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Description
This paper discusses the Roman foundation ritual of the sulcus primigenius on 37 provincial coinages from the first century BCE to the third century CE. This ritual involved plowing a boundary for the new settlement, and was employed during the foundation of colonies in emulation of Romulus’ performance of the rite at Rome. On civic coinages, the ritual was usually represented by a togate founder plowing with two oxen (e.g. RPC I, 304; RPC IV.3, temp. No.6316; RPC IX, no.1576), or an abbreviated version of this scene (e.g. a plow and oxen at Sinope, RPC II, 725). This paper traces the development of these designs, linking changes in the details of these types to changes in the status and nature of colonial settlements which occurred between the Late Republic and the third century. Regional differences and various strategies of localizing this imagery are also considered.
