Leadership lessons from Julius Caesar

After a 5 day war with Pharnacles II of Pontus, Caesar wrote a report to Rome detailing his conquest. The commander didn't go into much detail, writing: "I came, I saw, I conquered." The sound bite proved so catchy that we still remember it to this day.

Crossing the Rubicon River with an army was tantamount to a declaration of war. When Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his legion on Jan 10, 49 BC, he risked all. Suetonius writes that Caesar quoted an Athenian playwright as he crossed the river, declaring "the die is cast."

Caesar wrote that "in war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes."In his chronicle of the Gallic Wars, Caesar concludes that: "in most cases men willingly believe what they wish" describing a tactical mistake of his Gallic enemies.

Caesar writes: "The immortal gods are wont to allow those persons whom they wish to punish for their guilt sometimes a greater prosperity and longer impunity, in order that they may suffer the more severely from a reverse of circumstances." As a young man, Julius Caesar was abducted by pirates. When the pirates demanded a ransom of twenty talents, Caesar burst out laughing. They did not know, he said, who it was that they had captured, and he volunteered to pay fifty.

Caesar went on to promise the pirates that he'd personally kill them once he was free. After he was ransomed, he raised a fleet, hunted them down, and did exactly what he had promised.

Legio XIII Gemina

Legio XIII Gemina was one of the most celebrated military units of the Roman Army.

It was famous for its pivotal role in Julius Caesar’s rise to power. Formed in 57 BC to fight in the Gallic Wars, this is the legion that marched across the Rubicon River with Caesar in 49 BC, an act of defiance that sparked the Roman Civil War. The 13th remained loyal to Caesar.

Legio XIII was active throughout the entire war, fighting at Dyrrhachium (48 BC) and Pharsalus (48 BC). After the decisive victory over Pompey at Pharsalus, the legion was to be disbanded, and the legionaries "pensioned off" with land grants. The legion was recalled for the Battle of Thapsus (46 BC) and the final Battle of Munda (45 BC). After Munda, Caesar disbanded the legion, retired his veterans, and gave them farmland in their native Italy.

Augustus reconstituted the legion once again in 41 BC to deal with the rebellion of Sextus Pompeius (son of Pompey) in Sicily. Legio XIII acquired the cognomen Gemina ("twin") after being reinforced with veteran legionaries from other legions following the war against Mark Antony and the Battle of Actium. After the disaster of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, the legion was sent as reinforcements. In the year of the four emperors 69 AD, XIII Gemina supported first Otho and then Vespasian against Vitellius, fighting in the two Battles of Bedriacum. Under Trajan the legion took part in both Dacian wars (101–102, 105–106), and it was transferred by Trajan in 106 to the newly conquered province of Dacia.

Last reports come from the 5th century, where a legio tertiadecima gemina was stationed in Babylon. An archaeological excavation of an elementary school in Vienna in 2024 uncovered bricks bearing the stamp of the 13th Legion Gemina. From the 2nd century, They were likely the broken remnants of pilae stacks, the pillars of brick used to raise the floor for a hypocaust heating system.

Elagabalus

Elagabalus was related to the Severan dynasty. He was Roman emperor from 218 to 222. He came from a prominent Arab family in Emesa (Homs), Syria.

Elagabalus is considered among the worst Roman emperors, although he wasn't as bloody as the rest. In his youth he served as priest of the sun god Elagabal. After the death of his cousin Caracalla in 218, Elagabalus was raised to the principate at age 14 in an army revolt instigated by his grandmother Julia Maesa against Caracalla's short-lived successor, Macrinus. Elagabalus was assassinated and replaced by his cousin Severus Alexander in March 222.

Elagabalus quickly gained a reputation for eccentricity, moral decadence, zealotry and sexual proclivity and perversion.

