‘Slogans’ on Coins in Julius Caesar's Dictatorship Years (49–44 BC)

Abstract

A number of coins issued during the years 49–44 had on them an additional legend, a trend which had been developing in the preceding fifty years, but which was used much more extensively by Caesar's moneyers. The legends (with two exceptions) all refer to recognised ‘qualities’, which had temples and cults established in the Roman community. The coin types, particularly in the opening years of the civil war between Caesar and Pompeius, were issued in very large numbers, suggesting that they were not only used to pay the troops whom Caesar had already and those he was recruiting, but also that they were put into general circulation. The qualities emphasised on the coins indicate Caesar's programmatic ideology, and the number issued shows that he wished to circulate this ideology widely. The additional legends can be taken therefore to be ‘slogans’, a form of propaganda for Caesar's aims. The two exceptions were Pax and Clementia, but there is evidence to suggest that a cult and temple were planned for each of these.