AUGUSTUS victory v BRUTUS CASSIUS 27BC Roman Coin

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Item: i16446 Certified Authentic Ancient Coin of: Augustus - Roman Emperor: 27 B.C. - 14 A.D. Bronze 17mm (4.70 grams) from the city of Philippi in Northern Greece, Macedonia circa 27 B.C. -10 B.C. Reference: BMC 23; Sear 32 VIC AVG, Victory standing on globe left. 3 legionary standards, 'COHOR PRAEPHIL' Commemorates the battle of Philippi, 42 B.C., in which Octavian and Antony defeated the Republican tyrannicides Brutus and Cassius, who subsequently committed suicide. Augustus later settled the veterans of a Praetorian Cohort at Philippi, and he conferred upon them the right to mint coins, of which this is an example. The images on this coin presumably refer to the Emperor's above described victory in 42 BC. The winged victory standing on a globe representing the cosmos. Such a coin is delivering, without words but in clear images that everyone would have understood, the message that Augustus now rules the world. All the old political institutions were reestablished and the "dignity" of the Senate was restored, but actual power was now in the hands of one man alone. You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity. Philippi (in Greek Φίλιπποι / Philippoi ) was a city in eastern Macedonia , in northern ancient Greece , established by Philip II in 356 BC and abandoned in the 14th century after the Ottoman conquest. The present municipality Filippoi is located near the ruins of the ancient city and it is part of the periphery of East Macedonia in Greece . The Roman era The city reappears in the sources during the Roman civil war that followed the assassination of Julius Caesar . His heirs Mark Antony and Octavian confronted the assassins of Caesar, Marcus Junius Brutus and Cassius , at the Battle of Philippi in the plain to the west of the city in October, 42 BC . Antony and Octavian were victorious in this final battle against the partisans of the Republic. They released some of their veteran soldiers, probably from legion XXVIII and colonized them in the city, which was refounded as Colonia Victrix Philippensium . In 30 BC , Octavian became Roman emperor , reorganized the colony, and established more settlers there, veterans possibly from the Praetorian Guard and other Italians. The city was renamed Colonia Iulia Philippensis , and then Colonia Augusta Iulia Philippensis after January, 27 BC , when Octavian received the title Augustus from the Roman Senate .Following this second renaming, and perhaps after the first, the territory of Philippi was centuriated (divided into squares of land) and distributed to the colonists. The city kept its Macedonian walls, and its general plan was modified only partially by the construction of a forum, a little to the east of the site of Greek agora. It was a "miniature Rome," under the municipal law of Rome and governed by two military officers, the duumviri , who were appointed directly from Rome.Ruins of the centre of the city: the forum in the foreground, the market and the basilica in the background.The colony recognized its dependence on the mines that brought it its privileged position on the Via Egnatia . This wealth was shown by the many monuments that were particularly imposing considering the relatively small size of the urban area: the forum, laid out in two terraces on both sides of the main road, was constructed in several phases between the reigns of Claudius and Antoninus Pius , and the theatre was enlarged and expanded in order to hold Roman games. There is an abundance of Latin inscriptions testifying to the prosperity of the city.In AD 49 or 50, the city was visited by the apostle Paul who was guided there by a vision (Acts 16:9-10). Accompanied by Silas , Timothy and possibly Luke , the author of the Acts of the Apostles , he preached for the first time on European soil in Philippi (Acts 16:12-40) and baptized Lydia, a purple dye merchant, in a river to the west of the cit... read more

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