Pliny gives from the surgical operation; and we find, when the hero ascended the capitol, that he was attended by forty elephants bearing torches. The medals of Julius Cæsar, with a few exceptions, are not rare; but their value is increased in a rapid ratio by bearing the portrait, and being in unexceptionable preservation. Though Paduan, and other forgeries, have been widely circulated, and have even crept into collections and catalogues, it does not appear that any large-brass medals were minted during his life; in consequence of which the following, struck by his grand-nephew Augustus, are usually placed in those cabinets, where the arrangement cannot admit of gold or silver. I. Obverse. DIVOS IVLIVS. The head of Julius Cæsar, crowned with a compact wreath of laurel. The physiognomy is calm and expressive, and bears the stamp of about 50 years of age. It was struck on the apotheosis of Cæsar; and the adoration arose as well from the opinion of the people, as the decree of the senate. At the first games exhibited by Augustus, in honour of the departed chief, a blazing star, or comet-the Julium Sidus of Horace, and Cæsaris Astrum of Virgil,-appeared for seven days together: under such excitement as then existed, superstition was almost countenanced in believing it to be the soul of Cæsar received into heaven. The divos upon the field has been much criticised, but the O was often substituted for V in that age. Reverse. CAESAR DIVI. F. (Cæsar divi filius.) An excellent profile of Augustus, slightly bearded, and without laurel: two remarkable heads for a single medal to bear. This specimen was procured in Sardinia, from a numismatic friend, Cavaliere Lud. Baille, in exchange for one of Carthage; it is in fine preservation, being covered by a dark patina with red spots. From its wanting the S. C. (Senatus Consulto,) or mark of the senatoria! decree for its coinage, it may be questioned whether it was struck at Rome: for though the emperors had the sovereign control of the gold and silver mint, that of brass was under the senate. II. Obverse. DIVOS IVLVS, inscribed in a capacious laurel garland, bearing large berries. This coin was probably struck B. C. 43: it is covered with green ærugo, and is in very excellent preservation. It was found in Candia, in 1822, and came almost immediately into my hands. Reverse. DIVI F. (Divi filius.) The naked head of Augustus, with a star in the field; the latter commemorating the one seen in broad day, as just mentioned. Some antiquaries have, however, contended that it is figurative of Venus, in reference to the supposed descent of the Julii; and others hold it to allude to the reform of the calendar: but the first suggestion seems the most obvious. Indeed the visibility of Venus, in the day-time, renders it probable that that planet, from some atmospheric peculiarity, was itself the luminary observed. The illustrious Newton thought it might have been the great comet of 1680. III. Obverse. DIVI IVLI, CAESAR DIVI F. IMP. (Divi Julii, Cæsar divi filius imperator.) Two naked heads in opposite directions, representing Julius Cæsar, and his adopted son; but as likenesses they possess less interest than those on No. II. The medal is in tolerable preservation, and was procured in Calabria, in 1814. It is of the class called Colonial, which, from the many settlements made by the Romans, were necessarily of much diversity of character. At first they bore only the ox, the plough, the ensign, or other badge of colonization; but they were afterwards stamped with more curious types, and inscribed with the name of the colony, its prerogatives, alliances, immunities, and other circumstances. They were usually of second brass, with a few exceptions of large, and one-Nemausus-of silver. Reverse. C. I. V. (Colonia Julia Valentia.) The prow of a prætorian galley, with a large eye on the bow, and what seamen term a "fiddle head." Upon this prow is raised a curious castle, or superstructure; an early indication of the name fore-castle: the appellation still remaining, though the fabric has long disappeared from the fore-part of our ships. The eye typifies Providence, or the Deity, and is still retained upon some of the Mediterranean craft. It is of the remotest antiquity, and occurs perpetually as the symbol of the Sun, or Osiris, in Egyptian monuments. The custom of using it was probably derived from the East, for the Chinese are