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<p>[QUOTE="Curtis, post: 24623391, member: 26430"]<font face="Georgia"><font size="5">I love this period of Roman history and its coinage, but the hard part is always deciding what to include in this period. </font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><br /></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5">Caesar's Civil Wars set the stage for Brutus & Cassius' against the Second Triumvirate, which then culminated in that between Octavian and Marc Antony.</font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><br /></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5">But the cast of characters and the conditions for the later wars had already been set a generation earlier during Sulla's Civil War (or earlier yet...). Within my collection, I think of this period "starting" sometime around Julius Caesar's uncle...</font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><br /></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><b>Lucius Julius Caesar,</b> Consul in 90 BCE during the Social War. The Denarius below was struck by L. Julius Caesar as moneyer in 103 BCE (Crawford p. 325, 320/1). Here already we see a connection to the iconography of the OP denarius, as "the reverse type alludes to the descent of Iulii from Venus by way of Aeneas and Ascanius-Iulius" (Craw. 325; perhaps not a literal scene from myth, but I recall Venus, Aeneas, and cupid-disguised-as-Ascanius may have fled the burning city of Troy together?):</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1565787[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="4"><b>L. Julius Caesar AR Denarius</b> (3.92g), 103 BCE. Mars / Venus in Biga of Cupids. Craw. 320/1. <b>Prov</b>: Ex Scipio Collection (<a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=9129247" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=9129247" rel="nofollow">Part III, 458</a>); Leo Benz (1906-1996) Collection (Lanz 88, 407); Kricheldorf 29 (3 Mar 1975), Lot 249; ill. in <a href="http://numismatics.org/archives/ark:/53695/schaefer.rrdp.processed_300-399" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/archives/ark:/53695/schaefer.rrdp.processed_300-399" rel="nofollow">ANS RRDP, Schaefer Binder #19 (Processed, 300-399)</a>: pp. 119 (ꓘ) & 121 (·ꓘ)</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><b>Sulla</b> had served under L. Julius Caesar (as Consul) during the Social War (91-89 CE). When Sulla headed east to fight Mithdrates VI, Marius returned to Rome and seized control. Lucius Julius Caesar was killed by the Marians (in typical fashion for this period, his head was reportedly displayed at the forum). The young Gaius Julius Caesar -- "the" Julius Caesar -- was allowed to flee with his life (his inheritance now taken, which no doubt incentivized him to later seek riches through conquest).</font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><br /></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5">Sulla's absence was taken in service of the Mithradatic War in Greece, including the Siege of Athens. The "New Style" Tetradrachms of Sulla, under Proquaestor Lucullus, were struck either during the siege or after Athens was sacked:</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]qotjshXWQ5A[/MEDIA]</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><font size="4"><b>Athens AR “New Style” Tetradrachm </b>(29mm, 16.36 g), c. 86-84 BCE. Thompson 1315, HGC 4, 1779. <b>Prov</b>: <a href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Lot.aspx?LOT_ID=18073" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Lot.aspx?LOT_ID=18073" rel="nofollow">CNG 115, 147</a> ("Texas Wine Doctor” Coll.), <a href="https://imgur.com/gallery/N8NrZ6l" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://imgur.com/gallery/N8NrZ6l" rel="nofollow">CNG 51, 302</a>. </font></p><p>(Photo doesn't quite capture the nice toning, but click thumbnail for still image)</p><p>[ATTACH]1565788[/ATTACH]</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5">An interesting thing about Sulla's "Imperatorial" denarius below (struck at military mint, c. 84-3 BCE) is the apparent influence on some of Julius Caesar's later denarii:</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1565792[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><font size="4"><b>Lucius Sulla AR Denarius</b> (3.67g, 18mm, 12h), military mint, 83 BC. Venus & small Cupid / Capis and lituus between two trophies. Crawford 359/2. <b>Prov</b>: </font><a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6438390" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6438390" rel="nofollow"><font size="4">InAsta 84 (30 Oct 2019), 114</font></a><font size="4">.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5">Sulla's Venus & Cupid also appear on the front of <b>Julius Caesar</b>'s first denarius below, and the trophy on the reverse. The "priestly implements" appear on the reverse of his famous "elephant denarius":</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1565793[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="4"><b>Julius Caesar AR Denarius</b> (3.70g, 20mm, 12h). Military mint, 46-5 BCE. Elephant / Implements. Crawford 443/1. <b>Prov</b>: Kirk Davis Catalog 74, 65.