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32 A.C. - DENARO DI ANTONIO E CLEOPATRA
32 B.C. - ANThONY AND CLEOPATRA DENAR
COLLEZIONE PRIVATA PRIVATE COLLECTION
iMPeratoriaL 11-10 A.C. AuREO DI AugusTO,
CoiNS ZECCA LugDuNum
the birth of the 11-10 B.C. AugusTus AuREus,
roman empire told through LugDuNum mINT
first century B.C. coins VENDuTo a
SolD aT
€ 15.600
historiographic convention establishes the year 27 B.C. as aurei. silla was
the moment in which Octavian assumed the titles of Princeps the first person
and Augustus and the year the Roman Empire was founded; a to break a political
date that actually represents the conclusion of a long process system that had
of attrition of Republican institutions begun approximately half remained unchanged for
a century beforehand. Analysis of the coins issued over these over 400 years in 80 B.C. and,
decades reveals that it is probably the most interesting period furthermore, never before had a living
in Roman history and certainly the most important from a Roman political exponent had his effigy put on a coin, the first
numismatic perspective. break with the monetary traditions of the Roman Republic.
until this moment, Republican monetisation, founded on the The following step occurred with the first triumvirate of
denarius, had been defined by its highly varied iconography in Pompey, Crassus and Julius Caesar in 60 B.C. While politically
which the prevailing subjects were the deities of the Roman the system took definitive steps towards shifting power from
Olympiad and characters from historical and mythological the senate to the Princeps, it was not until after the death of
tradition in some cases. The first example of discontinuity, both Caesar that there were any significant numismatic changes
political and numismatic, occurred under silla. he assumed the towards the Imperial monetary system (although Caesar was
title Dictator after two decades of civil war and had himself certainly not restrained in using coins to celebrate his military
depicted on horseback on the reverse of one of the first successes).
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