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The Caesarians. Julius Caesar. Late 48-47 BC. AR Denarius (21.5mm, 3.77 g, 5h). Military mint traveling with Caesar in North Africa. Diademed head of Venus right / Aeneas advancing left, holding palladium and bearing Anchises on his shoulder; CAESAR downward to right. Crawford 458/1; CRI 55; Sydenham 1013; RSC 12; BMCRR East 31; Kestner 3577-9; RBW 1600. Deep cabinet tone with attractive iridescence, struck on an oval flan. Near EF.
Purchased by the consignor from Dr. Arnold R. Saslow (Ye Olde Curiositie Shoppe), 11 November 1995.
Julius Caesar traced his descent all the way back to the Trojan hero Aeneas, legendary founder of the Romans. Aeneas, in turn, was the product of a liaison between the goddess Venus and Anchises, a herdsman who was related to the Trojan royal family. In a scene recounted by Virgil in the Aeneid, when the Greeks torched Troy, Aeneas escaped from the burning city carrying the aged Anchises on his shoulder and the sacred Palladium, a cult statue of Pallas Athena rescued from the household shrine. The scene is depicted on the reverse of this denarius of Caesar, struck in 48-47 BC, at least two decades before the Aeneid was composed. Venus, the mother of Aeneas (and thus the divine antecedent of Caesar) appears on the obverse.
The final winners of all Triton XXVI lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 10-11 January 2023.
Triton XXVI – Session Two – Lot 335-673 will be held Tuesday afternoon, 10 January 2023 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
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