His assassination was again plotted by Julia Maesa and carried out by the Praetorian Guard. Elagabalus 218-222 CE gold aureus. On the reverse is a stunning scene with a quadriga moving left to right bearing the stone of Emesa with an eagle cresting the stone. The legend reads “SANCT DEO SOLI ELAGABAL” ('To the Holy Sun God El-Gabel'). This example is one of two of this type known to exist.

Ancients regarded stones that fell from the sky as manifestations of the divine. The Syrian town of Emesa (now Homs) had a temple enshrining a conical black stone that was likely a meteorite. Elagabalus' first official act was to transfer the sacred rock to Rome’s main temple, the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill. Elagabalus disregarded Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos. He replaced the head of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter, with the deity Elagabal. His behavior outraged the Praetorian Guard, the Senate, and the common people.

Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – March 235), also known as Alexander Severus, was Roman emperor from 222 until 235. The last emperor from the Severan dynasty, he succeeded Elagabalus in 222, at the age of 13. Alexander was also assassinated. His death at age 26 marked the beginning of the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the further collapse of the monetary economy.

Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius, also known as Antoninus, was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.

138-161 AD. Aureus, 7.30g. Rome, 140-4 CE

Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held various offices during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. He is remembered by history as a kind, just, and wise emperor. Antoninus Pius was an “Adopted Emperor”, where succession was a conscious decision, not a birthright. After the death of Hadrian’s first adopted son, Lucius Aelius, on February 25, 138 CE, Antoninus was formally adopted by Hadrian. It was agreed that he would be made emperor with the provision that he would, in turn, adopt Marcus Aurelius.

About A.D. 141 Antoninus Pius ordered the Roman frontier to be pushed northward. A gold aureus alludes to his victory in Britain. The coin was struck circa 143 to 144 A.D., at the Rome Mint. The campaign was successful, establishing the 39-mile-long Antonine Wall some 99 miles north of Hadrian’s wall. The Senate acclaimed Antoninus as Imperator in A.D. 143 for the second time. This coin marks that event, with its depiction of winged Victory holding a trophy symbolizing military success. The aureus made $7,000.

His humanitarian efforts were significant, and he was loved by the Roman people. Antoninus Pius died in his sleep at the age of 74. His successor Marcus Aurelius spoke very highly of Antoninus: “Remember his qualities, so that when your last hour comes your conscience may be as clear as his.” His last spoken word was “aequanimitas”, meaning equanimity – mental calmness and composure.

Battle of Lugdunum - Clodius Albinus

The Battle of Lugdunum was fought on 19 February 197 at Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France), between the armies of Septimius Severus and Claudius Albinus. Severus' victory established him as the sole emperor of the Roman Empire following the Year of the Five Emperors. The battle was the largest, most hard-fought, and bloodiest of all the clashes between Roman forces. Some 150,000 soldiers took part.

In 196, after being hailed as emperor by his troops, Clodius Albinus took 40,000 men in three legions from Britannia to Gaul. After gathering up more men, he set up headquarters at Lugdunum. On 19 February 197 the battle began. Both sides were roughly evenly matched and it was a bloody, drawn-out affair lasting over two days. (it was rare for battles of this era to last longer than a few hours). The tide shifted many times during the course of the battle, with the outcome hanging in the balance. Severus had an edge in reserves of cavalry, which swung the final stages of the battle in his favour.

A top NGC-graded Clodius Albinus AD 195-197 gold aureus graded NGC Ch XF★, 5/5 Strike and 5/5 Surface. Estimated at $200k, the coin made $275k. Albinus fled into Lugdunum where he took his own life. Severus had Albinus' body stripped and beheaded. He rode over the headless corpse with his horse in front of his victorious troops. Severus sent Albinus's head back to Rome as a warning. He had Albinus's body and those of his wife and sons thrown into the Rhone River.

Lucius Novius Rufus, who had supported Albinus, was killed. Severus also had 29 senators who supported Albinus executed.

Julian II

Julian II ruled as Roman emperor from November 3, 361 CE until his death on June 26, 363. He was a successful military commander who waged one of the largest campaigns of Roman history against the Sassanid Empire. Julian II is notable for being the last pagan ruler of the Roman Empire.

