In 44 BCE Julius Caesar became the first Roman to appear on a coin during his own lifetime, setting a precedent in the Roman world; living Greeks had been appearing on coins for some time. Following in his adopted father’s footsteps, when Octavian accepted the title of Augustus in 27 BCE, he immediately began to mint new coins with his new name and disseminate his image throughout the empire.
This silver denarius features a bust of Augustus wearing a laurel wreath, with the inscription CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI. F. PATER PATRIAE (‘Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Julius, Father of the Country’).
By being both the adopted son and the actual great-nephew of Julius Caesar, who had claimed divine ancestry through Venus and Aeneas, Augustus could also claim divine blood. The laurel wreath, an ancient Greek symbol of victory made from Apollo’s special tree, was a way of identifying Augustus with the god: a visual representation of leadership with divine backing.
