Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVII 28 Mar 2019
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Caligula Ӕ Sestertius. Rome, AD 39-40. C•CAESAR•DIVI•AVG•PRON•AVG•P•M•TR•P•III•P•P, veiled and draped figure of Pietas, seated left, holding patera and resting arm on small facing figure; PIETAS in exergue / Hexastyle garlanded temple surmounted by quadriga, before which veiled and togate Caligula sacrifices with patera over garlanded altar; one attendant leads bull to the altar, a second holds patera; DIVO AVG and S-C across fields. RIC 44; C. 10; † (pl. 28, 9); BN 104; Hill, Monuments p. 20, no.18. 27.35g, 36mm, 6h.
Extremely Fine.
Ex Hess-Divo AG, Auction 307, 7 June 2007, lot 1565;
Ex Münzen & Medaillen AG Basel, Fixed Price List 586, May 1995, no. 30.
The reverse of this magnificent type commemorates the completion of the temple of Divus Augustus, built on the Palatine Hill on the site of the house that Augustus had inhabited before he entered public life. Vowed by the Roman Senate shortly after the death of the emperor in AD 14, it was not finished until AD 37, whereupon it was dedicated over the last two days of August that year - the month renamed in honour of Augustus. Caligula, as Pontifex Maximus, led the sacrificial ceremonies. According to Cassius Dio (59.7.4), the commemorative events ordered by Caligula were exceptionally extravagant: a two-day horse race took place along with the slaughter of 400 bears and "an equal number of wild beasts from Libya", and Caligula postponed all lawsuits and suspended all mourning "in order that no one should have an excuse for failing to attend". The last known reference to the temple was on 27 May AD 218; at some point thereafter it was completely destroyed and its stones were presumably quarried for later buildings; the site has never been excavated and its original appearance must be reconstructed only from its depictions on the Roman coinage of which the present type is the most significant.
Extremely Fine.
Ex Hess-Divo AG, Auction 307, 7 June 2007, lot 1565;
Ex Münzen & Medaillen AG Basel, Fixed Price List 586, May 1995, no. 30.
The reverse of this magnificent type commemorates the completion of the temple of Divus Augustus, built on the Palatine Hill on the site of the house that Augustus had inhabited before he entered public life. Vowed by the Roman Senate shortly after the death of the emperor in AD 14, it was not finished until AD 37, whereupon it was dedicated over the last two days of August that year - the month renamed in honour of Augustus. Caligula, as Pontifex Maximus, led the sacrificial ceremonies. According to Cassius Dio (59.7.4), the commemorative events ordered by Caligula were exceptionally extravagant: a two-day horse race took place along with the slaughter of 400 bears and "an equal number of wild beasts from Libya", and Caligula postponed all lawsuits and suspended all mourning "in order that no one should have an excuse for failing to attend". The last known reference to the temple was on 27 May AD 218; at some point thereafter it was completely destroyed and its stones were presumably quarried for later buildings; the site has never been excavated and its original appearance must be reconstructed only from its depictions on the Roman coinage of which the present type is the most significant.