Description
Q. Servilius Caepio (M. Junius) Brutus.
Silver Denarius, military mint travelling with Brutus in Asia Minor, 42 BC, L. Sestius, proquaestor.
Obverse: L•SESTI•PRO•Q, veiled and draped bust of Libertas facing right.
Reverse: Q•CAEPIO•BRVTVS•PRO•COS, tripod between sacrificial axe and simpulum.
(Crawford 502/2; CRI 201; RSC 11).
Small flan flaw on obverse. Virtually Mint State.
3.82g.
Issued the height of the civil war which erupted in the wake of Julius Caesar’s assassination, this silver denarius was struck at a military mint. It was struck in the name of the most famous assassin of Caesar – Marcus Junius Brutus (who had since changed his name somewhat, to reflect his conservative beliefs). The obverse broadcasts the ideals of Roman freedoms – the personification, Libertas, is depicted veilied. It was for these freedoms that the murder of Caesar was justified. Libertas appears frequently on the coins of Brutus and his allies. Only months after this coin was struck, Brutus, Cassius and their allies lost the Battle of Philippi at the hands of Mark Antony and Octavian, and the Second Triumvirate would emerge victorious after years of civil war. This silver coin, with Brutus’ name prominent on its reverse, remains a monument to the most notorious of Caesar’s assassins.
