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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2838501, member: 81887&quot;]Continuing with my recent auction wins, here&#039;s a worn but pleasant Imperatorial denarius:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]670923[/ATTACH] </p><p>Roman Republic, Second Triumvirate, 36 BC.&nbsp; AR denarius.&nbsp; Octavian, as triumvir.&nbsp; Obverse: Bust of Octavian right, IMP CAESAR [DIVI F III VIR ITER R P C].&nbsp; Reverse: Priestly implements (described below), COS ITER ET TER DESIG.&nbsp; Crawford 538/1, RSC I 91. </p><p><br /></p><p>This coin dates from 36 BC, an &quot;interesting time&quot; when the three men of the Second Triumvirate- Marc Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian- briefly managed to hold back their mutual distrust of each other and pretend that the Republic was still functioning normally.&nbsp; The reverse legend is short for &quot;Consul iter et tertium designatus&quot;- &quot;Consul a second time, and elected for a third time&quot;- indicating that the Triumvirate had renewed their powers.&nbsp; But instead of more purely political or military symbols such as a fasces, this is illustrated with religious implements.&nbsp; From left to right, they are: a simpulum (a ladle used in pouring liquids during sacrifices), an aspergillum (a sort of flail used to scatter water), a jug for pouring water or liquid offerings, and a lituus (a staff used in Roman fortune-telling to ritually mark off sections of the sky).&nbsp; Why?</p><p><br /></p><p>Well, as often happens when there is an official state religion, that religion over time becomes a base of political power as well as the more spiritual type.&nbsp; By the late Republic, membership in the College of Pontiffs (the association of priests of the official Roman religion) was very useful to ambitious men, and so many were appointed priests despite having little interest in or talent for the religious life.&nbsp; These political priests would then leave the actual daily duties of the religion to a smaller crew of dedicated men (plus the women of the Vestal Virgins) while gaining the prestige of being publicly pious.&nbsp; Octavian joined the College of Pontiffs in 47 BC, aged just 16, when his grand-uncle Julius Caesar was Pontifex Maximus (High Priest, head of the College).&nbsp; After Julius Caesar&#039;s assassination, the office was taken over by Lepidus, who retained it (despite his eventual exile) until his death in 13 BC.&nbsp; At that point, Octavian, by now called Augustus, became the new Pontifex Maximus, and the title was then passed down to subsequent emperors who often had even less claim to it (at least based on interest in, or aptitude for, religious observances).&nbsp; The title &quot;Pontifex Maximus&quot; was used even by the early Christian emperors, up to Gratian (375-383 AD) despite their opposition to the official pagan gods of the Roman religion. It was finally dropped as an Imperial title by Gratian, though it has sometimes been used since the Renaissance to describe the Roman Catholic Pope.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I like this coin for its historical context, and it fits in well with my collection of coins that show substantial wear but are still aesthetically pleasing.&nbsp; Plus, check out the crazy spiral on the lituus on the reverse.&nbsp; Most drawings of a lituus show just a couple of turns of the spiral, but the engraver on this coin just went nuts with it.&nbsp; (I looked up other examples of this coin, and it seems to be common for this issue.&nbsp; Probably just one engraver who really liked making spirals.)&nbsp; Many emperors issued coins showing sacrificial implants on the reverse, so share yours.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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