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Aureus - Augustus SIGNIS RECEPTIS, Mars
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
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| Year | 19 BC |
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| Currency | Denarius, Reform of Augustus (27 BC – AD 215) |
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| Obverse description | Bare head of Augustus facing right, rendered in fine classical style with naturalistically detailed hair swept forward in layered locks across the forehead. The portrait is modelled with elegant precision, capturing the idealized yet individualized features of the emperor. The encircling legend CAESAR AVGVSTVS is divided between left and right fields, set within a beaded border. The high-relief effigy displays the refined artistry characteristic of early Augustan imperial coinage. |
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| Reverse description | Mars, helmeted and cloaked, stands facing with head turned to the right, depicted as the divine patron of military might. In his raised right hand he holds an aquila (legionary eagle standard), while his left hand rests an additional military standard on his left shoulder, the two standards flanking his figure and dividing the reverse legend. The composition commemorates the diplomatic recovery of the Roman standards lost at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, a celebrated propaganda triumph of Augustus's reign. The reverse legend SIGNIS RECEPTIS is disposed to either side of the standing figure within a beaded border. |
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The SIGNIS RECEPTIS aureus commemorates one of Augustus's most carefully managed propaganda victories: the recovery of the Roman standards lost at Carrhae in 53 BC, when Crassus and his army were destroyed by the Parthians, and those lost subsequently under Antony. The standards sat in Parthian hands for decades, a humiliation the Roman public never forgot. In 20 BC, Augustus negotiated their return through diplomacy — no battle was fought — yet the Roman mint treated it as a military triumph, striking multiple gold issues to drive that message home.
Augustus understood that perception mattered more than the mechanics of how the standards came back.