When in 49 BCE Gnaeus Nerius became Quaestor Urbanus, an elected official in charge of the city’s treasury and financial affairs, he minted this silver denarius. On the obverse it features Saturn with a harpa, or sickle, a reference to the myth in which Saturn mutilates his father Uranus with a harpa. The reverse features a legionary eagle, and the standards of the Hastati and Principes, classes of infantrymen in the Roman army during the Republic. This denarius is easily datable because the reverse also includes the names of the two consuls current during Nerius’ quaestorship. This was among the last issues minted before the outbreak of civil war among the Triumvirs. Katherine Brown 2011.