Denarius minted by Marcus Junius Brutus in 43-42 BC at a mobile mint in northern Greece. It is part of the period of mass production of denarius by Roman military leaders during their conflicts. The obverse depicts the head of Brutus, while the reverse depicts a Dioscuri helmet, a symbol of freedom, flanked by two downward-facing manuals. Julius Caesar was the first in the history of Roman coinage to use his portrait to promote his position as dictator perpetuus. Brutus, as imperator, responds to the dictator with this coin. Ten years earlier, as a coinage official, he had chosen, for the purpose of warning the enemies of the regime at the time, the portraits of his tyrannicide ancestors, L. Iunius Brutus and C. Servilius Ahala. The manuscripts, in combination with the inscription EID. MAR, Eidibus Martiis, constitute the chronicle of the assassination of Caesar, the punishment of which was carried out by Octavian.
Marcus Junius Brutus (imperator 43-42 BC)
Marcus Junius Brutus, scion of an old Roman family, was particularly proud of his origin, because his ancestors, L. Iunius Brutus and C. Servilius Ahala, were honored as tyrannicides for the consolidation and defense of the democratic regime. Julius Caesar’s trust and support in Brutus’s career was unwavering, perhaps due to the lively relationship that linked him to Servilia, his mother. When Caesar became dictator perpetuus, Brutus, a fervent supporter of democratic institutions, which in reality secured the interests of the Roman aristocracy, had no hesitation. He organized a conspiracy with Cassius to assassinate Caesar, who was executed on the Eids, March 15, 44 BC, in the Senate. His action would be interrupted by his suicide in 42 BC after his defeat at the Battle of Philippi by Antony and Octavian.
Julius Caesar (member of the First Triad 60-53 BC, dictator perpetuus 44 BC)
Caesar, a scion of a prominent Roman family, demonstrated his multifaceted abilities in his rich political and military career. A member of the first Triad, with Pompey and Crassus, after the legendary Gallic Wars, he acquired immense power and influence. After the final confrontation with Pompey at Pharsala in Thessaly, in 48 BC, and the extermination of his followers in Spain, in 45 BC, Caesar was the only powerful man in the Roman state, who honored him with the title dictator perpetuus. His assassination by Brutus and his followers left unfulfilled his burning desire to reach the depths of Asia, which Alexander the Great had first conquered.
Augustus (as Octavian member of the Second Triad 43-33 BC and imperator 31-27 BC, as Augustus 27 BC- 14 AD)
Augustus’ personality sealed the historical developments through which Rome definitively dominated the ancient world. In 43 BC, a year after the assassination of Julius Caesar, who had adopted him, he formed the second Triad, with Mark Antony and Lepidus, for the better administration of the state. At the Battle of Philippi, in 42 BC, he neutralized the leaders of the Democratic faction and Caesar’s assassins. The dissolution of the Triandria revealed his rupture with Antony, which ended triumphantly in the naval battle of Actium, in 31 BC. The next stage was the effective dissolution of the Roman Republic. In the name of its restoration, Augustus founded the new regime, which was based on the joint management of the vast state by himself, as first among equals (primus inter pares), and the once powerful Senate. With his actions, he provided solutions for the smooth functioning of the administrative mechanism of the empire under formation. His monetary reform brought order to the state’s finances and finances and provided it with an efficient and functional monetary system that would be implemented for many centuries.