From Republic to Empire: The Story of the Roman Denarius, Part IV

By Michael T. Shutterly for CoinWeek …..
 

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV

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The Roman Denarius: All Roads Lead to Rome … and Autocracy

The fourth and final stage in the development of the Roman Republican denarius extended from c. 50 to 44 BCE.

Gaius Julius Caesar was consolidating his conquest of Gaul in December 50 BCE when the Senate ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome. Caesar’s conquests had made him enormously popular and exceedingly wealthy, but none of what he had done in Gaul was legal: the Senate had never authorized him to launch what was, in effect, his personal war against the Gauls. His popularity with the general public was also a major concern: Caesar’s control of “the mob” made him a danger to the political structure of the Roman Republic.

Caesar was faced with a dilemma. Roman law prohibited provincial governors from entering Italy with their armies (Sulla’s march on Rome had led to years of bloody civil war). If Caesar returned to Rome with an army completely loyal to him, he would be subject to arrest and prosecution for treason, with the most likely outcome his exile or death. If Caesar returned to Rome without an army completely loyal to him, he would be subject to arrest and prosecution for his crimes in Gaul, with the most likely outcome his exile or death.

Whatever decision Caesar made would change the Roman world.

On January 10, 49 BCE, Caesar crossed the Rubicon River – the border of his province – and marched on Rome. A new civil war had begun.

Caesar issued the first coin to bear his name sometime after he crossed the Rubicon. The obverse features an elephant trampling what is usually considered to be a snake but could also be a dragon or carnyx (the Gaulish war horn). The precise meaning of the imagery is uncertain, but it probably has something to do with the triumph of good (meaning Caesar) over evil (meaning anyone who opposed Caesar). The reverse features emblems of Caesar’s office as Pontifex Maximus.

Caesar had no legal authority to mint this coin, but, as Sulla had done 33 years earlier, he minted it on his own authority. This exceptional coin sold for $7,500 at a private sale, but very nice specimens are easily obtained for less than $1,000.

Pompey was living in Rome when news came that Caesar had crossed the river. He had once boasted that he could stamp his foot and 10 legions would rise to support him, but due to gout or some other problem he never stamped his foot; instead, he and all of the people who mattered in Rome fled to Greece.

Soon after the first rumors of Caesar’s actions reached Rome, the Senatorial government appointed Quintus Sicinius as moneyer. Sicinius quickly struck a denarius in support of Pompey. The obverse design, featuring the goddess Fortuna Populi Romani (“Fortune of the Roman People”) was aspirational, struck in the hope that Lady Fortune would smile on Pompey who had already served Rome so well, while the palm branch and crown on the reverse symbolized the honor and acclaim Pompey had already earned. This coin sold for $750 against a $500 estimate at an auction in May 2020.

Sicinius’ coins were the last regular issue of coinage in Rome before Caesar occupied the city in March 49 BCE.

The obverse design is personal to Piso rather than Pompey: the Calpurnia gens (family linked by kinship) claimed descent from Calpus, a son of Numa Pompilius, the legendary second King of Rome (reigned 715-672 BCE). The reverse design of this denarius is personal to Pompey: the ship’s prow refers to the Roman naval victories Pompey won in his war against the Mediterranean pirates in the early 60s BCE. Pompey’s use of the title “Proconsul” on the reverse demonstrated that he was minting coins as an authorized government officer – unlike Caesar, who was striking coins in his name alone. Magnus (“Great”) was originally a nickname for Pompey, but he formally adopted it as part of his name. This coin sold for $1,600 against a $1,500 estimate at an auction in January 2005.

In early 48 BCE, Caesar crossed over to Greece for the final showdown with Pompey.

Caesar conclusively defeated Pompey at Pharsalus on August 9, 48 BCE. After Pompey fled to Egypt, many of his soldiers and supporters (including Brutus) asked Caesar’s pardon and joined his forces. Pompey was murdered upon his arrival in Egypt, but his remaining forces continued to fight on, forcing Caesar to do battle in North Africa and Spain.

Brilliant though he was in so many respects, Caesar sometimes made disastrously bad appointments. His legate in Spain, Quintus Cassius Longinus, so abused his powers that many of the Spanish cities turned completely against Caesar in support of the Pompeian cause, which was now in the hands of Pompey’s sons, Gnaeus Pompey Junior and Sextus Pompey.

The first coins to portray Pompey appeared in late 46 BCE, probably struck in Corduba (modern Cordova), the headquarters of the Pompeians. The obverse inscription is an abbreviation of GNAEUS [POMPEIUS] MAGNI IMPERATORIS FILIUS – “Son of the Military Commander [Pompey] the Great.” This identifies Pompey’s son (filius in Latin) as the person responsible for issuing the coin. The reverse inscription is an abbreviation of PROQUAESTOR MARCUS MINATIUS SABINUS and identifies the Pompeian lieutenant who actually struck the coin. This quite rare coin sold for $3,750 at a private sale; well-centered, well-struck examples routinely sell for prices over $15,000.

Caesar arrived in Spain in late 46 BCE and struck coins of his own. The obverse of the one shown here depicts the goddess Venus, from whom Caesar claimed descent. This coin sold for $2,250 against a $750 estimate at an auction in January 2019.