</font></p></blockquote><p>[ATTACH=full]1565794[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><font size="4"><b>Julius Caesar AR Denarius</b> (3.49g, 17mm, 1h). Military mint, 49 BCE. Elephant / Implements. Crawford 443/1. <b>Prov</b>: Kirk Davis Catalog 74, 65.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5">Caesar's elephant denarius clearly influenced the elephant denarius of Metellus Scipio, one of the Pompeian generals against whom Caesar fought in his own Civil War:</font></font></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1565795[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="4"><b>Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio AR Denarius</b>. Military mint travelling with Scipio in Africa, 47-46 BCE. Crawford 459/1. <b>Prov</b>: American Collection, via Ben Mous.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5">Of course, the civil wars did not end there. Depending on your perspective on the "Koson" coinage, the following may all be connected to Brutus (first as Moneyer, c. 54 BCE, then Imperator, c. 42 BCE):</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1565796[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5">But where / when to draw the line?</font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><br /></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5">I'm also partial to the very last of the Greek coins struck under Antony & Cleopatra, though Greek coins from that period are often dated only tentatively to their reigns. From Messenia (AR Hemidrachm/Triobol) & Olympia, Elis (AE Diassarion/Dupondius), both mid-to-late 30s BCE in the lead-up to the Battle of Actium, at which Octavian decisively defeated the star-crossed lovers:</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1565797[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="4"><b>Messenia, Messene AR Hemidrachm – Triobol</b> (16mm, 2.25g, 10h), c. 35 BCE. Zeus / Tripod. <b>Prov</b>: <a href="https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=141346" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=141346" rel="nofollow">BCD Peloponnesos II 2327</a> = C. Grandjean No. 203-g (D125/R171 – this coin); James Madison University (John A. Sawhill Bequest); Kommerzienrat H. Otto, Stuttgart (<a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/hess_nachf1931_12_01bd1/0074/image" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/hess_nachf1931_12_01bd1/0074/image" rel="nofollow">Hess 207 (Lucerne, 1 Dec 1931), 493</a>).</font></p></blockquote><p>[ATTACH=full]1565798[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="4"><b>Olympia, Elis AE Diassarion</b> (27mm, 12.56g, 12-1h), c. 30s BCE. Hera / Eagle. <b>Prov</b>: Philipsen (<a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/hirsch_jacob1909_11_29/0308/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/hirsch_jacob1909_11_29/0308/" rel="nofollow">Hirsch XXV (25 Nov 1909), 1300</a>); Warren (<a href="https://archive.org/details/MonnaiesAntiquesGrecquesRomainesXV" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/MonnaiesAntiquesGrecquesRomainesXV" rel="nofollow">Naville <i>Ars Classica</i> XV (2 Jul 1930), 809</a>); RK Morcom; Christopher Morcom; P. R. Franke. </font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5">Perhaps a stopping point here, as Marc Antony (under whose joint control of Greece with Cleopatra these were likely struck) was the grandson of the Lucius Julius Caesar from the very first Denarius shown in this comment.</font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5"><br /></font></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><font size="5">Though I'd kinda like to switch to numis. lit. and start showing some of my favorite books on this period...</font></font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Curtis, post: 24623391, member: 26430"][FONT=Georgia][SIZE=5]I love this period of Roman history and its coinage, but the hard part is always deciding what to include in this period. Caesar's Civil Wars set the stage for Brutus & Cassius' against the Second Triumvirate, which then culminated in that between Octavian and Marc Antony. But the cast of characters and the conditions for the later wars had already been set a generation earlier during Sulla's Civil War (or earlier yet...). Within my collection, I think of this period "starting" sometime around Julius Caesar's uncle... [B]Lucius Julius Caesar,[/B] Consul in 90 BCE during the Social War. The Denarius below was struck by L. Julius Caesar as moneyer in 103 BCE (Crawford p. 325, 320/1). Here already we see a connection to the iconography of the OP denarius, as "the reverse type alludes to the descent of Iulii from Venus by way of Aeneas and Ascanius-Iulius" (Craw. 325; perhaps not a literal scene from myth, but I recall Venus, Aeneas, and cupid-disguised-as-Ascanius may have fled the burning city of Troy together?):[/SIZE][/FONT] [ATTACH=full]1565787[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=4][B]L. Julius Caesar AR Denarius[/B] (3.92g), 103 BCE. Mars / Venus in Biga of Cupids. Craw. 320/1. [B]Prov[/B]: Ex Scipio Collection ([URL='https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=9129247']Part III, 458[/URL]); Leo Benz (1906-1996) Collection (Lanz 88, 407); Kricheldorf 29 (3 Mar 1975), Lot 249; ill. in [URL='http://numismatics.org/archives/ark:/53695/schaefer.rrdp.processed_300-399']ANS RRDP, Schaefer Binder #19 (Processed, 300-399)[/URL]: