Octavian, as Sole Imperator (30-27 BC). AR denarius (19mm, 3.68 gm, 8h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 3/5, bankers mark. Italian (Rome?) mint, ca. 30-29 BC. Bare head of Octavian right; linear border / IMP CAESAR, legend on the architrave of the Curia Julia (Roman Senate House) with closed doors, porch supported by four short columns, three windows above, figure seated between two birds vis-à-vis in pediment, statue of Victory facing, with wreath in right hand and vexillum in left, on globe surmounting apex of roof, statues of standing figures turned inward, scepter in outer hand and parazonium in inner hand at the extremities of the architrave. RIC I 266 (ca. 29-27 BC). From the Rockport Collection. Privately purchased from Heritage Auctions in the 1980s. Sold with original custom holder listing older catalog references. During its long and storied history, the Roman Senate convened in a series of buildings, most famously the Curia Julia commenced by Julius Caesar in about 45 BC and finished by his successor Octavian/Augustus in 29 BC. This coin, struck in ca. 29 BC to celebration completion of the project, gives a good idea of what the building looked like: A tall, rather austere brick structure with three large windows, topped by a gabled roof, resting on a stepped platform surmounted by a colonnade. A statue of Victory atop a globe graced the peak of the roof, with statues of other deities or notable Romans to either side. Augustus noted completion of the Curia Julia among the accomplishments listed in his Res Gestae: "I built the Senate House... with the power of the state entirely in my hands by universal consent, I extinguished the flames of civil wars, and then relinquished my control, transferring the Republic back to the authority of the Senate and the Roman people."

HID09801242017

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