DR-776 | Crawford: 495/2a
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus

Gens: Aemilia
Moneyer: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
Date and mint: 42 BC - ?


Obverse: Bust of Lepidus, right. Dotted border.
Legend: LEPIDVS PONT MAX III V R P C

Reverse: Octavian's head, right. Dotted border.
Legend: CAESAR IMP III VIR R P C

Comment: The gens Aemilia was one of the oldest and most prestigious families in Rome, of patrician origin, which gave the Republic numerous magistrates, consuls and generals. Among its most influential members of the 1st century BC. highlighted Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, ally of Julius Caesar, appointed Pontifex Maximus in 44 BC. and later one of the three members of the Second Triumvirate, along with Mark Antony and Octavian.

Shortly after the Triumvirate was formed in November 43 BC, Lepidus minted these denarii as part of his propaganda strategy. In them he remembered his life dignity as Pontifex Maximus, the supreme religious position that he had inherited after the assassination of Caesar, and at the same time he underlined his political position as triumvir rei publicae constituendae (III VIR R P C), placing himself on an equal footing with Antony and Octavian.

On the obverse his bust appears with the legend LEPIDVS PONT MAX III VIR R P C, claiming the double legitimacy of religious and political power. On the reverse is the portrait of Octavian with the inscription CAESAR IMP III VIR R P C, a direct association with Caesar's adopted son and heir to his charisma.

This coin, therefore, fulfilled a double objective: to legitimize Lepidus as the religious head of Roma and to reinforce his political authority within the triumviral pact, while at the same time closely linking him with Octavian at a time when the alliance between the two and Mark Antony shaped the new order after the collapse of the Republic.

Provenance: Numismatica Ars Classica (2016)
Price: 21,930 €