Coins | In Focus | Silver Denarius, 44–42 BC
Silver
Denarius struck in the name of Brutus
The silver denarius minted in the name of Brutus in circa 43 BC is arguably one of the finest holdings of the Barber Institute Coin Collection and among the few surviving examples worldwide. On its surface—just under 19mm in diameter—it tells the story of a friend-turned-assassin, who went on to advertise the deed and his political aspirations.
The earliest Roman coins emerged in c.300 BC as a result of Rome’s contact with the Greek world. After a period of experimentation, the silver denarius became the main denomination of Republican coinage, and its diverse imagery mirrors the gradual shift from the ideals of the Roman Republic to the emergence of powerful military figures that started dominating the political scene.
On March 15, 44 BC Julius Caesar’s dictatorial vision was cut short when he was assassinated by a group of senators led by his trusted friend, Brutus. After the murder, the conspirators faced an unclear political landscape. Power was clearly on Brutus’s agenda, and after a short occupation of the Capitoline Hill, which was followed by the Senate granting a general amnesty to all implicated in Caesar’s death, he went to Greece, having set eyes to the rich province of Macedonia.
Brutus’s
denarius is part of a military issue, and was struck somewhere in
Greece in 43-42 BC by a mint which accompanied him in his travels in
order to supply his army with cash. The ‘moneyer’—a junior senator
responsible for the smooth function of the Roman mint—responsible for
the 43-42 BC issues was L. Plaetorius Cestianus, as his name L·PLAET·CEST
on the obverse shows. On the same side of the coin the inscription BRUTUS
IMPERATOR, which surrounds Brutus’s head, reflects his political ambitions,
while the imagery on the reverse justifies them. The two daggers right
and left of the pyleus (cap of Liberty) are a clear reminder of Julius
Caesar’s assassination and Brutus’s major contribution to it: the fatal
blow he gave to his old friend on the Ides of March, as the inscription
EID[IBUS] MAR[TIIS] indicates.
The depiction of the cap of Liberty, normally given to slaves who received their freedom, absolves the murder, and alludes to Brutus’ contribution to the restoration of the Republic. The restoration was naturally never to happen. Explicit design and legends on both sides of the coin seal the rise of imperial rule, which used coinage as the most powerful medium for the dissemination of political ideology.