Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXIII 24-25 Mar 2022
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Augustus AV Aureus. Lugdunum, 15-12 BC. AVGVSTVS DIVI F, bare head to right / Bull butting to right, pawing ground and flicking tail; IMP•X in exergue. RIC I 166a; C. 136; BMCRE 450; BN 1372; Giard, Lyon, 18, pl. IX; Calicó 212. 7.88g, 20mm, 6h.
Good Extremely Fine.
Ex G.T. Collection of the Twelve Caesars, Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XX, 29 October 2020, lot 491;
Ex Gemini LLC, Auction XIII, 6 April 2017, lot 139;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 24, 5 December 2002, lot 14;
Ex Sotheby's, 7 December 1996, lot 85.
Minted as part of a series to celebrate victory in the wars of expansion led by Drusus and Tiberius against the Alpine tribes, this coin is part of the rich tapestry of new imperial iconography designed to present the impression of a divinely sanctioned Augustan rule (Zanker, 1990, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus). On the obverse, an unmistakable portrait of the youthful Augustus displays his iconic locks arranged carefully across his forehead, but it is the reverse of this coin that alludes to ancestral tales of the Julio-Claudians and offers an insight into the mechanisms of Augustan image making.
The charging bull or heifer is multi-facetted in its symbolism, on the one hand it can be likened to a similar motif carried by Caesar's legions on their standards representing the unstoppable power of Rome –it is first and foremost used as a sacrificial animal for Mars Ultor. On the other hand, it can be seen to resemble a famous type from Thurium, a city to which the family of Augustus had a connection: Suetonius relates that Gaius Octavius, Augustus' natural father, defeated a Spartacist army near the town. Due to the high regard in which the family was held in the town, Augustus had been given the surname Thurinus at birth, and thus the type primarily represents a deeply personal allusion to the emperor and his father Gaius Octavius.
While these interpretations might appear divergent, what links them together is that they all proclaim the strength of the Augustan dynasty. This fact is further embellished by the very site where this coin was minted, which itself prospered greatly under Augustan rule, as later described by Strabo: Lugdunum itself, situated on a hill, at the confluence of the Saone and the Rhone, belongs to the Romans. It is the most populous city after Narbonne. It carries on a great commerce, and the Roman prefects here coin both gold and silver money (Strab. 4.3.2).
Good Extremely Fine.
Ex G.T. Collection of the Twelve Caesars, Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XX, 29 October 2020, lot 491;
Ex Gemini LLC, Auction XIII, 6 April 2017, lot 139;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 24, 5 December 2002, lot 14;
Ex Sotheby's, 7 December 1996, lot 85.
Minted as part of a series to celebrate victory in the wars of expansion led by Drusus and Tiberius against the Alpine tribes, this coin is part of the rich tapestry of new imperial iconography designed to present the impression of a divinely sanctioned Augustan rule (Zanker, 1990, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus). On the obverse, an unmistakable portrait of the youthful Augustus displays his iconic locks arranged carefully across his forehead, but it is the reverse of this coin that alludes to ancestral tales of the Julio-Claudians and offers an insight into the mechanisms of Augustan image making.
The charging bull or heifer is multi-facetted in its symbolism, on the one hand it can be likened to a similar motif carried by Caesar's legions on their standards representing the unstoppable power of Rome –it is first and foremost used as a sacrificial animal for Mars Ultor. On the other hand, it can be seen to resemble a famous type from Thurium, a city to which the family of Augustus had a connection: Suetonius relates that Gaius Octavius, Augustus' natural father, defeated a Spartacist army near the town. Due to the high regard in which the family was held in the town, Augustus had been given the surname Thurinus at birth, and thus the type primarily represents a deeply personal allusion to the emperor and his father Gaius Octavius.
While these interpretations might appear divergent, what links them together is that they all proclaim the strength of the Augustan dynasty. This fact is further embellished by the very site where this coin was minted, which itself prospered greatly under Augustan rule, as later described by Strabo: Lugdunum itself, situated on a hill, at the confluence of the Saone and the Rhone, belongs to the Romans. It is the most populous city after Narbonne. It carries on a great commerce, and the Roman prefects here coin both gold and silver money (Strab. 4.3.2).