Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIV 21 Sep 2017
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Julius Caesar AV Aureus. Rome, early 46 BC. A. Hirtius, praetor. Veiled female head (Vesta?) right; C•CAESAR COS•TER around / Emblems of the augurate and pontificate: lituus, guttus, and securis; A HIRTIVS PR around lower left. Crawford 466/1; CRI 56; Calicó 37b. 8.20g, 22mm, 5h.
Extremely Fine; struck on a very broad flan.
From the Paulo Leitão Collection;
Ex Goldman Collection, Triton XVI, 9 January 2013, lot 899;
Ex A. Tkalec, 8 September 2008, lot 268.
Authorised by Caesar himself, the present aureus was part of the first ever large-scale issue of aurei in the history of the Roman coinage. Under extreme pressure to strike the vast quantities of coinage that Caesar required in time for his 'Quadruple Triumph'and the return of his veteran soldiers to Rome, the exacting standards of the Capitoline mint seemingly slipped. We have in the present coin an extremely fine example from dies of good style, which is in marked contrast to the variable quality of the dies used and the technical skill with which the coins were struck.
The 'Quadruple Triumph' that Caesar celebrated on his return to Rome in 46 BC was spread over four days, with each day to feature a themed procession commemorating his four greatest achievements on campaign: the victories in Gaul while he was proconsul between 58 and 51 BC, his defeat of Ptolemy XIII of Egypt in 47, of Pharnaces of Pontus later the same year and finally over king Juba of Numidia, who was cast as the main enemy of the recently successful African campaign - a Triumph could not be celebrated for the defeat of fellow Romans, a fact that left many uneasy due to the common knowledge of the deaths of Scipio and Cato, Caesar's real opponents.
It is also interesting to note that the types chosen by Caesar to mark his attainment of military supremacy could not have been more opposite to the character of the occasion they were intended for. Referencing Caesar's occupation of various religious positions with the emblems of the augurate and pontificate on the reverse, it is believed Caesar sought to highlight his care for Rome, the family and home by honouring Vesta, goddess of the hearth, with the veiled female head on the obverse. Although never positively identified as Vesta, that her rites were under the care of the pontifices, and most especially Caesar himself as Pontifex Maximus, makes this likely a correct assumption.
Extremely Fine; struck on a very broad flan.
From the Paulo Leitão Collection;
Ex Goldman Collection, Triton XVI, 9 January 2013, lot 899;
Ex A. Tkalec, 8 September 2008, lot 268.
Authorised by Caesar himself, the present aureus was part of the first ever large-scale issue of aurei in the history of the Roman coinage. Under extreme pressure to strike the vast quantities of coinage that Caesar required in time for his 'Quadruple Triumph'and the return of his veteran soldiers to Rome, the exacting standards of the Capitoline mint seemingly slipped. We have in the present coin an extremely fine example from dies of good style, which is in marked contrast to the variable quality of the dies used and the technical skill with which the coins were struck.
The 'Quadruple Triumph' that Caesar celebrated on his return to Rome in 46 BC was spread over four days, with each day to feature a themed procession commemorating his four greatest achievements on campaign: the victories in Gaul while he was proconsul between 58 and 51 BC, his defeat of Ptolemy XIII of Egypt in 47, of Pharnaces of Pontus later the same year and finally over king Juba of Numidia, who was cast as the main enemy of the recently successful African campaign - a Triumph could not be celebrated for the defeat of fellow Romans, a fact that left many uneasy due to the common knowledge of the deaths of Scipio and Cato, Caesar's real opponents.
It is also interesting to note that the types chosen by Caesar to mark his attainment of military supremacy could not have been more opposite to the character of the occasion they were intended for. Referencing Caesar's occupation of various religious positions with the emblems of the augurate and pontificate on the reverse, it is believed Caesar sought to highlight his care for Rome, the family and home by honouring Vesta, goddess of the hearth, with the veiled female head on the obverse. Although never positively identified as Vesta, that her rites were under the care of the pontifices, and most especially Caesar himself as Pontifex Maximus, makes this likely a correct assumption.