Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Curtis, post: 8255599, member: 26430&quot;]This is my favorite day of the year -- getting to see all the wonderful <i>Bruti</i> and <i>Caesares</i> (if I&#039;m getting the plurals right)!</p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s my procession of lictors, <i>accensi</i>, and consuls <i>Bruti </i>(I do tend to accept the monogram-Kosons as M.J. Brutus coinage; the AV Stater photo is from Pars-VAuctions):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1455382[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>And my &quot;coins that killed Caesar,&quot; a category in which I include not only the portrait coins naming him dictator (which many believe were a &quot;last straw&quot; provoking the killing within only weeks of their issue), but also the elephant denarius 5 years earlier in 49, which he struck in his own name using treasury silver without the consent of the Senate immediately upon crossing the Rubicon (see <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25651734" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25651734" rel="nofollow">Nousek 2008</a> ; portrait photos were from Aureo-Calico 353 &amp; Grun 79 auctions):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1455389[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Metellus Scipio&#039;s (Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio) elephant denarius was no doubt some kind of response to Caesar&#039;s (a mockery? a challenge? an assertion that his ancestor, Scipio Africanus, was the true hero of Rome that conquered Hannibal&#039;s Carthage?). Caesar would have the last laugh: Scipio was defeated at Thapsus and ultimately committed suicide (c. 46 BCE) as honorably as a defeated Roman general could. His moving last words were immortalized by Seneca, &quot;<i>Imperator se bene habet</i>&quot; (&quot;Your general&#039;s just fine&quot; or &quot;All is well with the commander&quot;) [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Caecilius_Metellus_Pius_Scipio#Dignity_in_death" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Caecilius_Metellus_Pius_Scipio#Dignity_in_death" rel="nofollow">Wiki</a>]. (Photo of this coin by Ben Mous, WA, 2021, ex-private WA collection)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1455411[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Shortly after: My favorite Julius Caesar coin, his captives denarius struck c. 46 BCE, which inspired centuries of Roman silver and bronze &quot;captives coinage&quot; (through the sons of Constantine and beyond), as well as this <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/captives-trophy-8-or-9-examples-from-julius-caesar-to-constantine-others-if-you-have-them.374729/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/captives-trophy-8-or-9-examples-from-julius-caesar-to-constantine-others-if-you-have-them.374729/">CoinTalk Post (CT 374729, 3 Feb 2021)</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1455398[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course, in the end, the biggest winner may have been his heir Octavian, AKA Augustus Caesar (Divus on this Dupondius of Caligula, ex-Huntington/ANS, photo by CNG):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1455400[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Not sure, but I may have sold the Augustus below, definitely sold the Caesar elephant and wish I hadn&#039;t!!</p><p>[ATTACH]1455399[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1455401[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in