) . placed a chaplet on the head of the Marsyas statue, an act that was particularly crushing to the emperor and one that he 'deplored in his private letters', no doubt contributing to his decision to exile Julia to a remote island in 2 BC on charges of treason and immorality.

16) A number of ancient Romans found themselves in hot water for crowning Marsyas with a chaplet, but by far the most shocking was Julia, daughter of the emperor Augustus. Pliny recounts that during her outrageous 'nocturnal debaucheries' the wayward Julia.

15) . gradually became a form of protest wall or 'talking statue', where Romans pinned subversive signs and gathered to voice dissent. Perhaps the most provocative act was to crown the statue with a wreath or 'chaplet', as a symbolic condemnation of those in power.

14) Deliberately raised by the old Comitium and speaker's Rostra, the original Marsyas statue served as a prominent reminder of the virtues of free speech and the plebs’ right to hold leaders to account. It is no surprise then that the monument.

13) We are told that, in the aftermath of the Social War, many Italian cities set up their own similar statues of Marsyas carrying his wineskin as a way to signify their civic autonomy.

12) . a wineskin slung over his shoulder, foreshadowing his own grisly fate at the hands of Apollo, and with his arm raised defiantly in the air – a gesture that was seen to signify his personal autonomy and by extension the liberty of the people.

11) But the reverse is even more fascinating in its representation not just of Marsyas, but of a famous contemporary statue of the satyr that stood near the speaker's platform in the Roman Forum. The 'Marsyas of the Forum' depicted the dissident nude satyr with.

10) Amid the growing political turmoil, Lucius evokes the musical battle between Apollo and Marsyas on his new denarius. The stunning portrait shows the imperious god Apollo himself, deity of music, but also the lord of light, truth and prophecy.

9) . Gaius Marcius Censorinus, almost certainly our moneyer's father or older brother, caused outrage when he captured and beheaded Sulla's ally, the reigning consul Octavius – even displaying his head in the Forum. Needless to say, Sulla did not look kindly on the Marcii clan.

8) The moneyer Lucius Marcius Censorinus may have had very good reason for appeals to political liberty as the aggrieved Sulla bore down on Rome. Just a few years before, when the positions were reversed and the Marians were marching on the city.

7) The politically subversive satyr was therefore a fitting patron for the Marcii clan, staunch populares, who consistently sided with the more populist-leaning, 'anti-establishment' candidates throughout history, such as Marius, Cinna, Caesar and Antony.

6) Over time the myth of Marsyas challenging Apollo made the satyr into a plebeian folk hero, synonymous with liberalism and the right to 'speak truth to power'. Public statues of Marsyas being flayed, or ironically carrying a wineskin, became popular anti-authoritarian symbols.

5) As winner of the contest, Apollo chose to gruesomely punish Marsyas for his hubris, ordering the satyr strung up from a tree and skinned alive. Yet Marsyas was defiant to the end, demanding as he was flayed to at least do him the favour of turning his skin into a wine sack!

4) Marsyas was famous in myth for boldly challenging the god Apollo to a musical contest with his newly invented double flute. The competition, judged by King Midas, was evenly matched until Apollo began playing his lyre upside-down, a feat which Marsyas could not replicate.

3) His ancient Marcia gens claimed a descent from Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, and also symbolically, from the mythical satyr Marsyas – the jovial, flute-playing companion of Bacchus or 'Father Liber', deity of wine and unbridled freedom.

2) As with most Roman moneyers, few biographical details are known about Lucius Censorinus – though he would have been around 30 years old in 82 BC, when he began his political career with a year as a mint magistrate (triumvir monetalis) and oversaw the minting of this coin.