Sestertius of Octavian and Caesar
Title
Sestertius of Octavian and Caesar
Date
ca. 37-31 B.C., Republican Pd
Artist or Workshop
mint of Southern Italy
Materials
bronze
Height of the work
3.175cm (diameter)
Provenience
N/A
Current Location
British Museum
Description and Significance
Description:
This Roman coin, called a sestertius, presents portrait busts of two different men, Octavian and Julius Caesar, on the obverse and reverse respectively. Framed by thin, circular border patterns that resemble intricate clock dials, and Latin inscriptions in capital letters, including "CAESAR DIVID F" (son of the divine Caesar) around Octavian and "DIVOS IULIUS" (the divine Julius) around Caesar, whose heads, shown in profile, face toward the right. Protruding slightly from the coins’ surfaces, the portraits and the letters surrounding them convey a degree of three-dimensionality. On the obverse side, Octavian’s features, including a notable jawline, subtly sloped brow, rounded eye, prominent nose, and straight mouth, are elevated above the surface, creating shadowed lines that define the face. Faint swirls along his jaw area suggest that a beard was originally present. More evidently, curled ringlets cascade to the back of his scalp and up across his forehead, tucking behind a simplified, curved ear, thus emphasizing his youthfulness. His relatively blank expression and idealized face recall conventions of Classical Greek portrait types. Conversely, Julius Caesar, on the reverse, exhibits many of the individualizing traits of his lifetime portraits. With a bulbous head, a long, straight nose, as well as a receding hairline composed of slight waves, the portrait offers a striking contrast to that of the obverse. Minimal verism may be referenced in the prominent Adam’s apple, slight crease at the corner of the eye, and jowl lines that form a mouth tilted up into a smile. Nevertheless, the bust lacks wrinkles on the forehead and neck, prominent areas that would be conveyed in a strictly truthful representation. Notably, Caesar also wears a wreath that extends from the back of the head to the top of the forehead, again distinguishing him from Octavian’s portrait.
Significance:
The pictorial and linguistic representations on the coin serve as propaganda that expresses Octavian’s political aims. In depicting himself as the living ruler on the obverse, he followed the precedent recently introduced by Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., which had broken Roman Republican tradition. Unlike in Caesar’s time, Octavian establishes in his own likeness a new Roman portrait ideal of eternal youth, reflecting the beginning of his rise to power at age 19 upon Caesar’s death. The smooth, generalized features reference his admiration for the Greeks and signify a stylistic transition from verism, which promoted the Republican notion of honoring men with age and experience, to classicism, which allowed Octavian to reinforce his youthful image. This particular coin, a standard bronze sestertius, worth ¼ of a silver denarius and 1/100 of a golden aureus, dates from between 38-31 B.C., prior to Octavian’s military victory against Marc Antony in 27 B.C. that led him to become Rome’s first Emperor and receive the title of “Augustus” from the Senate. Given the timeframe, it follows logically that Octavian would have sought to increase his power and legitimize his right-to-rule by connecting himself with Julius Caesar through propaganda. For this reason, Julius Caesar, depicted with a corona triumphalis crown of laurel leaves that denotes his deification given by the Senate in 42 B.C. and military triumph over Pompey in Rome, appears as a god, as evidenced by the inscription, ‘Divius Julius’ and his now-smoothed out features, which had been more veristic in his lifetime portraits, such as the 44 B.C. Tusculum bust. Octavian, cementing himself to his adoptive father, uses the inscription, ‘Divius filius,’ beside his face, effectively proclaiming himself the “son of a god” who even wears the beard of mourning for his departed father. This father-son relationship is largely fictionalized to assert Octavian’s authority and inform the populace, who would have likely had more access to these widely distributed coins than portrait statues. In reality, Octavian was Julius Caesar’s grandnephew and only received adoption posthumously through his will. Thus, he cleverly minted these coins to convey visual messages that fabricated the truth and served to boost his prestige based on his connection to Julius Caesar.
