Denarius - Augustus CIVIB ET SIGN MILIT A PART RECVPER

Issued to celebrate the diplomatic coup of 20 BC, when Augustus recovered the legionary standards lost by Crassus at Carrhae in 53 BC and by Antony in subsequent Parthian campaigns — a humiliation Rome had nursed for three decades. The recovery was achieved entirely through negotiation with Parthian king Phraates IV, not military force, but Augustus's propaganda machine worked hard to frame it as a conquest. This coin is a direct product of that campaign.

The abbreviation PART RECVPER — Parthian standards recovered — encapsulates the official line. Phraates returned the standards to avoid Roman pressure on his western frontier, not out of defeat.