Restart of the Ludi Saeculares
Augustus, with Divus Julius Caesar. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.64 g, 1h). Rome mint; M. Sanquinius, moneyer. Struck circa 17 BC. Herald, wearing long robe and feathered helmet standing left, holding caduceus and round shield ornamented with six-pointed star / Laureate head of Divus Julius Caesar right; comet above. RIC I 340; RSC 6 (Julius Caesar). Near EF, lightly toned. Rare.
The Ludi Saeculares, or Century Games had been celebrated in Rome since the 4th century BC. The disturbed times did not permit them to be held in 46 BC, and they were not reinstated by Augustus until 17 BC, when the first coins marking the event were struck.