This Roman coin, called a sestertius, presents portrait busts of two different men, Octavian and Julius Caesar, on the obverse and reverse respectively. Framed by thin, circular border patterns that resemble intricate clock dials, and Latin inscriptions in capital letters, including "CAESAR DIVID F" (son of the divine Caesar) around Octavian and "DIVOS IULIUS" (the divine Julius) around Caesar, whose heads, shown in profile, face toward the right. Protruding slightly from the coins’ surfaces, the portraits and the letters surrounding them convey a degree of three-dimensionality. On the obverse side, Octavian’s features, including a notable jawline, subtly sloped brow, rounded eye, prominent nose, and straight mouth, are elevated above the surface, creating shadowed lines that define the face. Faint swirls along his jaw area suggest that a beard was originally present. More evidently, curled ringlets cascade to the back of his scalp and up across his forehead, tucking behind a simplified, curved ear, thus emphasizing his youthfulness. His relatively blank expression and idealized face recall conventions of Classical Greek portrait types. Conversely, Julius Caesar, on the reverse, exhibits many of the individualizing traits of his lifetime portraits. With a bulbous head, a long, straight nose, as well as a receding hairline composed of slight waves, the portrait offers a striking contrast to that of the obverse. Minimal verism may be referenced in the prominent Adam’s apple, slight crease at the corner of the eye, and jowl lines that form a mouth tilted up into a smile. Nevertheless, the bust lacks wrinkles on the forehead and neck, prominent areas that would be conveyed in a strictly truthful representation. Notably, Caesar also wears a wreath that extends from the back of the head to the top of the forehead, again distinguishing him from Octavian’s portrait.
Significance:
The pictorial and linguistic representations on the coin serve as propaganda that expresses Octavian’s political aims. In depicting himself as the living ruler on the obverse, he followed the precedent recently introduced by Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., which had broken Roman Republican tradition. Unlike in Caesar’s time, Octavian establishes in his own likeness a new Roman portrait ideal of eternal youth, reflecting the beginning of his rise to power at age 19 upon Caesar’s death. The smooth, generalized features reference his admiration for the Greeks and signify a stylistic transition from verism, which promoted the Republican notion of honoring men with age and experience, to classicism, which allowed Octavian to reinforce his youthful image. This particular coin, a standard bronze sestertius, worth ¼ of a silver denarius and 1/100 of a golden aureus, dates from between 38-31 B.C., prior to Octavian’s military victory against Marc Antony in 27 B.C. that led him to become Rome’s first Emperor and receive the title of “Augustus” from the Senate. Given the timeframe, it follows logically that Octavian would have sought to increase his power and legitimize his right-to-rule by connecting himself with Julius Caesar through propaganda. For this reason, Julius Caesar, depicted with a corona triumphalis crown of laurel leaves that denotes his deification given by the Senate in 42 B.C. and military triumph over Pompey in Rome, appears as a god, as evidenced by the inscription, ‘Divius Julius’ and his now-smoothed out features, which had been more veristic in his lifetime portraits, such as the 44 B.C. Tusculum bust. Octavian, cementing himself to his adoptive father, uses the inscription, ‘Divius filius,’ beside his face, effectively proclaiming himself the “son of a god” who even wears the beard of mourning for his departed father. This father-son relationship is largely fictionalized to assert Octavian’s authority and inform the populace, who would have likely had more access to these widely distributed coins than portrait statues. In reality, Octavian was Julius Caesar’s grandnephew and only received adoption posthumously through his will. Thus, he cleverly minted these coins to convey visual messages that fabricated the truth and served to boost his prestige based on his connection to Julius Caesar.
References
Kleiner, Diana E. E. Roman Sculpture. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2006. 61. Print.
Kleiner, Fred S. A History of Roman Art. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2016. 62-63; 89. Print.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?assetId=616516001&objectId=1193367&partId=1
Contributor
Charlotte Mann
Citation
mint of Southern Italy, “Sestertius of Octavian and Caesar,” Digital Portrait "Basket" - ARTH488A "Ancient Mediterranean Portraiture", accessed April 26, 2024, http://classicalchopped.artinterp.org/omeka/items/show/41.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.