Denarius of M. Junius Brutus

On this 4th of July, it seems appropriate to start with a man whose ancestors (he believed) liberated his country from Kings and would-be Tyrants. Brutus’ coinage is steeped in revelry for ancient defenders of the Republic. The obverse shows “OG Brutus,” who expelled the Kings from Rome and established the Republic, becoming the first Consul. The reverse shows a similar scene of anti-Tyranny propaganda commemorating Ahala, the Master of Horse to the Dictator Cincinnatus, who killed Maelius in a suspected plot to make himself King. Brutus seems such a “Republic Stan” that if he had a sleeve tattoo it would read: Sic Semper Tyrannus (‘Thus Always to Tyrants’).

While patriotic, digging into these stories reveals a different narrative. The dramatic expulsion of the Kings is likely a historical fiction invented by the Romans to explain their past. More likely, the process was more gradual and less attractive than one night with knives and oaths to kill any man who set himself up as King. The scene with Ahala and Maelius is dramatic. Maelius’ crime was to purchase grain during a famine and distribute it to poor Romans. Whether this was a generous action or an attempt to generate popular support for his takeover is unknown. What is clear is that when Ahala confronted Maelius, he resisted the summons and Ahala struck him down in cold blood. The likes of Cicero and Brutus later praised these actions as a defense of the Republic, but this defense clearly violated the Lex Valeria prohibition of summary execution. Laws be damned in a time of crisis.

In the end, Brutus’ coinage can be seen as a supposed defense of “liberty” implemented through extrajudicial means, whether they be the expulsion of the Kings, the execution of a wealthy plebian, or the murder of a friend on the Ides of March (Et tu Brute?). Ironically, this “Last of the Romans” would become the monster he sought to destroy: an Imperator leading rebel armies and minting coins with his image— a King in all but name.