GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR, RRC 458/1, Date 47-46 BC, Silver Denarius North Africa, Venus, Aeneas

★ Extremely fine condition - NGC capsuled and XF rated - rare Gaius Julius Caesar Denarius - complete, detailed and very readable 'CAESAR' legend at reverse - Civil War, Military Mint issue - traveling with Caesar in North Africa - obverse and reverse of fine style struck in high relief on a full big flan - full diameter, full weight - lightly toned silver patina color ★
Gaius Julius Caesar as Dictator
Reign: Roman Republic, Civil War
Mint: Military mint traveling with Caesar in North Africa
Date: 47/46 BC
Nominal: Denarius
Material: Silver
Diameter: 20mm
Weight: 3.85g
Reference: Sydenham 1013
Reference: Babelon Julia 10
Reference: Crawford RRC 458/1
CRRO Online: numismatics.org/crro/id/rrc-4...
Obverse: Head of Venus right, wearing diadem and necklace, hair rolled back in a knot behind, two locks down neck. Border of dots
Inscription: -
Translation: -
Reverse: Aeneas, left, carrying palladium in right hand and Anchises on left shoulder. Border of dots
Inscription: CAESAR
Translation: Caesar
Translation: [Gaius Julius] Caesar
Comment: The power and special privileges that Gaius Julius Caesar held as a general and politician in the last years of the Roman Republic, and which were unlawful in the eyes of many venerable senators, were to be justified and explained by the construction of a divine lineage. This denarius from 47 to 46 BC shows on the reverse a complex scene depicting a myth familiar to contemporary viewers: The Greek hero Aeneas, son of Aphrodite, rescues his father Anchises and the cult image of Athena from burning Troia. The destination of his escape is the Italian peninsula, where his descendants will eventually found the city of Rome. Gaius Julius Caesar places himself and his family of the Iulians in a line with these legendary ancestors and thus also regards the goddess Venus, who was worshipped in Roman Italy, as the progenitor of his family. She can be seen in her beauty on the obverse of the denarius. This denarius type was issued before the decisive battle at Thapsus / Utica against the Pompeians and ultimately Cato in North Africa.