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Beware the Ides of March! Et tu, Brute? 🗡️
The EID MAR denarius, undoubtedly the most historically important of all ancient coins, is the only Roman coin to mention a specific date, the only Roman coin to openly celebrate an act of murder, and one of the very few specific coins mentioned by a classical author.
In his account of the Roman civil wars of 49-31 BC, the Roman historian Dio Cassius writes: "Brutus stamped upon the coins which were being minted his own likeness and a cap and two daggers, indicating by this and by the inscription that he and Cassius had liberated the fatherland."
The conspirators expected to be hailed as liberators, but the Roman populace was horrified by Caesar's murder and wanted the assassins punished. Brutus left Rome in April barely ahead of a lynch mob. He joined Cassius in assembling a pro-Republican power base in Macedonia, where they could wage war against Caesar's successors, Marc Antony and Octavian.
In a final twist of fate, Brutus used the same dagger he had plunged into Caesar to take his own life following the final defeat of the assassins at the second battle of Philippi on 23 October 42 BC. The relative rarity of Eid Mar denarii today is doubtless because the type was deliberately recalled and melted down by the victors, Marc Antony and Octavian.
August 19-20 ANA WFOM World & Ancient Coins Platinum Night Signature Event, No. 3094 | Lot No. 33047
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