Dictator Perpetuus
Representations of Power on Coins from the Age of Caesar

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Ancient coins provide not only examples of classical art and economy, but also a window for understanding the history and politics of antiquity. While Roman coin designs developed from Hellenistic art, the implications of nationalism and the resulting political propaganda are distinctly Roman.

During the time of Julius Caesar, Rome was radically unstable. When Julius Caesar emerged supreme from Civil War, his new power marked the beginning of the shift from Republic to Empire. Our coins chronologically trace Caesar's military conflicts, political rise, subsequent assassination and postmortem representations. As propaganda, they speak to the political and religious ideologies that underpinned Caesar's claim to power. Coins issued by his unsuccessful rivals and successors, Quintus Metellus Pius and Gaius Cassius Longinus, demonstrate that Caesar's popularity was far from universal. However, our selection culminates in coins that demonstrate Caesar's lasting legacy as the divine father of the first Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus.