AncientCoinArt.com Presents

RIC 1b of Augustus

Augustus AR Quinarius. Spain, Emerita mint, 25-23 BC. Bare head left, AVGVST behind / P CARISI LEG, Victory standing right, crowning trophy. RSC 387, BMC 295.

Lot No.3720. Fine. 1.6g, 13mm.

$ 155.

Avgvstvs was born Gaius Octavius in September, 63 BC. His father died when he was four, and his grand-uncle Julius Caesar took an interest in him. He became Caesar's heir and adopted son by Caesar's will. He emerged victorious after 13 years of civil war, defeating the men who had killed Caesar, and then his erstwhile ally Marc Antony. He gradually assumed dominant civil powers, although he maintained the fiction of being the 'Princeps', or first among equals. He was voted the name 'Augustus' in 27 BC, and dated his rule from 23 BC. He peacefully transformed Rome from a republic to an empire, and died of natural causes on August 19, 14 AD.