| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 143 | Auction date: 7 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 384 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: The Dioscuri Collection. The Roman Republic. C. Iulius Caesar and C. Cossutius Maridianus. Denarius 44, AR 17 mm, 3.77 g. CAESAR – DICT·IN·PERPETVO Veiled and wreathed head of Caesar r. Rev. C·MARIDIANVS Venus standing l., holding Victory in r. hand and resting l. elbow on shield which in turn rests on globe. Babelon Julia 42 and Cossutia 4. C 10. Sydenham 1068. Sear Imperators 111a. RBW –. Crawford 480/15. Rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. A superb portrait of great realism, minor area of weakness on reverse, otherwise virtually as struck and almost Fdc Ex NAC 59, 2011, 837 and Triton XXII, 2019, 945 sales. From the Alan J. Harlan collection. This coin, struck by the moneyer C. Cossutius Maridianus, in February or early March of 44 BC, further shows the monarchic-style domination of Julius Caesar over contemporary Roman coinage. Whereas previously the individual moneyers had advertised mythological figures connected to their families or the real or imagined great deeds of famous ancestors, now the types revolved entirely around Caesar and his iconography. The types here are almost identical to those of the preceding denarius of P. Sepullius Macer. A veristic portrait of Cesar again appears on the obverse with a veil pulled over his head as if representing him in the act of taking the auspices. The surrounding legend also names Caesar as dictator for life, but is slightly longer winded in its expression, preferring DICT IN PERPETVO to Macer's more succinct DICT PERPETVO. Also, like the Macer denarius, the issue of Maridianus depicts Venus Victrix on the reverse to allude to Caesar's divine ancestry and to his victory over the opposition at Pharsalus. However, here the moneyer has taken the representation of the goddess a step further in advancing Caesar's ambition of becoming a new Roman king. On the Macer issue Venus is shown in a traditional manner, probably imitating a statue, in which she holds a figure of Victory in her right hand and rests her left on the shield of her lover, the war god Mars. Maridianus features a similar Venus Victrix, but now the shield is set atop a globe, indicating her rule over the cosmos and the universal power of Caesar. The addition of the globe clearly advertises a Rome and its empire firmly under the authority of the gens Iulia in the person of the dictator. One-man rule in Rome was here to stay and Caesar was not shy about flaunting it. It is hardly surprising that with such outrageous claims even his former friends turned against him and plotted his death several weeks after this coin was struck. Estimate: 15000 CHF |  |