Julian II. AV Solidus. Antioch mint. Choice EF. $7,500 in 2007.

Christian writers referred to him as “Julian the Apostate” as he had been raised a Christian. Toleration for Christianity turned to suppression and persecution under Julian II. Pagans were openly preferred for official appointments, and they were expelled from the army. Motivated by a desire for glory, Julian assembled the largest Roman army (65,000 strong and backed by a fleet) to wage war against Persia. The Roman's early victories led them deep into hostile lands. During a disastrous retreat from the walls of Ctesiphon, (below modern Baghdad), Julian was wounded by a spear thrown “no one knew whence” which pierced his liver.

He died the next night at age 31, having been emperor for 20 months. With his death, the last hope for a renaissance of non-Christian faiths within the Roman Empire ended. Since Julian had no successor, an officer who commanded the imperial bodyguard named Jovian was chosen by the army as the new emperor. With the army trapped far in enemy territory, Jovian was forced to negotiate a humiliating peace.

On his way back to Constantinople in the winter of 364, Jovian, 33, died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to an unmaintained charcoal brazier used to heat his sleeping quarters. Jovian. AD 363-364. AV Solidus. Superb EF, lustrous, faint roughness on cheek, small edge scuff. Rare. Estimate $7500. Sold for $9500.

The Bunnik hoard

44 gold staters were discovered with 360 Roman coins by metal detectorists in a field in Bunnik, near Utrecht Netherlands in 2023.

Included were 72 gold aurei, dated between 18 B.C. and 47 A.D. The Roman gold exhibits little wear, suggesting they were freshly minted.

Claudius. AD 41-54. AV Aureus. Rome mint. Struck AD 46-47. Good VF. Est $7500, sold for $20,000

Most of the hoard are Roman coins dating between 46 and 47 A.D., a period marking the end of the first Roman conquests in Britain. Many bear the image of Emperor Claudius, who was crucial in expanding the empire’s reach into the British Isles. Some of the nearly 300 silver denarii date as far back as 200 B.C.

Saters bearing the inscription of King Cunobelin were very likely the spoils of war of Roman soldiers from the conquest of Britain. Celtic king Cunobelinus reigned between AD 5 and AD 40 in the south-east of Britain. Four of the staters are posthumous issues, probably struck by Cunobelinus’s successors as ruler of the Catuvellauni tribe, the brothers Togodumnus and Caratacus, around AD 43. The hoard would have represented a huge fortune in it's time.

The most recent coins in the hoard were struck in AD 46-47, and bear the portrait of the emperor Claudius. The area where the coins were discovered was a site from which the Romans had prepared for first crossing to Britain. It was also an area to which the conquering troops returned to the mainland. The wide chronological range of the coins suggests they are spoils from the early Roman conquest of Britain under the general Aulus Plautius (AD 43-47). The coins may have been distributed to the army as a donativum, a bonus paid for a successful campaign.

Britain consisted of several separate kingdoms before Claudius ordered Aulus Plautius to invade with a force of four legions reinforced by auxiliary. The Romans landed at Richborough, Kent and were met a large army of Britons under the Catuvellauni kings Caratacus and his brother Togodumnus, on the River Medway.

Spearheaded by Legio II Augusta under Vespasian, some 45,000 Romans invaded, crossed the Medway River and defeated the Britons.

Quintus Labienus

Quintus Labienus was a Roman general in the Late Republic period. Quintus Labienus was an envoy for Brutus to King Orodes II of Parthia. In 42 BC, when Brutus was defeated at the Battle of Philippi, Quintus fled to Parthia. He made an alliance with Parthia and invaded the Roman provinces in the eastern Mediterranean which were under the control of Mark Antony.

