|
|
000. Cast of Charactersecoli
|
|
000a. L. Sulla and L. Manlius ToruatusL. Sulla and L. Manlius Torquatus. 82 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.89 g, 7h). Military mint moving with Sulla. Helmeted head of Roma right / Sulla driving triumphal quadriga right, holding branch and reins, being crowned by Victory flying left. Crawford 367/5; Sydenham 757 or 757a; Manlia 4 or 5. Near VF, toned, a few light scratches on the obverse.
From the Elwood Rafn Collection.
As consul for the year 88 BC, Sulla was awarded the coveted assignment of suppressing the revolt of Mithradates VI of Pontus, but political maneuvers resulted in this assignment being transferred to Marius. In response, Sulla turned his army on Rome, captured it, and reclaimed his command against Mithradates. His prosecution of the first Mithradatic War was successful, but he spared the Pontic king for personal gain. In 83 BC, Sulla returned to Italy as an outlaw, but he was able to win the support of many of the leading Romans. Within a year, he fought his way to Rome, where he was elected dictator. It was during this campaign to Rome that this denarius was struck. The obverse type represents Sulla's claim to be acting in Rome's best interest. The reverse shows Sulla enjoying the highest honor to which a Roman could aspire: the celebration of a triumph at Rome.ecoli
|
|
000b. Pompey the GreatThe Pompeians. Sextus Pompey. 37/6 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.49 g, 9h). Uncertain Sicilian mint, possibly Catana. Bare head of Pompey the Great right; capis to left, lituus to right / Neptune, holding aplustre and resting right foot on prow, standing left between the Catanaean brothers Anapias and Amphinomus running in opposite directions, bearing their parents on their shoulders. Crawford 511/3a; CRI 334; Sydenham 1344; RSC 17 (Pompey the Great). Fine, lightly toned, bankers’ marks on obverse.
AMPHINOMUS and ANAPIS (or Anapias), two brothers, of Silicy, respecting whom it is related that they saved their parents, at the peril of their own lives, from the flames of Etna, at the moment when an eruption of that volcano threatened their immediate destruction. This was a favourite subject with the ancients, in symbolising filial piety; and is often represented on Greek coins of Catana (Catania), where this noble action is alleged to have been performed. Of these two Sicilian brothers, types of that devoted love, which is ever cherished by good children towards the earthly anthors of their being, Cornelius Severus, alluding to Mount Edna, thus expresses himself: "Amphinomus and his brother, both equally courageous in the performance of a duty, whilst the flames murmured their threats against the neighbouring houses, rescue their decrepid father, and their aged mother."ecoli
|
|
000c. Sextus PompeySextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey, was a Roman general from the late Republic (1st century BC). He was the last focus of opposition to the second triumvirate.
Sextus Pompeius was the youngest son of Pompey the Great (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus) by his third wife, Mucia Tertia. His older brother was Gnaeus Pompeius, from the same mother. Both boys grew up in the shadow of their father, one of Rome's best generals and originally non-conservative politician who drifted to the more traditional faction when Julius Caesar became a threat.
When Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC, thus starting a civil war, Sextus' older brother Gnaeus followed their father in his escape to the East, as did most of the conservative senators. Sextus stayed in Rome in the care of his stepmother, Cornelia Metella. Pompey's army lost the battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC and Pompey himself had to run for his life. Cornelia and Sextus met him in the island of Mytilene and together they fled to Egypt. On the arrival, Sextus watched his father being killed by treachery on September 29 of the same year. After the murder, Cornelia returned to Rome, but in the following years Sextus joined the resistance against Caesar in the African provinces. Together with Metellus Scipio, Cato the younger, his brother Gnaeus and other senators, they prepared to oppose Caesar and his army to the end.
Caesar won the first battle at Thapsus in 46 BC against Metellus Scipio and Cato, who committed suicide. In 45 BC, Caesar managed to defeat the Pompeius brothers in the battle of Munda. Gnaeus Pompeius was executed, but young Sextus escaped once more, this time to Sicily.
Back in Rome, Julius Caesar was murdered on the Ides of March (March 15) 44 BC by a group of senators led by Cassius and Brutus. This incident did not lead to a return to normality, but provoked yet another civil war between Caesar's political heirs and his assassins. The second triumvirate was formed by Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus, with the intention of avenging Caesar and subduing all opposition. Sextus Pompeius in Sicily was certainly a rebellious man, but the Cassius and Brutus faction was the second triumvirate's first priority. Thus, with the whole island as his base, Sextus had the time and resources to develop an army and, even more importantly, a strong navy operated by Sicilian marines.
