Julius Caesar, as Dictator for the Third Time (45 BC), with Lucius Munatius Plancus, as Praefectus Urbi. AV aureus (21mm, 7.98 gm, 5h). NGC Fine 4/5 - 2/5, edge bend. Rome. C•CAES-DIC•TER, draped and winged bust of Victory right, seen from front; dotted border / L•PLANC-PR•VRB (VR ligate), praefericulum (sacrificial oenochoe) left; dotted border. Calicó 44. Crawford 475/1b. Sydenham 1019b. Munatia 2 and Julia 19. Well-centered example struck on a wide flan, showcasing full beading on both sides. L. Munatius Plancus was one of the few Roman aristocrats who managed to navigate the transition from Republic to Empire with his life, career and fortune intact. An officer in Caesar's army during his conquest of Gaul and the civil war against Pompey, Plancus was rewarded with the important office of Urban Praefect in 45 BC, during which term he struck both gold aurei and quinarii. He was Proconsul of Gallia Comata when Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and spent the next several years adroitly shifting allegiances from the pro-Senatorial faction led by Cicero, to Marc Antony, and to the Triumvirate, and finally to Octavian, the ultimate victor. In 27 BC, he made the formal proposal that the Senate grant Octavian the unprecedented title of Augustus, by which he is known to history. As a reward, Augustus named him to the prestigious office of Censor in 22 BC. The huge circular tomb of Plancus still stands on a hill in Gaeta, about 20 miles from Rome. HID09801242017 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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