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Denarius with Caesar's portrait

44 BC　・　silver　・　1st century BC　・　Rome

Denarius with Caesar's portrait（obverse）
ANS / CC0（Wikimedia Commons）

In 44 BC Caesar had his own portrait struck on the coinage while still alive. Until then, faces belonged to gods and to the dead. Circulating with the legend CAESAR, this face looked to the republic like the return of a king. Months after it was struck, he was stabbed in the Senate. The portrait became the very template of empire.