The Transfer of Power during the RR

One of the miracles of the Roman Republic was the one year term of the Consuls. Unheard of generally during the time of Kings.
Powerful men handing off the reins of power after one year to the next elected pair as the respect for the Republic and the electorate was honored. For 500 years this was the case. Many went on to Pro-Consulships and generally had a path to respected retirement after achieving their career peak... deserved or not...
It would take an extremely long post to examine all of the causes of the fall of the Roman Republic, but one certainly has to be the intent to prosecute Julius Caesar when his term as governor ended in Gaul. If Caesar was given an "out" and his enemies did not demand their pound of flesh perhaps things could have been different.

Back a man with a following into a corner and he may decide to cross the Rubicon.
History teaches us.





Please post any coins of the Roman Republic that display the name of Consuls (whether struck for ancestors or not, etc). I would love to see them..

 

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Does it? This will be an interesting few weeks.

Julius Caesar
First Triumvir, 60-53 B.C.
Dictator for Life, 44 B.C.
Silver Denarius
Rome mint, 44 B.C.
Obv: DICT PERPETVO - CAESAR - Veiled head of Julius Caesar
Rev: P SEPVLLIVS MACER - Venus holding Victory and scepter; shield at base
RSC 39; S362; RRC 480/13
18 x 20mm, 3.2g.

 

Great idea for a thread, @Clavdivs . Nice DIVUS Caesar.

FIRST CONSUL of ROME


Roman Republic
AR Denarius, 54 BCE, 18.3mm, 3.7g
Moneyer: Marcus Junius Brutus (aka Quintus Servillius Caepio Brutus)
Struck by the famous Marcus Junius Brutus when he was moneyer in 54 BCE
Obv: Bare headed Bust of L. Junius Brutus, Rome's First Consul - 509 BCE, BRVTVS behind
Rev: Bare headed Bust of C. Servilius Ahala, master of horse - 439 BCE, bearded r, AHALA behind
Ref:Sear 398. Crawford 433/2. Junia 1
Ex: From the awesome collection of our Good Man - @Valentinian.

Notes: Marcus Junius Brutus (aka Quintus Servillius Caepio Brutus) - Leader of the Plan to rid the Republic of the Tyrant/King - Gaius Juilius Caesar

 

gsimonel, posted: "Does it? This will be an interesting few weeks."

ONLY, for the uninformed. The final outcome is already 100% assured. How it took place is 100% known. Historians will write about it one day as they have for the fall of Troy.

Sorry, my ancient coin images are on another computer. This coin popped up in my post and I cannot delete it.

 

JULIUS CAESAR

Struck within 2 weeks of his execution by the Senate


Roman Imperatorial Era
Julius Caesar Lifetime
P Sepullius Macer AR Den
1st 2 weeks-Mar 44 BCE 4.03g.
CAESAR – DICT PERPETVO Veiled -
Venus Victory sceptre star
Syd 1074a Sear Imperators 107e Cr 480-14

 

I believe Isaac Asimov based a lot of his Foundation books o the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.

 

REGULUS

This Denarius is a mystery as to whom is depicted, but the Family Name of REGULUS always reminded me of the Consul during the First Punic War...

WIKIPEDIA:
Regulus first became consul in 267 BC, when he fought the Messapians. Elected as a consul again in 256 BC, he served as a general in the First Punic War (256 BC), where he defeated the Carthaginians in a naval battle at Cape Ecnomus near Sicily and invaded North Africa, winning victories at Aspis and Adys, until he was defeated and captured at Tunis in 255 BC. After he was released on parole to negotiate a peace, he is supposed to have urged the Roman Senate to refuse the proposals and then, over the protests of his own people, to have fulfilled the terms of his parole rather than break his word by returning to Carthage, where, according to Roman tradition and Livy, he was tortured to death. In Tertullian's "To the Martyrs" (Chapter 4) and Augustine of Hippo's The City of God (I.15), it is said the Carthaginians "packed him into a tight wooden box, spiked with sharp nails on all sides so that he could not lean in any direction without being pierced."[2] However, Polybius does not mention it, while Diodorus (a writer hostile to the Carthaginians) implies he died from natural causes.[3] He was posthumously seen by the Romans as a model of civic virtue.[1]


