Bimellenary of Caesar Augustus

     Octavian (63 B.C.-14 A.D.) was the adopted son of Julius Caesar. In 17 B.C. he was named Imperator Caesar Augustus. In 1937 (Italy) and 1938 (Libya) marked the bimillenary of the birth of Caesar Augustus. Both stamps show a map of the Mediterranean Sea and quotations from Virgil.
     The quotation on Italy C98, “Qui Mare Qui Terras Omni Ditione Tenerent,” is from Virgil’s Aeneid. It refers to the prophecy that Aeneas would found a race that would rule the world and implies that the Romans were that race.
     The map is said to have been suggested by one cut in the marble walls of the Basilica of Marcus Aureilius Valerius Maxentius (278-312 A.D.) who began building the basilica in 306. The basilica is also known as the Basilica of Constantine, who redesigned and completed it after he defeated Maxentius at the battle of the Milvian bridge in 312.

     The quotation on Libya 77, “Imperium sine fine dedi,” is also from Virgil, quoting Jupiter, “Empire without end have I granted,” and applies that to Augustus, as ancient Roman historians also did.

Paul's Journey to Rome

     Paul's journey from Caesarea to Rome is recorded in the 27th and 28th chapters of the book of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. It is generally accepted that the journey took place in the winter of 60 a.d.
     The stamps were issued in 1961 to mark the 1900th anniversary of the arrival of St. Paul in Rome.