Category: Late Republic & Imperatorial Period
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Conquered Crocodile: Rome Annexes Egypt under Augustus
The annexation of Cleopatra’s former kingdom was the Roman state’s most prized conquest; Egypt had been the richest land in the Mediterranean for centuries and, under the Ptolemaic Greeks, had asserted its status as the center of learning and philosophy in the Hellenistic world, boasting such wonders as the Lighthouse and Library of Alexandria.
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Caesar’s Elephant Denarius & the Crossing of the Rubicon
On January 10 of 49 BC, declaring “alea iacta est” (“the die is cast”), Caesar made the fateful decision to cross the Rubicon River and march on Rome. This elephant denarius was struck in the tens of thousands to pay the fiercely loyal troops Caesar led across the river, many of whom had served with…