Julius Caesar was murdered on this day in 44 B.C. by members of the Roman Senate.

While Caesar was fighting the Pompeians in North Africa, 47 BCE, a traveling military mint struck a large quantity of these denarii. On many of his coins, including this one from McMaster’s collection, Julius Caesar proudly proclaimed his divine ancestry from the goddess Venus by presenting her image.

On the obverse is the diademed profile of Venus, adorned with jewellery, in a border of dots. On the reverse, is Aeneas in his moment of flight from the burning ruins of Troy, carrying both his father and the embodiment of Minerva/Athena’s protection of that city, the palladium, to safety. The word “CAESAR” is written alongside him.

For more information about it or other coins in McMaster’s Bruce Brace Coin collection, please see the McMaster Coin Database 2005