RR
L Livineius Regulus
AR Denarius
42 BCE 3.8g 19mm
Regulus' Praetor father(?) bust -
Gladiators in Arena
Cr 494-30 Syd 1112 Sear 489

 

Here's a future consul honoring a kingly ancestor and furthermore was step-brother to future emperor Augustus. Three forms of government (Kingdom, Republic, Imperium) in one coin - plus an aqueduct, a lituus, a horse and some banker's marks:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Marcius_Philippus_(consul_38_BC)



Roman Republic Denarius
L. Marcius Philippus
(56 B.C.)
Diademed head of Ancus Marcius right, lituus left; below, ANCVS / Equestrian statue right on arcade of five arches, inscription within, AQVA MR; on l., PHILIPPVS
Crawford 425/1; RRC 919.
(3.77 grams / 16 mm)

This moneyer was consul in 38 BC. His ancestor, praetor Q. Marcius Rex, renovated the "Aqua Marcia" in 144 BC., said to have been built by order of the king Ancus Marcius

 

In my youth, 70+ years ago, I read the three "Foundation" books and was quite depressed that there were no more!!!!
Perhaps, now in my "golden years," I should read them once again.
To me, they were/are treasures.

 

Pete:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_series

There are more books as prelude and after the Trilogy... I believe I have read them all, but, might start again!

 

Unfortunately there were several additional sequels written later that aren't very good. Reread the first three, but don't waste your time with the later ones.

EDIT: Oops! Looks like Alegandron and I disagree.

 

Great thread and coin! Here's my denarius of Regulus.

Roman Republic:
L. Livineius Regulus (42 BC)
AR Denarius

Obv: bare head right.
Rev: LIVINNVS/REGVLVS, curule chair between six fasces..
Diameter: 19mm
Weight: 3.94 grams
Mint: Rome
Crawford 494/28
Ex: Roma Numismatics (Auction XX), the Andrew McCabe Collection, Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG (Auction 262, 13 March 2015, lot 7752), Numismatica Varesi S.R.L. (Auction 51, 23 April 2008, lot 284)

 

shortlived as Consul:

 

No, I agree with you. The Trilogy was the story. The other books were wannabes. But kinda fun to see where they wanted to permeate the Story.

 

You say that all the time in Ancients.
Oh, well, once again: Fake News

 

I loved the Foundation Trilogy, and everything else Asimov wrote, when I was 12 or 13. I wonder what I would think of it now. I know that I thought The Lord of the Rings trilogy was amazing when I was 11, but when I tried to read a little of it again when the movies came out in the 90s and my son was young, I thought Toikien's writing style was so awkward that I couldn't deal with more than a few pages.

 

Alegandron, posted: "You say that all the time in Ancients.
Oh, well, once again: Fake News."

Well, you are free to question my veracity. I thought I posted some of the cheap Greek bronzes I'm working on a long time ago. Yes? No?

True News: I do remember promising to post some of my greek silver coins at one time and have yet to go to the bank.
Hopefully, then you will have the "class" to post something useful such as "Beautiful Coin" rather than this garbage.
Color me disappointed. I should have expected more.

PS The final outcome has taken place just as I said and NOTHING will be done to change it. It will be years before many of you learn the rest of the story - the why and how this happened. Ignorance is bliss applies.

 

The rest of the story? Are you Paul Harvey now? I thought he was dead.

Of course it's over. It doesn't take a genius to know that or to know why. But this isn't the place to talk about it.

 

C'mon, Skip, you are behaving like a troll again. This is an Ancient Coins forum, not your forum to pontificate. Please post Ancients that apply, and contribute vs. your "Talent on loan from..." nonsense.

 

I reread the Foundation trilogy about a year ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was also interested in the history of the fictional empire as well, and wonder what a history on that would be like. Here is my only Roman Republican coin, fittingly depicting the founders of Rome. On another note, it always seems a little disappointing to me that not many republican coins have the full die on the flan. Particularly busy ones like mine never seem to. I wonder if there are any?