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<p>[QUOTE="Limes, post: 4699273, member: 101013"][ATTACH=full]1154499[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>By the year 44 BC, Julius Caesar had shown an increased inclination towards royal power. This was much to the concern of several senators that belonged to the Optimates faction in the Senate. After - according to Suetonius - several fateful acts, the “Liberators” decided to step up their game and assassinate Caesar on the Ides of March, in the Senate house.</p><p><br /></p><p>Without a doubt Brutus and his fellow conspirators (also called the tyrannicides) thought they were doing the Roman people a great favor by murdering the would-be-king. However, the populace - also incited by Anthony’s funeral speech - thought differently and after a funeral pire seeked out Brutus and Cassius to avenge Caesar’s murder. Both left the city and Brutus fled to Greece. To prepare for the inevitable war with the heirs of Caesar, Brutus pillaged his way through Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor, looting treasure to pay for his growing army. Brutus and Cassius’ armies met with the armies of Octavian and Anthony near Philippi, in Thrace, in 42 BC. Whereas the the first battle on October 3 resulted in a victory of the army Brutus over the forces of Octavian and Anthony, the second battle on October 23 resulted in utter defeat and subsequently Brutus committed suicide.</p><p><br /></p><p>Not only did I purchase (more correct: ‘win’ in auction) this coin, I also purchased a book on Roman Civil Wars, based on the work of the Greek-Roman historian, Appian. This book, ‘The Civil Wars, 133 - 35 BC’, translated by John Nagelkerken, is in Dutch (easy reading, finally!) and treats the five books about the Roman civil wars that was part of Appians’ bigger work: Rhomaike Historia (Historia Romana). This books gives in great detail insight in the aftermath of the murder of Caesar. Almost everybody knows in general, what happend after the murder of Caesar with Brutus, Cassius, and Mark Antony. But the details that this book gives it’s reader, about the period 44 BC - 35 BC, such as the troubles between Octavian and Mark Antony and the wars between Brutus and several cities in the East, are absolutely enriching and shed light on this underexposed but nevertheless very interesting troubled episode in Roman history.</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, about the coin. It is struck 43 - 42 BC, a year or two after the murder of Caesar. It is part of of a series of coins struck by Brutus in the East and this particular coin was struck in western Asia or northern Greece (Thrace). Now, raising and supporting an army is very expensive. And while the newly formed - and ratified by the Senate - triumvirate solved this issue by murdering about 300 senators and 2000 knights and confiscating their belongings, Brutus and Cassius had their own methods, which were not all that better to say the least. Rampaging their way towards the east, the tyrannicides turned their greedy and needy eyes to the city of of Xhanthus in Lycia, and the island of Rhodos. On his way towards Lycia, Brutus got a stroke of luck in Thrace when Polemokratia, the wife of one the princes, met him with a large sum of treasure belonging to her late husband. Polemokratia begged Brutus for the safety of her child, as the prince was murdered by ‘opponents’. Brutus had the boy raised by the inhabitants of Cyzicus until the time would come for the boy to rule the kingdom. Among the treasure offered by Polemokratia, Brutus found a large amount of silver and gold which he had converted into coins for his soldiers.</p><p><br /></p><p>Perhaps the silver of my coin came from the silver offered by Polemokratia. Or it was struck from the silver gained in tribute in Asia by Apuleius. Or maybe it is part of the spoils of the other cities extorted and/or destroyed by Brutus. I don’t know. The fact is that this little coin is part of a history I am beginning to discover more in detail, and it is fascinating!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Show me your coins of Brutus, or the other tyrannicides, or any other fascinating round piece of history![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Limes, post: 4699273, member: 101013"][ATTACH=full]1154499[/ATTACH] By the year 44 BC, Julius Caesar had shown an increased inclination towards royal power. This was much to the concern of several senators that belonged to the Optimates faction in the Senate. After - according to Suetonius - several fateful acts, the “Liberators” decided to step up their game and assassinate Caesar on the Ides of March, in the Senate house. Without a doubt Brutus and his fellow conspirators (also called the tyrannicides) thought they were doing the Roman people a great favor by murdering the would-be-king. However, the populace - also incited by Anthony’s funeral speech - thought differently and after a funeral pire seeked out Brutus and Cassius to avenge Caesar’s murder. Both left the city and Brutus fled to Greece. To prepare for the inevitable war with the heirs of Caesar, Brutus pillaged his way through Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor, looting treasure to pay for his growing army. Brutus and Cassius’ armies met with the armies of Octavian and Anthony near Philippi, in Thrace, in 42 BC. Whereas the the first battle on October 3 resulted in a victory of the army Brutus over the forces of Octavian and Anthony, the second battle on October 23 resulted in utter defeat and subsequently Brutus committed suicide. Not only did I purchase (more correct: ‘win’ in auction) this coin, I also purchased a book on Roman Civil Wars, based on the work of the Greek-Roman historian, Appian. This book, ‘The Civil Wars, 133 - 35 BC’, translated by John Nagelkerken, is in Dutch (easy reading, finally!) and treats the five books about the Roman civil wars that was part of Appians’ bigger work: Rhomaike Historia (Historia Romana). This books gives in great detail insight in the aftermath of the murder of Caesar. Almost everybody knows in general, what happend after the murder of Caesar with Brutus, Cassius, and Mark Antony. But the details that this book gives it’s reader, about the period 44 BC - 35 BC, such as the troubles between Octavian and Mark Antony and the wars between Brutus and several cities in the East, are absolutely enriching and shed light on this underexposed but nevertheless very interesting troubled episode in Roman history. Anyway, about the coin. It is struck 43 - 42 BC, a year or two after the murder of Caesar. It is part of of a series of coins struck by Brutus in the East and this particular coin was struck in western Asia or northern Greece (Thrace). Now, raising and supporting an army is very expensive. And while the newly formed - and ratified by the Senate - triumvirate solved this issue by murdering about 300 senators and 2000 knights and confiscating their belongings, Brutus and Cassius had their own methods, which were not all that better to say the least. Rampaging their way towards the east, the tyrannicides turned their greedy and needy eyes to the city of of Xhanthus in Lycia, and the island of Rhodos. On his way towards Lycia, Brutus got a stroke of luck in Thrace when Polemokratia, the wife of one the princes, met him with a large sum of treasure belonging to her late husband. Polemokratia begged Brutus for the safety of her child, as the prince was murdered by ‘opponents’. Brutus had the boy raised by the inhabitants of Cyzicus until the time would come for the boy to rule the kingdom. Among the treasure offered by Polemokratia, Brutus found a large amount of silver and gold which he had converted into coins for his soldiers. Perhaps the silver of my coin came from the silver offered by Polemokratia. Or it was struck from the silver gained in tribute in Asia by Apuleius. Or maybe it is part of the spoils of the other cities extorted and/or destroyed by Brutus. I don’t know. The fact is that this little coin is part of a history I am beginning to discover more in detail, and it is fascinating! Show me your coins of Brutus, or the other tyrannicides, or any other fascinating round piece of history![/QUOTE]
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