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Dictator Perpetuo (44 BC)Julius Caesar portrait AR Denarius, Rome Mint, 44 BC, Lifetime issue
Obv: Laureate and veiled head of Caesar r., DICT·PERPETVO CAESAR around
Rev: Venus standing l., holding Victory and resting elbow on shield set on globe. C·MARIDIANVSYuenTsin CSep 20, 2022
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Dictator Perpetuo (44 BC)Julius Caesar portrait AR Denarius, Rome Mint, 44 BC, Lifetime issue
Obv: CAESAR IMP, wreathed head r.; star to l.
Rev: P SEPVLLIVS MACER, Venus standing l., with head lowered, holding victoriola and scepter set upon star.
After Munda there were no more conservative armies challenging Caesar's dominion. Upon his return to Rome, according to Plutarch, the "triumph which he celebrated for this victory displeased the Romans beyond any thing. For he had not defeated foreign generals, or barbarian kings, but had destroyed the children and family of one of the greatest men of Rome." In Febrary 44 BC, the Senate decreed that Caesar would serve as Dictator “for life”. They also decreed that Caesar’s portrait would appear on the obverses of Rome’s coins, which was unprecedented in Rome, as no Roman had ever before been portrayed on a Roman coin during his lifetime. This last “honor” led directly to Caesar’s murder two months later, on the Ides of March.
This is a denarius portraying Caesar on the obverse, issued a few weeks before his assassination.YuenTsin CSep 20, 2022
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Battle of Munda (45 BC)Julius Caesar AR Denarius. Military mint moving with Caesar in Spain, 46-45 BC.
Obv: Head of Venus to right, wearing stephane; Cupid behind shoulder
Rev: Trophy of Gallic arms between two seated captives: female seated left resting head in right hand, and bearded male seated right with hands tied behind back, looking left; CAESAR in exergue.
After the Battle of Thapsus, Caesar traced the Pompeian brothers to Hispania. On March 17, 45 BC, the two armies met at the Battle of Munda, which ended in the victory of Caesar. About 30,000 Pompeians were killed on the battlefield, including Titus Labienus, but Gnaeus managed to escape. He was later cornered during the Battle of Lauro, and killed.
The coin was issued by the military mint traveling with Caesar in Hispania, the reverse dipicted Caesar's recent conquest of Gaul.YuenTsin CSep 20, 2022
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Events in Hispania (46-45 BC)Gnaeus Pompeius Jr. AR Denarius. 46-45 BC. Corduba.
Obv: M·POBLICI·LEG PRO, helmeted head of Roma right.
Rev: CN·MAGNVS·IMP, Hispania standing right, shield on her back, holding two spears and presenting palm to Pompeian soldier standing left on prow, armed with sword.
Gnaeus Pompey Junior was the eldest son of Pompey 'the Great', he was together with his father in Greece when Caesar crossed the rubicon, and then joined Metellus Scipio's army in North Africa after Pompey's assassination.
After losing the battle of Thapsus, Gnaeus fled to the Balearic Islands, where he joined his brother Sextus Pompey (also known as 'Pompey the Younger') . Together with Caesar's former general Titus Labienus, the Pompeian brothers crossed the border to Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula that includes modern Spain and Portugal), where they raised another army to fight against Caesar.
This denarius was issued at the Spanish mint of Corduba.YuenTsin CSep 20, 2022
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Caesar's 'Quadruple Triumph' (46 BC)Julius Caesar AV Aureus. Rome, 46 BC. A. Hirtius, praetor
Obv: Veiled head of Vesta right, C•CAESAR COS • TER around
Rev: Emblems of the augurate and pontificate: lituus, guttus, and securis; A•HIRTIVS PR around
The aureus presenting here was part of the first ever large-scale issue of aurei in the history of the Roman coinage, which is issued to meet the needs for Caesar’s 'Quadruple Triumph' in 46 BC after four major victories and the return of his veteran soldiers to Rome.YuenTsin CSep 19, 2022
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Battle of Thapsus - Juba I (47-46 BC)Juba I, king of Numidia. AR 'Denarius', 47-46 BC. Utica mint.
Obv: REX IVBA. Diademed and cuirassed bust of Juba I right; sceptre on the shoulder.
Rev: IOBAI HMMLKT in neo-Punic. Octastyle temple on podium; in the middle, a globule.