pertinacious in its practice, from the war-junk to the sampan :-" Heigh-yaw !" exclaimed a Fouki, at Canton, whom I was questioning upon the subject, "how can ship see, suppose no hab eyes?" It also appears on the superb Etruscan vases which have been recently sent to London, by Lucien Buonaparte; and that it was adopted by the early Greeks, is proved in the "Supplicants" of Eschylus, where Danaus says "I saw a ship, I mark'd its waving streamer, Its swelling sails, and all its gallant trim: AUGUSTUS. Caius Octavius Cæpius, was the son of C. Octavius Rufus, and Atia, daughter to Julia, Cæsar's sister. He was born at Velitræ, B. C. 63; and, after an excellent education, was formally adopted as the son of his grand-uncle. On hearing of the murder of Cæsar, he took the boldest step of his life, by instantly quitting Apollonia for Italy, to declare himself heir to the empire. He gained the battle of Philippi, B. C. 42; and that of Actium, which made him master of the Roman world, eleven years afterwards. After the defeat and death of all his competitors, the senate dignified him with the title of Imperator or " Emperor," a title that was formerly a mere temporary military distinction, but which was now extended to signify supreme arbiter of all civil and military affairs; it thence-forward became hereditary, and marked the change from a republic to a nonarchy. The same body afterwards conferred the epithet of "Augustus" upon him, by which he is now historically known. He died at the advanced age of 75 years 10 months 26 days, at Nola, in Campania, A. D. 14, after a reign of 44 years, besides the 12 in which he governed as one of the triumvirate. Octavius was too politic to accept the title of king, or dictator; for in assuming the venerable surname of Augustus, he was aware that more of dignity and reverence were expressed, than of authority. The honourable designation of pater patriæ which had been first bestowed upon Cicero, for his detection of Catiline, was unanimously tendered to Augustus, by the three orders of the state. Preferring this, he wisely refused the appellation of dominus, stating that he wished to govern “non per timorem, sed per amorem." Indeed, after he had inhumanly slaughtered all those whom he considered capable of disturbing him, in the possession of his usurped power, he ruled with such clemency and judgment, that letters and general improvement assumed a spirit which stamped his name on the age; and it was remarked that, he "should never have been born, or never have died." The flattering writers of his time depict him as the most perfect prince imaginable; but a close examination of his career will prove that, his success was owing more to the popularity of Cæsar, the valour of Agrippa, and a seasonable conjuncture of circumstances, than to any extraordinary parts of his own. With deep stains of debauchery, treachery, and ingratitude, he was certainly highly accomplished, and possessed of penetration, judgment, and wit,—the last in such a degree, as to pervade his public actions; and he even died with the compliment on his tongue, "Livia, conjugii nostri memor, vive, et vale.” The damnatory blot in the escutcheon of Augustus, was the infamous proscription to which he was a party: "a cool head, an unfeeling heart, and a cowardly disposition, prompted him," says Gibbon, "at the age of 19, to assume the mask of hypocrisy, which he never afterwards laid aside. With the same hand, and probably with the same temper, he signed the proscription of Cicero, and the pardon of Cinna." Julian, the philosophic "Apostate," makes him advance to the banquet of the Cæsars, with his complexion varying like the hues of a camelion; but he adds, that be at last assumed the mild livery of Venus and the Graces. As all the successors to the imperial purple, by an express decree of the senate, conferred the honoured name of Cæsar on the heir-apparent, or presumptive, of the empire, who thereby became adjuncts, or participes imperii,-so the emperors themselves adopted that of Augustus, from the fortunate personage of whom we are now treating. But for fully understanding the fascia, or legend of each medal, it must be remembered, that though the title of Cæsar was given to the second person in the empire, it still continued also with the first; and hence the difference between Cæsar used simply, and with the addition of Imp. Augustus. The medals of