The Republic. AULUS HIRTIUS, Caesar. Rome, 46... Lot 1

The Republic. AULUS HIRTIUS, Caesar. Rome, 46 BC. Aureus. Female bust. R./ A HIRTIVS PR. Cultic instruments. (BD 414, Crawford 466/1, Babelon Hirtia 2). Gold. 7.99 g. Almost Very Beautiful. Julien POINSSOT (1844-1900). Man of culture and history, archaeologist, pioneer of the exploration of ancient North Africa, and collector. From an old family originating from the borders of Burgundy and Franche-Comté, Julien POINSSOT was born in Dijon on April 16, 1844. If his life was rather short since he died in Paris on June 8, 1900, it was no less full. A mischievous child, in love with life in the open air, he obtained, after his baccalaureate, a law degree, training imposed by his father, a notary in Dijon. To compensate for his lack of interest in this subject, he took courses in Latin and ancient history at the Sorbonne. Passionate about travel, which he practised extensively throughout his life, he had no desire to follow in his father's footsteps by returning to his study in Dijon, where he was always deeply bored. History came to his aid: when the war with Prussia broke out in 1870, he did his military service in Algeria, he stayed several months in Constantine and in 1872, he was appointed administrator there. He did not return to France until 1877. One year later, he married Marie Durand de LAUR in Versailles. The couple will have four children, Louis, Charlotte, Paul who will die in infancy, and Charles. His fortune, added to that of his wife, allowed him to make a real work of patronage. Indeed, as a man of culture and history, he launched himself into archaeology and carried out several excavation campaigns in Algeria and Tunisia, which he financed in part himself. He is considered by specialists of the time as a distinguished archaeologist [...] to whom we owe the discovery of a considerable number of inscriptions and Roman ruins. He was very interested in the new art of photography and took many photographs of it. He founded a magazine which became the Revue de l'Afrique française, and set up a group of scholars whose work went beyond the limits of North Africa to cover the whole continent. He also became a great collector of art objects, Roman coins, furniture, engravings and old books. When he died in 1900, his eldest son, Louis, was only 21 years old. The latter became the head of the family while he was particularly marked by the death of this father who shared with him his multiple passions and his immense erudition. Olivier MEYRUEY Louis POINSSOT (1879-1967). Archaeologist, member of the Institute, one of the great explorers of ancient Tunisia. Louis POINSSOT was born in Paris on 11 July 1879. He did all his studies there, with a degree in literature and law, a diploma from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and he entered the Ecole Française de Rome in 1903. Since 1901, he had already been working in Tunisia under the aegis of the Director of Antiquities at the time. In fact, he took over from his father after the latter's death. African archaeology, which was deeply marked by his eclectic and meticulous spirit, owes him a lot. In 1920, he was appointed Director of Antiquities and Art of Tunisia. Louis POINSSOT continued the exploration of the great sites, Thuburbo Majus, Carthage, Haïdra, and especially Dougga. He developed the collections of the Bardo Museum and improved their presentation for the Muslim period. His immense and particularly erudite output of scientific publications earned him academic honours as he became a Member of the Institute and was elected to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. But he was also at the origin of a very complete legislation on the protection of ancient sites and monuments in this country. On the other hand, he was very interested in the Muslim civilization whose heritage he contributed to enhance, with the help of his wife, Paule, who spoke fluent Arabic. Indeed, in 1921, he met in Tunis Paule EIGENSCHENCK with whom he got married and had four children: Bernard, Henriette, Claude and Anne. In addition to this brilliant career, Louis POINSSOT also looked after his father's collections and the family archives. Every year he came on holiday with his family to the property of Laur in Aveyron and spent a lot of time in the library of the estate where he carried out an intense work of family archaeology, taken up later by his son Claude, also a historian and archaeologist. Olivier MEYRUEY From the charm of Roman coins It is only in the 5th century BC, period of the apogee of Greek coins, that metallic species appeared in Italy. The only known metal at that time was copper cast in the form of ingots. From 269 onwards, a monetary system, based on bronze, quickly proved too bulky. To this coinage