Juba I (born c. 85 BC-died 46 BC, near Thapsus) king of Numidia, sided with the followers of Pompey and the Roman Senate in their war against Julius Caesar in North Africa. He joined Metellus Scipio with three legions for the Battle of Thapsus, but fled when seeing the certain defeat of Scipio's army. He committed suicide when being trapped by Caesar's army.YuenTsin CSep 19, 2022
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Battle of Thapsus - P. Licinius Crassus (47-46 BC)Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio and P. Licinius Crassus, 47-46 BC. AR Denarius. North Africa.
Obv: Q·METEL· PIVS – SCIPIO·IMP Lion-headed Genius Terrae Africae standing facing, holding ankh in her right hand; to left and right of her head, G.T. - A.
Rev: P·CRASSVS·IVN – LEG PRO·PR Victory standing to left, holding caduceus and shield.
This coin has aroused great interest among numismatists, especially the lioness-headed goddess depicted on the obverse, numismatists have two different views about her identiy, one of which believes that she is Sekhmet, the lioness goddess of war in ancient Egyptian mythology, and that in her right hand is 'ankh', the symbol of life in Egyptian culture; while the other view, which arouses in recent years, believes that she was the Carthaginian goddess Tanit, with 'symbol of Tanit' in her right hand. Considering the coin was minted near Thapsus in North Africa, which was the formal land of Carthage Republic, the second view makes more sense. In fact Tanit was still venerated in North Africa after the destruction of Carthage, and was sometimes depicted with a lion's head to express her warrior quality.
Either way, the coinage shows a dramatic break with Roman Republican tradition, no local or city goddess had previously been portrayed on the obverse of Roman coinage other than Roma herself, and certainly never a foreign one, not to mention an enemy one. In this case it was made all the more objectionable by either being or holding the symbol of Tanit - a god whose people had slain hundreds of thousands of Roman soldiers and nearly vanquished Rome entirely. Scipio’s coinage might have been designed to curry favour with the populace of North Africa, Caesar must not have been able to believe his luck, as nothing could better demonstrate to the rank and file the justness of his military actions than the thoroughly un-Roman depths to which Scipio had lowered himself.YuenTsin CSep 19, 2022
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Battle of Thapsus - Cato the Younger (47-46 BC)The Pompeians. M. Porcius Cato. Spring 47- Spring 46 BC. AR Denarius. Utica mint.
Obv: Draped bust right of Roma, hair tied with fillet; ROMA behind
Rev: Victory seated right, holding palm frond and wreath.
Marcus Porcius Cato, also known as Cato the Younger, was a defender of the Roman Republic, he forcefully opposed Julius Caesar and was known as the highly moral, incorruptible, inflexible supporter of the Optimates. He was the great-grandson of Cato the Elder——a prominent figure in Rome during the Second Punic War, who used to end his speech with the words “Carthago delenda est”(Carthage must be destroyed). When Pompey was defeated by Caesar at the Battle of Pharsalus, Cato fled to North Africa with Pompey, after whose assassination he supported Metellus Pius Scipio wresting the chief command of Pompey’s forces. On the news of the defeat of Scipio at the Battle of Thapsusus, Cato committed suicide. Caesar was upset by this and was reported by Plutarch to have said:
"Cato, I grudge you your death, as you would have grudged me the preservation of your life."YuenTsin CSep 19, 2022
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Battle of Thapsus - Metellus Scipio (47-46 BC)Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio, AR Denarius, military mint in Africa, 47- Spring 46 BC.
Obv: Laureate head of Jupiter r.; Q•METEL PIVS
Rev: African elephant walking r.; SCIPIO above, IMP below.
This denarius was issued by Scipio when he fled to North Africa after being defeated by Caesar at the Battle of Pharsalus. Scipio wrested the chief command of Pompey’s forces after his death, and held command at the Battle of Thapsus against Caesar. Under his unskilled command, he was unsurprisingly defeated by Caesar, again, along with his ally and supporter Cato the Younger. He committed suicide by stabbing himself after an unsuccessful attempt to escape.
The ancestors of Metellus Scipio and Cato the Younger were prominent figures in Rome during the Second Punic War. Scipio was descended from Scipio Africanus, the famous Roman general that defeated Hannibal Barca at the Battle of Zama, while Cato was the great-grandson of Cato the Elder, the Roman senator who often ended his speeches with the words “Carthago delenda est”, who was the opponent of Scipio Africanus by the way. Apparently, Scipio and Cato did not glorify their ancestors under the power of mighty Caesar.YuenTsin CSep 19, 2022
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Revolts in North Africa (47 BC)Julius Caesar AR Denarius, military mint in North Africa, circa 47 BC.
Obv: Diademed head of Venus r.
Rev: Aeneas advancing l., holding palladium and bearing Anchises on his shoulder; CAESAR to r.