this politic ruler are so numerous that they are easily obtainable, and at a moderate rate. Large-brass ones, indeed, with the portrait, are difficult to procure, and are high priced according to their condition; but those of middle brass, and silver, are extremely common; for of the latter metal alone I have seen, at least, two hundred different reverses. There are also ancient forgeries of money in this reign, made by plating copper so ingeniously with silver leaf, that it is only to be detected by clipping. This practice is anterior to Augustus, and is entirely different from the dipping which took place with the deteriorated coinage of the lower empire: yet we are gravely told in a recent publication, that plating is a modern art, originating in the use of spurs ! It should be here remarked that, between Julius and Augustus, there are coins of Octavia, of the sons of Pompey, of Brutus, Cassius, Lepidus, and Mark Anthony; but as, with the exception of the last, they are only in gold and silver, they have no relation to a large-brass series: nor can they be deemed imperial. Of Anthony and Cleopatra there is a middle-brass coin which is admissible, for the sake of its portraits but I have not met with a specimen sufficiently good for keeping. IV. Obverse. AVGVSTVS. The naked head of the emperor, with expressive features, in singularly fine preservation. This superior specimen of ancient art, is of pale yellow brass, and was purchased on the 24th day of Mr. Trattle's sale, in 1832, where it stood No. 2787. Reverse. C. A. (Cæsarea Augusta.) These letters are encircled by a large garland of laurel leaves and berries. Havercamp, Pedrusi, and other antiquaries, have considered this medal to belong to Saragossa, in Spain; and some have ascribed it to the Mauretanian Cæsarea. As it resembles none which I have seen from those places, either in metal, module, or design, I must agree with Eckhel in assigning it to Cæsarea, in Palestine, a city in which stood a temple, and a colossal statue to Augustus. The grandeur of this Municipium has disappeared, and its vicinity is a deserted waste of sand; a few relics of its palaces and fanes, and part of the cothon of Herod the Great, were all that remained, in 1822. V. Obverse. CAESAR AVGVSTVS. The head of Augustus, looking to the right, without laurel, and beardless. This medal was probably struck about 5 years B. C.; and was procured for me by Mr. Young, the well-known numismatist, at Lord Morton's sale, in 1830. Reverse. C. CAESAR ET L. CAESAR AUGVST. F. (Caius Cæsar, et Lucius Cæsar, Augusti filii.) The heads adversa, or facing each other, of the grandsons of Augustus, by his daughter Julia and Agrippa; they had become his sons by adoption, and he designed them for his successors in the empire, if they had lived. They were both declared principes juventutis, or princes of the Roman youth, honoured with the priesthood, and admitted into the senate, and seemed "born to increase their titles as they grew." Lucius, however, the younger of the two, died suddenly at Marseilles, not without suspicion of having fallen by the secrct arts of Livia, who left no stone unturned to advance her son Tiberius. Nor did Caius long survive, for having received a wound in Armenia, he fell into a lingering illness, supposed to have been also nurtured by the tools of Livia, and expired in Lycia, at the early age of 24; thus disappointing the sycophant prediction of Ovid : "Great father Mars, with greater Cæsar join, To give a prosp'rous omen to your line : One of you is, and one shall be, divine. I prophecy you shall, you shall o'ercome. My verse shall bring you back in triumph home." VI. Obverse. CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F. PATER PATRIAE. (Cæsar Augustus, Divi filius, Pater Patriæ.) Reading from the right toward the left hand. The laurelled head of Augustus, with the beardless Apollinean aspect, of which he was so vain, as to wear the habit of Apollo at a supper, and suffer flatterers to pretend that they could not bear the lustre of his eyes. Nature had perhaps given him some resemblance to the statues of that divinity; and the artists, no doubt, understood their interest well enough to help it out, and represent him more like the god than he really was. But the poets beat the artists in offering incense,Virgil, in describing Eneas, by whom we are to understand Augustus, is barely exceeded by