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RIC 342 of Augustus

Augustus AE Dupondius. AVGVSTVS TRIBVNIC POTEST in wreath / M SANQVINIVS QF III VIR AAA FF around large SC.

Lot No.3607. About Fine. 24mm.

$ 125.

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.