Brutus, 43-42 BC. Denarius (Silver, 19 mm, 3.95 g, 12 h), with L. Plaetorius Cestianus, magistrate. Military mint traveling with Brutus and Cassius in western Asia Minor or northern Greece, late summer-autumn 42. BRVT IMP - L•PLAET•CEST Bare head of Brutus to right. Rev. EID•MAR Pileus between two daggers pointing downwards. Babelon (Junia) 52 and (Plaetoria) 13. BMC 68-70. Cahn, EIDibus MARtiis, 16a-b (same dies). Cohen 15. Crawford 508/3. CRI 216. Franke-Hirmer pl. 26, 99. Sydenham 1301. Very rare and undoubtedly among the finest known examples, an exceptional piece with arguably the sharpest and best-preserved EID MAR reverse in existence. Very well struck on excellent silver with underlying luster, a wonderful coin, free from the die wear that normally plagues Brutus’ portrait. The obverse struck slightly off center and with very minor weakness and light marks, otherwise, extremely fine.


Arguably the most famous Roman coin type in existence, Brutus’ EID MAR issue relates to one of the crucial turning points in world history: the assassination of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March. On 15 March 44 BC, a group of more than sixty senators led by Marcus Iunius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus attacked the dictator during a senate meeting and stabbed him to death. The murder of Rome’s most powerful man, so shortly after the conclusion of the civil war of 49-45 BC, set in motion another series of devastating conflicts between Caesar’s proclaimed successors Mark Antony and Octavian, the Senate factions, Republican traditionalists such as Brutus and Cassius, and a multitude of condottieri.

Brutus himself fled Rome in the aftermath of the successful assassination, but he was rehabilitated in early 43 BC and appointed proconsul, first of Crete, then of Macedon, Achaea, and Illyricum. With the rise of Octavian, however, and the capture of Rome in the summer of 43 BC, he was declared hostis, an enemy of the state. Brutus now assembled a large army in northern Greece together with his ally Cassius, facing the united armies of Mark Antony and Octavian in the Battles of Philippi in October 42 BC. Although successful in his initial attack against Octavian, Brutus’ luck turned when Cassius was defeated by Mark Antony and committed suicide. Brutus then followed suit, bringing ultimate victory to the Caesarians.

Brutus’ EID MAR coinage is extraordinary in many ways, and it is therefore one of the few ancient coin types to be mentioned by a classical author, namely the Severan politician and historian Cassius Dio (circa 155–235): 'In addition to these activities Brutus stamped upon the coins which were being minted his own likeness and a cap and two daggers, indicating by this and by the inscription that he and Cassius had liberated the fatherland' (Cass. Dio 47.25.3).

In this sentence, the great historian sums up all the remarkable characteristics of Brutus’ innovative coin design. Unlike Cassius, whose coinage adheres to Republican values, Brutus obviously had no scruples in abandoning them when the need arose, placing his own portrait on his coins, despite accusing Julius Caesar of aiming at kingship when he had done the same thing two years earlier. Even more interesting is the reverse, which shows a pileus, a liberty cap, between two daggers above the legend EID MAR. This blatant reference to the murder of Julius Caesar is what made the issue so famous and gave it its name. In this way, Brutus publicly styled himself as Caesar’s assassin, who, in his self-portrayal, restored liberty to the Romans on the Ides of March, or, in Latin, the Eidibus Martiis of 44 BC.