Temple of Zeus Olympios

445, Lot: 413. Estimate $750. Sold for $1900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.62 g, 8h). Pergamum mint. Struck circa 21 BC. AVGVSTV[S], bare head right / [I]OVI OLV across field, hexastyle temple of Olympian Jupiter on three-tiered base with round shield in pediment and palmettes on top. RIC I 472; RSC 182; BMCRE 666-8 = BMCRR East 257-9; BN 936-9. Near EF, lightly toned. A wonderful depiction of the temple of Zeus Olympios.

Ex PML Collection.

This coin provides one more intriguing piece of evidence of the paradoxical relationship regarding Augustus’ conscious crafting of his public image. While the reverse clearly features the temple of Zeus Olympios, it is unclear whether it is the one in Athens, or more likely, that at Olympia. During the years following Actium, Octavian spent much time in the East, reinforcing his control over Antony’s former power base, as well as helping to alleviate the suffering of its cities following the Civil War. When he received the epithet Augustus, these cities, including Pergamum, sought to honor him and allude to his increased divinity, not only as the son of the Divus Julius, but akin to Zeus himself. Unlike the more conservative Rome mint, which balked at such overtures, the eastern mints, with their long tradition of ascribing divinity to such rulers, were comfortable in doing so.