RRC 508/3 Obverse: Head of Brutus right, bearded; around, BRVT·IMP; around, L·PLAET·CEST. Border of dots. Reverse: Pileus between two daggers; below, EID·MAR. Border of dots.
In 44 BC, after the murder of Caesar both Brutus and Cassius (participants in Caesar's death), were forced to flee Italy. Cassius Dio (47.21.2) records that Cassius went to Syria, while Brutus went to Greece and Macedonia. While on the move, each struck a large number of coins emphasising libertas and victory. Most famous of all these is this coin struck by Brutus commemorating Caesar's death, with the reverse displaying a pileus between two daggers and the legend EID MAR (the ides of March, referring to the date of the assassination). The pileus was worn by freedman after they had been set free, and so placing it on a coin was a powerful reminder of the rhetoric surrounding Caesar's death and the republican cause. The imagery was not lost on those in the ancient world: Dio (47.25.1) records that "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."
RRC 543/1 Obverse: Head of M. Antonius right; behind, Armenian tiara; around ANTONI·ARMENIA·DEVICTA. Border of dots. Reverse: Bust of Cleopatra right, draped and wearing diadem; before, prow; around CLEOPATRAE·REGINAE·REGVM·FILIORUM·REGVM. Border of dots.
In 41 BC, after Caesar's death, Antony summoned Cleopatra to question her about her loyalty. She and Antony also began an affair that resulted in three children. After Antony's conquest of Armenia in 34 BC the relationship materialised on coinage. Coins (RRC 543/1, 545/1-2) were struck proclaiming Antony's victory, and the relationship between him and Cleopatra. Unlike Caesar, Antony publicly proclaimed his relationship with the Egyptian queen. His portrait appears on one side of the coin, Cleopatra's on the other
RRC 535/1 Obverse: Head of Octavian right, bearded; before CAESAR downwards; behind, DIVI·F downwards. Reverse: Wreathed head of Caesar right, before, DIVOS downwards; behind IVLIVS downwards.
From ca. 38 BC Octavian began to emphasise the divinity of Caesar on his coinage. He uses the term DIVI IVLI F (son of the divine Julius) to emphasise the link between Caesar's divinity and himself. He adopts this title in many of his subsequent issues, even after the defeat of Antony at Actium. This coin depicts Octavian on the obverse with the legend CAESAR before and DIVI F behind, while the reverse shows a wreathed portrait of Caesar with the title DIVOS IVLIVS. Octavian successfully paired his portrait with that of Caesar throughout this period advertising continually the strong links between himself and the deceased dictator, links which could not be surmounted, even by Antony.
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Lorenzo A. Castro The Battle of Actium, painting 1672
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Documentaries
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When Rome Ruled: Killing Caesar
In a story that plays out like a Mafia saga, NGC tracks Julius Caesar's meteoric rise to power and his historic murder. His life was marked by tyranny and treachery, grand public gestures and secret double dealings. Witness how every action Caesar took brought him closer to death -- and how his genius, ego and ambitions changed the course of history in the Greco-Roman world. |
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Ancients Behaving Badly: Caesar
Narrated by Tom McCamus, each episode features a new historical leader who "behaved badly." The person's life story is explored through cartoon sequences and historian interviews. The historical figure is then placed on an "Ancients Behaving Badly Psychograph." The y-axis rates them from "goal driven killer" to "psychopathic murderer", while the x-axis measures individual pathologies. |
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History's Turning Points - BC31 Battle of Actium
History's Turning Points provides a fascinating and intriguing new perspective on the significant moments that have changed the world. The Battle of Actium - 31 BC If the battle of Actium had been won by Cleopatra and Antony, there would have been no Roman Empire. Yet Octavius Caesar's victory in 31 BC created an absolute dictatorship that sparked one-of the greatest imperial and cultural expansions the world has ever known. |
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Rome's Greatest Battle: Actium
The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic, a naval engagement between Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, in the Roman province of Epirus vetus in Greece. Octavian's fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, while Antony's fleet was supported by the ships of Queen Cleopatra of Ptolemaic Egypt (The dynasty of Ptolemies which ruled Egypt was of Greek origin). . |
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Great Battles: From Actium to Asp, The Beginning of the End.
In the years following the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE, internal Roman power struggles—combined with the increasingly negative response to Cleopatra VII and Marc Antony's romantic partnership—led to the deterioration of the relationship between Egypt and Rome. The conflict ultimately came to a head with the Battle of Actium in September of 31 BCE, in which the Egyptian forces were decimated at sea by the Romans—with Cleopatra and Marc Antony barely escaping with their lives. The aftermath of this battle set the course for the final desperate year of Cleopatra's life. Dr. Jennifer Wegner, Associate Curator, Egyptian Section, speaks at this "Great Battles: Moments in Time that Changed History" series lecture program. |
Written sources.
"then she sent messengers to tell Antony that she was dead. Antony believed that message, and saying to himself, "Why doest thou longer delay, Antony? Fortune has taken away thy sole remaining excuse for clinging to life," he went into his chamber. Here, as he unfastened his breastplate and laid it aside, he said: "O Cleopatra, I am not grieved to be bereft of thee, for I shall straightway join thee; but I am grieved that such an imperator as I am has been found to be inferior to a woman in courage."
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"He was for ten years a member of the triumvirate for restoring the State to order, and though he opposed his colleagues for some time and tried to prevent a proscription, yet when it was begun, he carried it through with greater severity than either of them. For while they could oftentimes be moved by personal influence and entreaties, he alone was most insistent that no one should be spared, even adding to the list his guardian Gaius Toranius, who had also been the colleague of his father Octavius in the aedileship"
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This document contains a range of quotes to use for Pompey, Crassus and Caesar
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