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Hemiassarion - Gaius Caesar ΠΟΛΕ ΦΙΛΟΠΑΤ ΛΑΟΔΙΚΕΩΝ, Laodicea ad Lycum

Issuer Laodicea ad Lycum
Year 5 BC
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Shape Round (irregular)
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Obverse description Bare head of Gaius Caesar facing right, rendered in a youthful Hellenistic portrait style with neatly striated hair swept forward over the brow. The bust is lightly draped at the truncation. The Greek legend ΓΑΙΟΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡ is disposed around the periphery, partially visible along the left and right fields. A dotted border frames the design.
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Edge Plain
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Additional information

Laodicea ad Lycum had every reason to flatter Rome's designated heir. Gaius Caesar, Augustus's grandson and adopted son, was being groomed for imperial succession in the late first century BC, and cities across the eastern provinces scrambled to issue coins in his name as a display of loyalty. This piece belongs to that wave of civic flattery — the epithet ΦΙΛΟΠΑΤ(RIS) on the reverse, meaning "lover of his fatherland," applied as much to Roman expectations as to local pride. Gaius died in 4 AD of wounds sustained during a campaign in Armenia, never having ruled.

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