Brutus and Cassius lost the twin battles of Philippi and committed suicide in 42 BC. After this, the triumvirs turned their attentions to Sicily and Sextus.
But by this time, Sextus was prepared for strong resistance. In the following years, military confrontations failed to return a conclusive victory for either side and in 39 BC, Sextus and the triumvirs signed for peace in the Pact of Misenum. The reason for this peace treaty was the anticipated campaign against the Parthian Empire. Antony, the leader, needed all the legions he could get so it was useful to secure an armistice in the Sicilian front. The peace did not last for long. Octavian and Antony's frequent quarrels were a strong political motivation for resuming the war against Sextus. Octavian tried again to conquer Sicily, but he was defeated in the naval battle of Messina (37 BC) and again in August 36 BC. But by then, Octavian had Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a very talented general, on his side. Only a month afterwards, Agrippa destroyed Sextus' navy off Naulochus cape. Sextus escaped to the East and, by abandoning Sicily, lost all his base of support.
Sextus Pompeius was caught in Miletus in 35 BC and executed without trial (an illegal act since Sextus was a Roman citizen) by order of Marcus Titius, Antony's minion. His violent death would be one of the weapons used by Octavian against Antony several years later, when the situation between the two became unbearable.
Sicilian Mint
Magn above laureate Janiform head
PIVS above, IMP below, prow of galley right
Sear RCV 348, RPC 671, Sydenham 1044a, Cohen 16
43-36 BC
Check ecoli
|
|
001. Julius CaesarJulius Caesar. 49-48 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.60 g). Military mint traveling with Caesar. Elephant walking right, trampling on serpent / Simpulum, sprinkler, axe (surmounted by a wolf’s head), and priest’s hat. Crawford 443/1; CRI 9; Sydenham 1006; RSC 49. VF, toned
Ex-Cngecoli
|
|
001. MARK ANTONYJULIUS CAESAR and MARK ANTONY. 43 BC.
Hardly any of his assassins survived Caesar for more than three years, or died a natural death. They were all condemned, and they perished in various ways---some by shipwreck, some in battle; some took their own lives with the self-same dagger with which they had impiously slain Caesar.
Fourré Denarius (19mm, 3.63 gm).
Obv: Bare head of Mark Antony right; lituus behind
Rev: Laureate head of Julius Caesar right, jug behind.
Ref: Crawford 488/1; CRI 118; Sydenham 1165; RSC 2. Near VF, porous, several large breaks in plating revealing the copper core.
Source: Ex Classical Numismatic Group 55 (13 September 2000), lot 1087.
Ex CNG Electronic Auction 105 lot 141 229/150
BFBV
I don't usually buy fourres; but in reality, I have no chance of owning this popular type given my budget. ecoli
|
|
001a. Cleopatra VII and Mark AntonySYRIA, Coele-Syria. Chalcis ad Libanum. Mark Antony, with Cleopatra VII. 36-31 BC. Æ 19mm (5.45 g, 12h). Dated RY 21 (Egyptian) and 6 (Phoenician) of Cleopatra (32/1 BC). Draped bust of Cleopatra right, wearing stephane / Bare head of Mark Antony right; dates in legend. RPC I 4771; Rouvier 440 (Berytus); SNG München 1006; SNG Copenhagen 383 (Phoenicia). Near Fine, green patina.
Chalcis was given by Antony to Cleopatra in 36 BC. At the culmination of his spectacular triumph at Alexandria two years later, further eastern territories - some belonging to Rome - were bestowed on the children of the newly hailed “Queen of Kings” (referred to as the “Donations of Alexandria”). Shortly after, Antony formally divorced Octavia, the sister of Octavian. These actions fueled Octavian’s propagandistic efforts to win the support of Rome’s political elite and ultimately led to the Senate’s declaration of war on Cleopatra in 32 BC.
Ex-CNGecoli
|
|
001b. FulviaThe Triumvirs. Mark Antony. Late summer-autumn 43 BC. AR Quinarius (13mm, 1.62 g, 12h). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Winged bust of Victory right, with the likeness of Fulvia / Lion walking right; DVN[I] (retrograde and inverted) above, [LVGV] in exergue; [A] to left, X [L] to right (= 40, Antony’s age at time of issue). Crawford 489/5; Lyon 2; King 75; CRI 122; Sydenham 1160; Fulvia 4; RBW 1712. Fine, toned, banker’s mark on the reverse.