The Spanish Pompeian denarii are scarce, probably because of the short period in which they were struck: mintage ended no later than March 17, 45 BCE, when Caesar crushed the Pompeian army at Munda and massacred the survivors. With Caesar’s victory, the civil war ended, and Caesar’s power was absolute.

At the beginning of 44 BCE, Caesar increased the number of moneyers from three to four, and the volume and variety of denarii they produced in the first three months of the year was enormous. This was probably related to Caesar’s preparations for a military campaign against Parthia that was scheduled to begin on March 18; the war was canceled on March 15 due to circumstances beyond Caesar’s control.

In early January 44 BCE, the moneyers began striking denarii portraying Caesar: these were the first Roman coins to give the portrait of a living person. At least a dozen more types were struck over the next two months. The coins were minted in huge quantities, and specimens are readily available today. Many are badly struck, probably because of the rushed minting, but they tend to be pricey due to their connection to Caesar. The coin shown here, which is in exceptional condition and is well-centered and very strongly struck, sold for $55,000 against a $20,000 estimate at an auction in January 2012.

The obverse inscription of this coin is an abbreviated version of CAESAR DICTATOR QVARTVM – “Dictator for the Fourth Time”. Under Roman law, a Dictator (from Latin dictare, a verb meaning “to say repeatedly, to assert, or to order”) was a magistrate appointed by the Senate during a time of national crisis who held absolute power and was immune from prosecution for any actions he took as Dictator; the appointment usually was limited to a period of no more than six months. Caesar’s first appointment as Dictator came in the autumn of 49 BCE when he was charged with conducting the elections for the following year; he was elected Consul in those elections and resigned the Dictatorship after 11 days. He was appointed Dictator again in 48, 46, and 45, each time for one year or more. He received his final Dictatorship sometime between January 26 and February 15 of 44 BCE, but this time he was appointed Dictator in Perpetuo – “Dictator in Perpetuity” – in effect, Dictator for life.

Gaius Cossutius Maridianus, the moneyer who struck the coin shown here, was the fourth of the four moneyers appointed in 44 BCE and the last to strike portrait coins, doing so only after Caesar was named Dictator In Perpetuo. Maridianus was the only moneyer to include the word “IN” in giving Caesar’s title as Dictator In Perpetuo. He always depicts Caesar with a veiled head in acknowledgment of Caesar’s role as Pontifex Maximus, the chief priest of the Roman state religion. This denarius is not as well-centered nor as well struck as Mettius’ coin, but it does display one of the finest portraits of Caesar. This coin sold for $20,000 against a $15,000 estimate at an auction in January 2019.

Gaius Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15. The denarii that portray him are sometimes called “the Coins that Killed Caesar,” supposedly because they enraged the Senators who feared that this was a step too far toward restoring the hated monarchy (until that time, only kings portrayed themselves on their coins). It is possible, however, that they had no one to blame but themselves, as the Roman Senate itself may have authorized Caesar’s portrait on the denarius.

The fourth chapter of Book XLIV of Dio Cassius’s History of Rome lists the privileges and honors that the Senate bestowed upon Caesar. The Greek text is somewhat difficult, but one line specifically states that the Senate authorized Caesar to put his name and title on the coins, and the language strongly suggests that this permission allowed him to place his portrait on the coins, as well.

In any event, the Senate’s “outrage” was short-lived: within two months of Caesar’s assassination, Mark Antony minted a denarius on which he portrayed himself, and it did not cause an uproar. Two years later, Brutus and Cassius, the two most prominent of Caesar’s assassins, were minting coins that portrayed themselves, with Brutus going so far as to mint a denarius that both portrayed himself and boasted of his role in Caesar’s assassination.

The Story of the Roman Denarius: Conclusion

The Roman denarius arose amid the chaos and destruction of the Second Punic War when the coin glorified the state, culminating in a Civil War two centuries later with Julius Caesar’s portrayal of himself on his denarius. For the next 300 years, the coin would glorify the men who controlled the Roman Empire.

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Sources

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Crawford, Michael H. Roman Republican Coinage. 2 Volumes. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. (1974)

Dio Cassius. History of Rome, Vol. IV (Books 41-45). Foster, Herbert B. and Cary, Earnest, translators. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard University Press. (1916)

Harl, K.W. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. Johns Hopkins University Press. (1996)

Harlan, M. Roman Republican Moneyers and Their Coins 63 BC-49BC. Seaby. (1995)

Houston, J. “Roman Coinage and the Triumviri Monetales from 139 BC to the Fall of the Republic”.

Lowes, Daniel. “Why do Roman Coins vary so much from 133 – 31 BCE?”, Master of Arts Dissertation at Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom.

Nousek, Debra L. “Turning Points in Roman History: The Case of Caesar’s Elephant Denarius”,
Phoenix 64, 3-4. pp. 290-307. Classical Association of Canada. (Fall-Winter 2008)

Sear, David R. The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators 49-27 BC. London. Spink. (1998)

–. Roman Coins and Their Values: Volume I: The Republic and The Twelve Caesars
280 BC – AD 96. London. Spink. (2000)

Woytek, B.E. “The Denarius Coinage of the Roman Republic”, The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage (W.E. Metcalf, Ed.). pp. 315-334. Oxford University Press. (2012)

Images of coins are all courtesy and copyright of Classical Numismatic Group (CNG) LLC – www.cngcoins.com.

Image of bust of Gaius Julius Caesar courtesy and copyright of Ángel M. Felicísimo under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

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