Ancient Roman Imperatorial - 48-46 BCE Julius Caesar, Venus obverse AR Denarius NGC XF

Venus is the Roman goddess who represented love, beauty, desire, sexuality, fertility, prosperity and victory. In order to fulfill his vow, Caesar built a temple of Venus Genetrix in the new Roman Forum. By establishing the cult of Venus, he confirmed the claim of his own gens of descent from the goddess through Iulus, the son of Aeneas.  In Roman mythology, Venus was the ancestor of the people of Rome through her son, Aeneas, who appears on the reverse of this coin. Thus her representation upon this coin's obverse was carefully orchestrated by Julius Caesar, who claimed her as his ancestor. Venus was essential to many religious festivals and greatly honored in Roman religion. The reverse of this issue presents a scene from Virgil's Aeneid. Virgil wrote the Aeneid in part to honor Caesar's divine heritage. Aeneas, the son of Venus, is shown carrying his lame father, Anchises, from the ruined city of Troy to find a new home towards the west. Virgil's work tells us that Aeneas and his followers eventually settled in Italy, and their descendants, Romulus and Remus, were important figures in the founding of Rome. Thus by minting this coin, Caesar emphasized his relation to the mythic founders of Rome, thereby demonstrating his divine right to rule Rome.