Ex Davissons 28 (17 December 2009), lot 73.ecoli
|
|
001c. LepidusThe Triumvirs. Lepidus and Octavian. November-December 43 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.35 g, 10h). Military mint traveling with Lepidus in Italy. Bare head of Lepidus right / Bare head of Octavian right. Crawford 495/2a; CRI 140; Sydenham 1323; RSC 2a. Near Fine, toned, struck off center, bankers’ marks.ecoli
|
|
002. Augustus (31 BC- 14 AD)Augustus
He suffered but two severe and ignominious defeats, those of Lollius [15 B.C.] and Varus [9 A.D.], both of which were in Germany. Of these the former was more humiliating than serious, but the latter was almost fatal, since three legions were cut to pieces with their general, his lieutenants, and all the auxiliaries. In fact, they say that he was so greatly affected that for several months in succession he cut neither his beard nor his hair, and sometimes he would dash his head against a door, crying: "Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!" And he observed the day of the disaster each year as one of sorrow and mourning.
Lyons mint, 2 BC - ca 13 AD. CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE. laureate head right / AVGVSTI F COS DESIG PRINC IVVENT, C L CAESARES below, Gaius & Lucius standing front, each with a hand resting on a round shield, a spear, & in field above, a lituus right & simpulum left ("b9"). BMC 533, RSC 43
This is one of my first 12 caesar coins. I got this from an all text list from M&R coins. ecoli
|
|
002a. Agrippa Agrippa
A close friend of Octavian (later Emperor Augustus), he won a name in the wars in Gaul before becoming consul in 37 He organized Octavian's fleet and is generally given much credit for the defeat (36 ) of Sextus Pompeius in the naval battles at Mylae and Naulochus (N Sicily). Agrippa took part in the war against Antony, and his naval operations were the basis of Octavian's decisive victory at Actium in 31 He was perhaps the most trusted of all Augustus' lieutenants and rendered many services, notably in putting down disorders in both the East and West. His third wife was Augustus' daughter Julia.
AS. M AGRIPPA L F COS III Head left, wearing rostral crown. / Neptune standing, head left, S C at sides.
It seems like the quality and price of Agrippa coins run the whole spectrum...I think a decent example can be had for as little as $20. This is a bit more than that but I am happy with the quality of the metal and portrait.ecoli
|
|
002b. LiviaLivia, as history most often knows her, was the wife of Augustus for over fifty years, from 38 BC until his death in AD 14 , an astonishingly long time in view of life expectancy in ancient Rome. Although certainty about their inner lives and proof for what we would consider a loving relationship is necessarily lost to us, we can infer genuine loyalty and mutual respect between the two. They remained married despite the fact that she bore him no child. Livia's position as first lady of the imperial household, her own family connections, her confident personality and her private wealth allowed her to exercise power both through Augustus and on her own, during his lifetime and afterward. All the Julio-Claudian emperors were her direct descendants: Tiberius was her son; Gaius (Caligula), her great-grandson; Claudius, her grandson; Nero, her great-great-grandson.
Tiberius and Livia- Thessalonica, Macedonia/Size: 22.5mm/Reference: RPC 1567
Obverse: TI KAISAR SEBASTOS, bare head of Tiberius right Reverse: QESSALONIKEWN SEBASTOU, draped bust of Livia right.
Ex-Imperial Coinsecoli
|
|
002c. Gaius and Lucius CaesarsJulia, daughter of Augustus, who has had no child by Marcellus (she is only sixteen when he dies), is married to Agrippa, a soldier who has long been the emperor's most trusted supporter. They have two sons, Gaius and Lucius, born in 20 and 17 BC. The boys are adopted by the emperor. The intention now, if Augustus dies, is that Agrippa should rule until one of these grandsons is of an age to take control. But Agrippa dies in 12 BC.
Julia has had a total of five children by Agrippa (the two sons adopted by the emperor, two daughters, and another posthumous son, Agrippa Posthumus). She now has one son by Tiberius, but the child dies in infancy.
By 6 BC it is evident that Tiberius is being set aside. Julia refuses to live with him, and her eldest son Gaius (at the age of fourteen) is given a nominal high appointment as consul. Gaius and Lucius Caesar, grandsons and adopted sons of the emperor, are now clearly the family members in line for the succession. But they die young, Lucius Caesar in AD 2 and then Gaius in AD 4.
