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The Caesarians. Julius Caesar. Late 48-47 BC. AR Denarius (17.5mm, 3.71 g, 6h). Military mint traveling with Caesar in North Africa. Diademed head of Venus right / Aeneas advancing left, holding palladium and bearing Anchises on his shoulder. Crawford 458/1; CRI 55; Sydenham 1013; RSC 12; RBW 1600. Toned, minor scratches, smoothing on the reverse, traces of find patina. Good VF.
Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 457 (4 December 2019), lot 241.
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.
Closing Date and Time: 25 September 2024 at 13:43:40 ET.
All winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer’s fee.
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