Ovid, who unblushingly calls him the handsomest of all created beings: yet we gather from other sources, that his left eye was no piercer, that he had a warp in the body, and that he wore shoes with false keels to heighten his stature. From bearing pater patriæ, this medal was probably struck in his 13th, and last consulate, as he only began the use of that epithet in the year 2, B. C. Ovid addresses him thus, "Sancte Pater Patria; tibi Plebs, tibi Curia nomen Res tamen antê dedit, seró quoque vera tulisti Reverse. ROM ET AVG: (Romæ et Augusto.) A decorated altar between two cippi, or short columns, on which stand winged victories, with palm branches aud laurel garlands. It seems that the provinces, in their usual servility, had resolved upon erecting fanes to Augustus ; but he, with the consummate dissimulation of which he was master, refused the honour unless the city of Rome should share it with him. In the excess of his modesty he also melted the silver statues which had been raised to him, and, according to Suetonius, caused the golden tables to be made of them which he dedicated to the Palatine Apollo. This medal appears to have been struck to commemorate the edifice built at Pergamus, and consecrated to "Rome and Augustus." VII. Obverse. DIVO AVGVSTO S. P. Q. R. (Divo Augusto, Senatus Populus Que Romanus.) This legend is written around a garland of oak-leaves, the centre of which represents a votive shield inscribed OB CIVES SER. (ob cives servatos.) The oak crown, the ancient reward of those who saved the life of a citizen, denotes the liberty obtained for the Romans detained in Parthia. The restoration of the standards and captives taken from Crassus, was esteemed one of the most glorious and gratifying events of this reign; the temple of Janus was closed, and various coins stamped "de Parthis," "Signis Receptis," "Civib. et Sign. milit, a Part. recuper." testify the general exultation. The votive shield is supported over a small globe, by two Capricorns, or goats with fishes tails. The constellation, whence the symbol was drawn, was the nativity-sign of Augustus; and it remains a monument of the superstition of the "divine" being who could dive into a cellar during a thunder-storm.* In allusion to the happy predictions of this happy sign,-as applicable to millions as to the laurelled object of flattery, Virgil, who certainly earned his sop, gravely ponders, whether the emperor, in his future god-ship, is to be specially adored by Roman citizens, or husbandmen,—or whether he will condescend to preside over the vast ocean, "Then mariners, in storms, to thee shall pray, Ev'n utmost Thulé shall thy power obey; Reverse. TI CAESAR DIVI AVG. F. AVGVST. P. M. TR. POT. XXXVII. (Tiberius Cæsar, Divi Augusti filius, Augustus, Pontifex maximus, Tribunitia potestate, trigesimum septimum.) In the centre a large and clumsy S. C. (Senatus Consulto.) It is therefore presumptive that it was struck by a decree of the senate, A. D. 35, on the deification of Augustus; the fact of his being received into heaven was publicly sworn to, by Numerius Atticus, a senator, for a round sum of Livia's money. I procured this medal at Tunis, in 1822, and prize it for its excellent preservation. VIII. Obverse, DIVO AVGVSTO, S. P. Q. R. (Divo Augusto, Senatus Populus Que Romanus.) written on the field. The statue of Augustus on a curule chair, placed on a sumptuous triumphal car, elaborately decorated, and drawn by four elephants. each with a maháut on its shoulders. The emperor's head is radiated, his left arm rests upon the hasta pura, or unarmed lance, and his extended right holds a globe. This is a remarkably fine specimen of a medal, not at all uncommon, though the globe is not so frequently met with as a branch of laurel, in the Emperor's hand. The elephants are at once typical of dignity and eternity, as the age of those animals was estimated at 300 years,-their youth, according to Pliny, commencing at sixty years. (Juventa eorum â sexagesimo incipit.) The medal is coated with dark brown patina, and came into my possession at Porto Longone, in Elba. * This act must have suggested itself to the Emperor, from the profound physical law by which the Romans limited the effects of lightning to five feet from the earth's surface. See Pliny's Cyclopædia, I. 2. c. 55. + Could any poet of Ipsamboul have given a more prurient picture of futurity, than Maro has here expressed? |