Roman Republic Caius Egnatius Maxsumus

The gens Egnatia was a plebeian family of equestrian rank in the tribe of Stellatina. Originally of Samnite origin, the Egnatii appear to have been established at Teanum. Following the conclusion of the Social War, a branch of the family moved to Rome, where two of them were admitted into the Senate. The moneyer responsible for this coin, one Gnaeus Engatius, is virtually unknown but believed to be the same as that mentioned in Quintillian [Institutio Oratoria, 5.13.33] who was expelled from the Senate by the censors, and who at the same time disinherited his son, the son being retained in the Senate. No satisfactory explanation of the types of Egnatius' coinage has been proposed, but Venus and Libertas are the common theme.