Struck in 38 BC during the period of the Second Triumvirate's fracture, this issue belongs to a calculated propaganda campaign by Octavian — invoking his adoptive father's deification while simultaneously promoting Agrippa's designation as consul ahead of his actual tenure. The pairing was deliberate: Agrippa had just secured the naval victories at Cumae and Mylae against Sextus Pompey's fleet, and Octavian needed the association badly. His own military record at that moment was poor.
The explicit use of DIVOS IVLIVS on coinage was still relatively new. Caesar's formal deification by the Senate had occurred only in 42 BC.
Struck in 38 BC during the period of the Second Triumvirate's fracture, this issue belongs to a calculated propaganda campaign by Octavian — invoking his adoptive father's deification while simultaneously promoting Agrippa's designation as consul ahead of his actual tenure. The pairing was deliberate: Agrippa had just secured the naval victories at Cumae and Mylae against Sextus Pompey's fleet, and Octavian needed the association badly. His own military record at that moment was poor.
The explicit use of DIVOS IVLIVS on coinage was still relatively new. Caesar's formal deification by the Senate had occurred only in 42 BC.