Ancient Rome - 18 BCE Augustus AR Denarius NGC Choice AU

Ancient Rome - 14 AD Augustus AR Denarius NGC Choice AU $2,880.

     The Temple of Mars Ultor (Mars the Avenger) was a edifice built by Emperor Augustus in 2 BC, dedicated to the god Mars in his role as an avenger. The young Octavian vowed to build a temple to Mars in 42 BC, shortly before the Battle of Phillippi--but only if Mars would give him and Marcus Antonius a conquest of two of the assassins of Julius Caesar, Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus. But work did not begin on the temple until after the return of the Aquilae (standards of an eagle) that had been lost by Marcus Licinius Crassus in the devastating Battle of Carrhae against the Parthians some 33 years before. The Roman Senate had ruled that the recovered standards were to be kept in a temple to Mars Ultor that would be constructed on the Capitoline Hill. However, Augustus decided that he would build it at his personal expense on the location of his new forum. But the Emperor waited until 2 BC to build the temple to Mars Ultor. His decision to wait has been seen as due to a reluctance to celebrate his victory in battle c.18 BC, for he saw the return of the standards, and the symbolic revenge against the Parthians, as a more acceptable victory to commemorate. Nonetheless, the coin issued that year honored Mars Ultor and the eventual creation of his temple.