While Caesar was busy dealing with the Bosphorus king Fanasius II and the Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy XIII--who killed Pompey when he fleed to Egypt after his falure in the Battle of Pharsalus, the situation in North Africa became tense, four legions under Mark Antony mutinied for not receiving the extra pay they had been promised, and Pompey's supporters were gathering troops in North Africa for a counter-attack. So Caesar quickly returned to North Africa to deal with the bad situation. This coin was issued when he arrived at North Africa.YuenTsin CSep 19, 2022
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Battle of Pharsalus (48 BC)The Caesarians. Julius Caesar. Late spring-early summer 48 BC. AR Denarius. Military mint traveling with Caesar.
Obv: Diademed female head (Clementia?) right, wearing oak wreath; LII (= 52, Caesar's age) behind
Rev: Gallic trophy, holding oval shield and carnyx; securis surmounted by wolf’s head to right.
The coin was issued in 48 BC by military mint moving with Julius Caesar. Inferring from the letter ‘LII’——which was Caesar’s age by then——on the obverse, it would have been issued after the defeat of Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus, as payment for Caesar's legions.
Caesar was born in 100 BC, he was at the age of fifty-two in 48 BC. Since his birthday was supposed to be on July 12th or 13th——after which broke out the Battle of Pharsalus (on August 9th), the coin was likely a political propaganda he made to his army to celebrate both his birthday and the military victory over Pompey.YuenTsin CSep 19, 2022
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Pompey in Greece (48 BC)EASTERN EUROPE, Imitations of Roman Republican. Uncertain Tribe. AR Denarius. After an issue of Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) from an uncertain Greek mint, Spring 48 BC. Terentius Varro, pro quaestor.
Obv: VAR•RO PRO Q, terminal bust of Jupiter right, wearing diadem
Rev: Vertical scepter; to left, dolphin swimming right; to right, eagle standing left with wings folded; MAGИ PRO/ COS in two lines in exergue.YuenTsin CSep 19, 2022
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Battle of Thapsus - Cato the Younger (47-46 BC)The Pompeians. M. Porcius Cato. Spring 47- Spring 46 BC. AR Denarius. Utica mint.
Obv: Draped bust right of Roma, hair tied with fillet; ROMA behind
Rev: Victory seated right, holding palm frond and wreath.
Marcus Porcius Cato, also known as Cato the Younger, was a defender of the Roman Republic, he forcefully opposed Julius Caesar and was known as the highly moral, incorruptible, inflexible supporter of the Optimates. He was the great-grandson of Cato the Elder——a prominent figure in Rome during the Second Punic War, who used to end his speech with the words “Carthago delenda est”(Carthage must be destroyed). When Pompey was defeated by Caesar at the Battle of Pharsalus, Cato fled to North Africa with Pompey, after whose assassination he supported Metellus Pius Scipio wresting the chief command of Pompey’s forces. On the news of the defeat of Scipio at the Battle of Thapsusus, Cato committed suicide. Caesar was upset by this and was reported by Plutarch to have said:
"Cato, I grudge you your death, as you would have grudged me the preservation of your life."YuenTsin C
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Battle of Munda (45 BC)Julius Caesar AR Denarius. Military mint moving with Caesar in Spain, 46-45 BC.
Obv: Head of Venus to right, wearing stephane; Cupid behind shoulder
Rev: Trophy of Gallic arms between two seated captives: female seated left resting head in right hand, and bearded male seated right with hands tied behind back, looking left; CAESAR in exergue.
After the Battle of Thapsus, Caesar traced the Pompeian brothers to Hispania. On March 17, 45 BC, the two armies met at the Battle of Munda, which ended in the victory of Caesar. About 30,000 Pompeians were killed on the battlefield, including Titus Labienus, but Gnaeus managed to escape. He was later cornered during the Battle of Lauro, and killed.
The coin was issued by the military mint traveling with Caesar in Hispania, the reverse dipicted Caesar's recent conquest of Gaul.YuenTsin C
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Pompey in Greece (49-48 BC)Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) AR Denarius. 49-48 BC. Military mint moving with Pompey in Greece.
Obv: Diademed head of Numa Pompilius right. Legend CN·PISO·PRO – Q around.
Rev: Prow right. Legend MAGN, and PRO·COS below.
This coin was struck by Cn. Calpurnius Piso, who served as proquaestor to the Pompeian party in Spain during the war between Caesar and Pompey. The head of Numa Pompilius records the claim of the Calpurnia gens to be descended from Calpus, the son of Numa, while the prow on the reverse refers to the naval victories of Pompey over the pirates in 67 BC.YuenTsin C
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