Quintus Labienus, rebel Imperator (40-39 BC). AR denarius. NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5

Quintus Labienus was the son of Titus Labienus, one of Julius Caesar's generals, who threw his support to Pompey and the Senate during the Civil War of 49-45 BC. Following the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC, Quintus fell in with the assassins Brutus and Cassius. He would be dead by the end of the year, 40 BC.

Quintus Labienus coinage is a true rarity. Prices range from $7,500 for low grade silver examples to over $82,500 for exceptional coins. The Quintus Labienus aureus is one of the rarest and most expensive ancient Roman coins. Struck to pay troops, only about six are known to exist. The best sold for $1.1m.

Emperor Valerian

Double Aureus (Binio) of Valerian, minted 255-256 in Turkey.

Valerian (Publius Licinius Valerianus) was Roman emperor from 253 to spring 260 AD. Valerian is known as the first Roman emperor to have been taken captive in battle, captured by the Persian emperor Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa. Roman political culture placed supreme value on courage, and emperors followed Augustus’ example by framing their role through displays of virtus. The epithet “Unconquered” (invictus) meant everything to Romans. Ancients expected Valerian to kill himself before being humiliated by capture.

Valerian’s surrender to a foreign enemy in 260 represented a Roman failure of unparalleled magnitude. A Bishapur Bas-Relief shows Roman Emperor Gordian III defeated and trampled under Shapur's horse, while Shapur leads Valerian by the hand for his slavehood. Valerian was probably not skinned alive, nor killed by molten gold. Vivid tales of revenge, flaying, torture and taxidermy came from hostile propaganda. One theory suggests Valerian was kept alive. He and his captured Roman soldiers were put to work on Persian construction projects according to texts.

Septimius Severus

A circa A.D. 202 to 210 gold aureus issued by Septimius Severus shows sons Caracalla and Geta.

The boys were then in their mid to late teens and hated each other. All three appear on horses on the reverse of the aureus, raising their right hands as if receiving an ovation. Severus took his wife and two sons to wage war against the Caledonians of northern Britain. Severus sent his sons to lead the troops. While in Britain Severus fell ill and died in A.D. 211, leaving behind two sons who were intent on eliminating one another.

In 193, Septimius Severus was the victor in a civil war that saw five rival emperors try to take power. Severus often depicted his wife, Julia Domna, and his squabbling sons on his coinage. On the reverse of a rare gold aureus issued about the year 200, the two boys face one another, with the inscription “Eternity of the Empire" In December 195, after his father defeated Pescennius Niger, Caracalla, aged nine, was given the rank of Caesar, designating him imperial successor. Coinage in gold, silver, and bronze were issued depicting Caracalla as Caesar. Caracalla caesar, Sestertius circa 196-197.

Valued at one-quarter of a denarius, the sestertius was a substantial brass coin of about 27 grams and was a mainstay of the Roman monetary system. Because small change was in chronic short supply, coins often remained in circulation until they wore flat. Few coins in good condition survived.

Publius Septimius Geta was given the rank of Caesar at the age of nine in 198 CE. The spectactular rare coin marking the event brought over $154,000. By the age of 18, Geta had grown a beard. A very rare sestertius of Geta as Caesar struck at Rome around 208. Geta was not promoted to Augustus (co-ruler) until 209, something he bitterly resented. Severus died on February 4, 211. Severus was deified by the Senate and buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome. His remains are lost. Caracalla and Geta were elevated, advised by Julia Domna.

The Romans never campaigned deep into Caledonia again: they withdrew south permanently to Hadrian's Wall.

The palace was divided into two hostile armed camps. Caracalla’s guards stabbed Geta to death December 211. Caracalla persecuted and executed most of Geta's supporters and ordered a damnatio memoriae. It became a capital offence to speak or write Geta's name.

Severus' currency debasement was the largest since the reign of Nero.

Caracalla is recorded as one of Rome's worst rulers. Caracalla introduced the antoninianus in 215, a new denomination that had a disastrous impact on the Roman economy for the rest of the third century.