The corona civica, or civic crown, was a garland of oak leaves granted by the Senate to someone whom they considered had saved the lives of fellow Roman citizens in battle. By settling the civil wars in Rome, Octavian, renamed Augustus, could be construed as having done just that, even though his ensuing position as ‘princeps’ — his chosen title — challenged the very mechanisms of citizenship and government.
The civic crown also appears on the reverse of Augustan medallions. Its presence was a means of negotiating Augustus’s unprecedented position
Rome, Capitoline Museum, Sala degli Imperatori 495
Transferred from the Archaeological Institute of Göttingen University in August 1991
Verzeichnis der Gipsabgüsse des Archäologischen Instituts der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 246, no.A1321
Helbig: Führer durch die Sammlungen Klassischer Altertümer in Rom II (1966), 1281
Hekler: Greek and Roman Portraits, pl. 169b
