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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 4353121, member: 81887&quot;][ATTACH=full]1101464[/ATTACH] </p><p>Roman Republic.&nbsp; AR denarius (19 mm, 3.9 g).&nbsp; Gaius Julius Caesar, as Dictator, with Lucius Aemilius Buca as moneyer.&nbsp; Issued January-February 44 BC.&nbsp; Obverse: Laureate head of Julius Caesar right, crescent behind, legend around CAESAR IM P M, dotted border around.&nbsp; Reverse: Venus Victrix standing left, holding Victory on extended right hand and scepter in left hand, legend around L AEMILIVS BVCA, dotted border around.&nbsp; Banker&#039;s mark on obverse just above Caesar&#039;s ear, creating flat area on reverse.&nbsp; Crawfod 480/4, RSC 22.&nbsp; This coin: Won at [USER=42773]@John Anthony[/USER] auction, ex [USER=76194]@Sallent[/USER] collection.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>If you are reading the Ancients board here on CoinTalk, or indeed if you have any interest in history at all, you have surely heard of Julius Caesar and have at least some idea of who he was.&nbsp; Full-length biographies have been written about him, and there is too much known about his life for me to include all the important points here.&nbsp; Instead, I will give a very brief summary, and urge interested readers to seek out further books themselves (some of which were even written by Julius Caesar himself).</p><p><br /></p><p>Gaius Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC, to a venerable (claiming descent from Aeneas and thus, ultimately, from the goddess Venus) Roman patrician family.&nbsp; He became head of his family at the age of 16 upon his father&#039;s death, and sided with his uncle Marius in his bloody political struggle with Sulla.&nbsp; This proved dangerous when Sulla ultimately triumphed, and Sulla stripped him of his inheritance and his wife&#039;s dowry, and even tried to force Caesar to divorce his wife, who was the daughter of another major supporter of Marius.&nbsp; Caesar, perhaps hoping to avoid Sulla, started a career in the army serving in Asia Minor.&nbsp; He went on a mission to personally convince King Nikomedes IV of Bithynia to lend a fleet to the Romans.&nbsp; A rumor started that Caesar had a sexual relationship with Nikomedes, and while there is no proof of this, Caesar&#039;s enemies later disparagingly called him &quot;the Queen of Bithynia.&quot;&nbsp; Sulla died in 78 BC, leaving Caesar free to return to Rome.&nbsp; On his voyage, he was kidnapped by pirates who demanded a ransom of 20 talents of silver.&nbsp; Caesar insolently demanded they increase their demand to 50 talents, and was generally insolent and told the pirates that he would return and have them crucified.&nbsp; This amused the pirates, and when the ransom was paid they released Caesar.&nbsp; Caesar returned with a small fleet, hunted down the pirates, and (acting on his own authority) had them all crucified, after first slitting their throats in an act of mercy.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Returning to Rome, Caesar embarked on the standard political career expected of an ambitious patrician, rising through the various offices. In 62 BC, as governor of Hispanic Ulterior (the western Iberian Peninsula), he won some military victories over local tribes and was acclaimed Imperator by the troops. (At the time this was simply a title for successful military leaders; it did not acquire its meaning of &quot;Emperor&quot; until later.)&nbsp; In 60 BC, he successfully ran for one of the two consul positions, the highest office in the Roman Republic.&nbsp; To consolidate power, he made an informal alliance, known to later historians as the First Triumvirate, with two of his most powerful potential rivals: Marcus Licinius Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great), a successful military leader.&nbsp; Caesar&#039;s daughter Julia married Pompey, further cementing the alliance.&nbsp; The three of them would cooperate to control all important offices between them, for their mutual benefit.&nbsp; Caesar&#039;s main accomplishment was a law granting public lands to the poor.&nbsp; When his one-year term as consul ended, Caesar quickly left to take over the governorship of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul.&nbsp; (By holding this position, he could avoid prosecution for corruption during his consulship, as only private citizens were liable to prosecution.)&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Caesar launched military action against the unconquered portions of Gaul, and led incursions across the Rhine to fight Germanic allies of the Gauls.&nbsp; He also landed in Britain in 55 and 54 BC, but both times was unable to advance very far, and returned to the mainland.&nbsp; During this time, Julia died, which caused his alliance with Pompey to weaken.&nbsp; In 53 BC, Crassus was killed in a failed invasion of Parthia, which ended the Triumvirate.&nbsp; In 52 BC, Caesar achieved overall victory over the Gauls at the Battle of Alesia, capturing the Gaulish king Vercingetorix.&nbsp; In 50 BC, as Caesar&#039;s term as governor expired, the Senate ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome.&nbsp; However, returning to Rome as a private citizen would leave him open to prosecution, and as he had not had official sanction to start the war against the Gauls, this would surely be used against him.&nbsp; In early 49 BC, Caesar crossed the Rubicon into Italy with just the Thirteenth Legion, a direct challenge to the Senate&#039;s authority.&nbsp; Pompey and many Senators fled, and Caesar spent the next several years traveling around the Mediterranean world hunting down various factions.&nbsp; Pompey was assassinated in Egypt, which reportedly saddened Caesar.&nbsp; While in Egypt, Caesar intervened in a civil war, setting up Cleopatra VII on the throne (and also having a son with her, who was named Caesarion [Little Caesar]).&nbsp; On returning to Rome, he was granted triumphs, nominally for his victories over Gaul, Egypt, Pontus, and Numidia, as it would be unseemly to honor his victories over fellow Romans.&nbsp; Caesar at this point was very popular, especially with the soldiers and poorer classes, but some among the Senatorial class worried that he was starting to act like a king.&nbsp; He heaped numerous titles on himself, appointed many new Senators and magistrates (who would of course be loyal to Caesar), and, as on this coin, allowed his image to appear on the currency.&nbsp; In February 44 BC, he was appointed Dictator in Perpetuity.&nbsp; He had held the title of Dictator (which granted absolute power to one man, and was intended as a temporary emergency office) on previous occasions; it had most recently been granted in 47 BC with a stated term of ten years.&nbsp; Granting the Dictatorship with no time limit, however, was really just creating a king with a different name.&nbsp;&nbsp; Caesar was at this point making plans for an invasion of Parthia to avenge Crassus (and of course capture wealthy new territory), but these plans would never be realized.&nbsp; On March 15 (the Ides of March), 44 BC, a group of Senators assassinated Caesar, claiming they were acting to prevent him from becoming a king.&nbsp; Caesar had no legitimate son, and it was expected that his will would name his trusted lieutenant Marcus Antonius as heir.&nbsp; However, Caesar&#039;s will unexpectedly named his grandnephew Gaius Octavianus as heir, posthumously adopting him as Caesar&#039;s son.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin is dated to early 44 BC, just a few months before Caesar&#039;s murder.&nbsp; It shows a great, realistic portrait of Caesar and references his titles of Imperator and Pontifex Maximus (High Priest, which he had held since 63 BC), but the lack of his title Dictator Perpetuo (which is seen on a few of his last coins) implies this was struck prior to that title being conferred.&nbsp; This is a great coin, extremely historical, worn but still quite attractive.&nbsp; There is a banker&#039;s mark (applied in ancient times to test the silver for purity), but it is placed in a spot that does not detract much from the appearance of the coin.&nbsp; I am very happy that I was able to acquire this piece, and I expect it will be number one on my year-end summary.&nbsp; Please post your coins of Julius Caesar, or whatever else is related.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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