Roman Empire — AV Aureus of Augustus Augustus | 27 BC–AD 14 | The Second of the Twelve Caesars Roman Empire, Lugdunum (Lyon) Mint | AV Aureus | 7.73 grams Augustus (Gaius Octavius) | NGC XF Reverse: Gaius & Lucius Caesar Standing with Shields and Spears

Few rulers have shaped world history as profoundly as Augustus, the man who transformed a fractured republic into the Roman Empire. Born Gaius Octavius in 63 BC, he was the adopted heir of Julius Caesar and emerged victorious after decades of brutal civil war, defeating Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. In 27 BC the Roman Senate bestowed upon him the title Augustus—"the Revered One"—marking the beginning of an imperial dynasty that would endure for centuries. Although Julius Caesar is often counted as the first of the famed Twelve Caesars, Augustus stands as the second member of Suetonius' legendary imperial biographies and the first true Roman Emperor, establishing the governmental system that ruled the Mediterranean world for nearly five hundred years.

Augustus' reign ushered in the Pax Romana, an extraordinary era of peace and prosperity that lasted roughly two centuries. He reorganized the Roman military into a permanent professional army, established the Praetorian Guard, reformed taxation, stabilized the empire's finances, expanded Rome's road network, and oversaw one of history's greatest building programs. He famously declared, "I found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble." Under his rule, literature flourished through writers such as Virgil, Horace, and Ovid, while Roman commerce reached from Britain to Arabia and from Spain to India.

The reverse of this magnificent aureus is among the most celebrated dynastic designs of the Roman Empire, depicting Gaius and Lucius Caesar, Augustus' beloved grandsons and adopted sons. The two princes stand beside their shields and spears, symbolizing their designation as heirs to the throne and Augustus' vision of a stable imperial succession. Tragically, both young Caesars died before reaching the throne—Lucius in AD 2 and Gaius in AD 4—forcing Augustus to adopt his stepson Tiberius, who would ultimately become Rome's second emperor. Because of this dramatic historical twist, coins bearing Gaius and Lucius are not only masterpieces of Roman portraiture but also poignant reminders of one of antiquity's greatest "what if" stories.

Struck in nearly pure gold over 2,000 years ago, this aureus represents the currency of emperors, generals, and senators during Rome's Golden Age. Gold aurei circulated throughout an empire stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Euphrates River, funding military campaigns, monumental construction, and the machinery of the ancient world's greatest superpower. Holding one today is to hold a tangible artifact from the very birth of Imperial Rome—an age that forever changed Western civilization and established the foundations upon which much of the modern world was built.