pp. 119 (ꓘ) & 121 (·ꓘ)[/SIZE][/INDENT] [FONT=Georgia][SIZE=5][B]Sulla[/B] had served under L. Julius Caesar (as Consul) during the Social War (91-89 CE). When Sulla headed east to fight Mithdrates VI, Marius returned to Rome and seized control. Lucius Julius Caesar was killed by the Marians (in typical fashion for this period, his head was reportedly displayed at the forum). The young Gaius Julius Caesar -- "the" Julius Caesar -- was allowed to flee with his life (his inheritance now taken, which no doubt incentivized him to later seek riches through conquest). Sulla's absence was taken in service of the Mithradatic War in Greece, including the Siege of Athens. The "New Style" Tetradrachms of Sulla, under Proquaestor Lucullus, were struck either during the siege or after Athens was sacked:[/SIZE][/FONT] [MEDIA=youtube]qotjshXWQ5A[/MEDIA] [INDENT][SIZE=4][B]Athens AR “New Style” Tetradrachm [/B](29mm, 16.36 g), c. 86-84 BCE. Thompson 1315, HGC 4, 1779. [B]Prov[/B]: [URL='https://www.cngcoins.com/Lot.aspx?LOT_ID=18073']CNG 115, 147[/URL] ("Texas Wine Doctor” Coll.), [URL='https://imgur.com/gallery/N8NrZ6l']CNG 51, 302[/URL]. [/SIZE] (Photo doesn't quite capture the nice toning, but click thumbnail for still image) [ATTACH]1565788[/ATTACH][/INDENT] [FONT=Georgia][SIZE=5]An interesting thing about Sulla's "Imperatorial" denarius below (struck at military mint, c. 84-3 BCE) is the apparent influence on some of Julius Caesar's later denarii:[/SIZE][/FONT] [ATTACH=full]1565792[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=4][B]Lucius Sulla AR Denarius[/B] (3.67g, 18mm, 12h), military mint, 83 BC. Venus & small Cupid / Capis and lituus between two trophies. Crawford 359/2. [B]Prov[/B]: [/SIZE][URL='https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6438390'][SIZE=4]InAsta 84 (30 Oct 2019), 114[/SIZE][/URL][SIZE=4].[/SIZE][/INDENT] [FONT=Georgia][SIZE=5]Sulla's Venus & Cupid also appear on the front of [B]Julius Caesar[/B]'s first denarius below, and the trophy on the reverse. The "priestly implements" appear on the reverse of his famous "elephant denarius":[/SIZE][/FONT] [ATTACH=full]1565793[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=4][B]Julius Caesar AR Denarius[/B] (3.70g, 20mm, 12h). Military mint, 46-5 BCE. Elephant / Implements. Crawford 443/1. [B]Prov[/B]: Kirk Davis Catalog 74, 65.[/SIZE][/INDENT] [ATTACH=full]1565794[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=4][B]Julius Caesar AR Denarius[/B] (3.49g, 17mm, 1h). Military mint, 49 BCE. Elephant / Implements. Crawford 443/1. [B]Prov[/B]: Kirk Davis Catalog 74, 65.[/SIZE][/INDENT] [FONT=Georgia][SIZE=5]Caesar's elephant denarius clearly influenced the elephant denarius of Metellus Scipio, one of the Pompeian generals against whom Caesar fought in his own Civil War:[/SIZE][/FONT] [ATTACH=full]1565795[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=4][B]Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio AR Denarius[/B]. Military mint travelling with Scipio in Africa, 47-46 BCE. Crawford 459/1. [B]Prov[/B]: American Collection, via Ben Mous.[/SIZE][/INDENT] [FONT=Georgia][SIZE=5]Of course, the civil wars did not end there. Depending on your perspective on the "Koson" coinage, the following may all be connected to Brutus (first as Moneyer, c. 54 BCE, then Imperator, c. 42 BCE):[/SIZE][/FONT] [ATTACH=full]1565796[/ATTACH] [FONT=Georgia][SIZE=5]But where / when to draw the line? I'm also partial to the very last of the Greek coins struck under Antony & Cleopatra, though Greek coins from that period are often dated only tentatively to their reigns. From Messenia (AR Hemidrachm/Triobol) & Olympia, Elis (AE Diassarion/Dupondius), both mid-to-late 30s BCE in the lead-up to the Battle of Actium, at which Octavian decisively defeated the star-crossed lovers:[/SIZE][/FONT] [ATTACH=full]1565797[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=4][B]Messenia, Messene AR Hemidrachm – Triobol[/B] (16mm, 2.25g, 10h), c. 35 BCE. Zeus / Tripod. [B]Prov[/B]: [URL='https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=141346']BCD Peloponnesos II 2327[/URL] = C. Grandjean No. 203-g (D125/R171 – this coin); James Madison University (John A. Sawhill Bequest); Kommerzienrat H. Otto, Stuttgart ([URL='https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/hess_nachf1931_12_01bd1/0074/image']Hess 207 (Lucerne, 1 Dec 1931), 493[/URL]).[/SIZE][/INDENT] [ATTACH=full]1565798[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=4][B]Olympia, Elis AE Diassarion[/B] (27mm, 12.56g, 12-1h), c. 30s BCE. Hera / Eagle. [B]Prov[/B]: Philipsen ([URL='https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/hirsch_jacob1909_11_29/0308/']Hirsch XXV (25 Nov 1909), 1300[/URL]); Warren ([URL='https://archive.org/details/MonnaiesAntiquesGrecquesRomainesXV']Naville [I]Ars Classica[/I] XV (2 Jul 1930), 809[/URL]); RK Morcom; Christopher Morcom; P. R. Franke. [/SIZE][/INDENT] [FONT=Georgia][SIZE=5]Perhaps a stopping point here, as Marc Antony (under whose joint control of Greece with Cleopatra these were likely struck) was the grandson of the Lucius Julius Caesar from the very first Denarius shown in this comment. Though I'd kinda like to switch to numis. lit. and start showing some of my favorite books on this period...[/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]
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