Beschreibung:

ROMAN IMPERATORIAL INTAGLIO OF BRUTUS 1st century BC- 2nd century AD A round-section iron hoop with inset jasper plaque, intaglio bust probably of Marcus Junius Brutus. 13 grams, 30mm (1 1/4"). Very fine condition; hoop degraded. Extremely rare. Provenance Property of a London, UK, gentleman; acquired in the 1960s. Footnotes The profile bust strongly resembles portraits of Marcus Junius Brutus, the murderer of Julius Caesar as they appear on his EID MAR denarius issues. Brutus was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus Maior and Servilia Caepionis. His father was killed by Pompey the Great in dubious circumstances after he had taken part in the rebellion of Lepidus; his mother was the half-sister of Cato the Younger, and later Julius Caesar's mistress. Some sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being his real father. Brutus held his uncle in high regard and his political career started when he became an assistant to Cato, during his governorship of Cyprus. During this time, he amassed wealth by lending money at high rates of interest. Brutus was also active in the province of Cilicia, in the year before Cicero was proconsul there; Cicero documents how Brutus profited from money lending to the provincials. He returned to Rome a rich man, where he married Claudia Pulchra. From his first appearance in the Senate, Brutus aligned with the Optimates (the conservative faction) against the First Triumvirate of Crassus, Pompey Magnus and Julius Caesar During the civil war between Pompey and Caesar, Brutus allied himself with his former enemy Pompey, but at his defeat at the battle of Pharsalus Brutus wrote to Caesar apologising and was forgiven. But as Caesar's power began to grow Brutus became associated with a faction in the Senate who feared for the future Republic and so they plotted, and eventually carried out, the assassination of Caesar. During the ensuing chaos and power struggles Brutus fled with his army to Crete, but was eventually defeated in the Battle of Philippi by the combined forces of Marc Antony and Octavian Caesar, and shortly after committed suicide.