Julius Caesar, 49–44 BC. AV Aureus

Julius Caesar, 49–44 BC. AV Aureus (22 mm, 8.00 g, 11 h). With L. Munatius Plancus as praefectus urbi. Rome, autumn 45 BC.

Obv. C•CAES – DIC•TER. Winged and draped bust of Victory right.

Rev. L•PLANC – PRAEF•VRB. Single-handled sacrificial jug.

Refs: Babelon Julia 19; Munatia 2; Calicó 45; Crawford 475/1a; CRI 60; RBW 1663; Sydenham 1019a.

This rare aureus was struck at Rome in autumn 45 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, acting as praefectus urbi in Julius Caesar’s absence. The obverse depicts a bust of Victory, symbolising Caesar’s triumph in the civil wars, while the reverse shows a sacrificial jug, emblematic of the religious rites conducted by the urban prefect and reinforcing the sacral authority surrounding Caesar’s regime.

Plancus was a key supporter of Caesar, serving as one of his lieutenants in Gaul and later as urban prefect during Caesar’s campaigns in Spain. His loyalty at this moment was clear, though after the dictator’s assassination he would change allegiance multiple times before ultimately founding the colony of Lugdunum (modern Lyon) and dying in AD 15.

This issue, naming Caesar as dictator tertium (for the third time), belongs to the final years of his life when his domination of Rome was at its height and the honours showered upon him by the Senate paved the way towards his elevation to perpetual dictatorship.

Condition: Struck from a somewhat worn obverse die; with minor marks and light scratches, otherwise a bold example of this rare and historically important type