Roman Republic, Italy. P. Clodius M.f. Turrinus, Rome, c. 42 BC

AR Denarius, 4.00g (20mm, 12h).Laureate head of Apollo to r.; behind, lyre. / P CLODIV[S] - M FDiana standing to front, head to r., with bow and quiver over shoulder, holding lighted torch in each handReferences: Babelon (Clodia) 15. Crawford 494/23. RBW 1727. Sydenham 1117Grade: Nicely struck with cabinet toning. EFrr1398 The blood spilled on the Ides of March 44 BCE was still fresh in Rome's memory when, in 42 BCE, the Republic reached one of its true turning points. By this point the Second Triumvirate (Mark Antony, the young Octavian, and Lepidus) held near-absolute power, legally granted and brutally exercised. Their proscriptions had already claimed numerous lives and those confiscated estates funded the war machine. On 1 January 42 BCE, the state formally deified Julius Caesar as Divus Iulius. The propaganda value was immediate. Octavian could now style himself divi filius, son of a god, a claim no rival could counter and one his coinage would press for decades. In two battles, Antony and Octavian destroyed the Liberators; Cassius and then Brutus fell on their swords. The Republic's last army died with them leaving the future to the heirs of Caesar.