LYDIA, Magnesia ad Sipylum. Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. Æ 19mm (4.93 g). Jugate heads of Augustus and Livia right / Confronted heads of Gaius and Lucius Caesars. RPC 2449. Fair. Rare. Ex-Cngecoli
|
|
002d. Julia and Livia, Pergamon, MysiaBronze AE 18, RPC I 2359, SNG Cop 467, aF, weight 3.903 g, maximum diameter 18.3 mm, die axis 0o, Pergamon mint, obverse ΛIBIAN HPAN CAPINOΣ, draped bust of Livia right; reverse IOYΛIAN AΦPO∆ITHN, draped bust of Julia right; ex Forum, ex Malter Galleries
Julia was Augustus' only natural child, the daughter of his second wife Scribonia. She was born the same day that Octavian divorced Scribonia, to marry Livia.
Julia's tragic destiny was to serve as a pawn in her father's dynastic plans. At age two, she was betrothed to Mark Antony's ten-year-old son, but the fathers' hostility ended the engagement. At age 14, she was married to her cousin but he died two years later. In 21 B.C., Julia married Agrippa, nearly 25 years her elder, Augustus' most trusted general and friend. Augustus had been advised, "You have made him so great that he must either become your son-in-law or be slain." Agrippa died suddenly in 12 B.C. and Julia was married in 11 B.C. to Tiberius.
During her marriages to Agrippa and Tiberius Julia took lovers. In 2 B.C., Julia was arrested for adultery and treason. Augustus declared her marriage null and void. He also asserted in public that she had been plotting against his own life. Reluctant to execute her, Augustus had her exiled, with no men in sight, forbidden even to drink wine. Scribonia, Julia's mother, accompanied her into exile. Five years later, she was allowed to move to Rhegium but Augustus never forgave her. When Tiberius became emperor, he cut off her allowance and put her in solitary confinement in one room in her house. Within months she died from malnutrition.ecoli
|
|
002e. Octavia; Crete, Knossos.Crete, Knossos. Nero and Octavia. Æ 26 (26.4 mm, 9.09 g, 1 h). A.D. 54-62. ca. A.D. 55-60. Volumnius Lupinus, magistrate. Vary Rare. NERO CLAV CAES AVG IMP LVPINO VOLVMNIO II, bare-headed bust of Nero right / NERO CLAVD CAES AVG IMP ET OCTAVIA AVGVSTI, confronted busts of Octavia, facing right with crescent overhead, and Nero, bare-headed with a start overhead. RPC 1006; Svoronos 217.ecoli
|
|
003. Tiberius (14 AD - 37 AD)Tiberius.
Hard and secretive by nature and embittered by the neglect with which his step- father allowed him to be treated, he did not arouse personal enthusiasm, and until recently was described by historians as a bloody tyrant. It is only during the last sixty years that he has been more fairly judged, and at present the opinion begins to prevail that he was a genuine Roman, a ruler faithful to his duties, just, wise, and self-contained. The strong opposition which grew up against him was due to his taciturn and domineering disposition, and to the influence of the prefect of the guard, Ælius Sejanus, who alone possessed his confidence.
Lugdunum mint. TI CAESAR DIVI AVG AVGVSTVS, laureate head right / PONTIF MAXIM, Livia, as Pax, seated right, holding olive branch & long scepter RSC 16a. Ex Calgaryecoli
|
|
003a. DrususDrusus
Tiberius' son, Drusus Caesar, d. 23, called Drusus Junior, served in the provinces Pannonia ( 15) and in Illyricum ( 17? 20). In 22 he was made tribune. Meanwhile, Sejanus, Tiberius' minister, had become jealous of Drusus' power and tried to turn Tiberius against him. Drusus may have been poisoned by Sejanus or by his wife under Sejanus' influence.
As. Sear 2594, restitution issue by Titus. 10.0 g, 26x27 mm. Glossy dark green patina with slight roughness. OBV.: Drusus left, DRVSVS CAESAR TI AVG F DIVI AVG N. REV.: IMP T CAES DIVI VESP F AVG REST around SC. ecoli
|
|
003b. Nero & Drusus CaesarsNero & Drusus Caesars, brothers of Caligula.
There father Germanicus was Heir Apparent to his own adoptive father Emperor Tiberius, but Germanicus predeceased the Emperor in 19. He was replaced as heir by Julius Caesar Drusus, son of Tiberius and his first wife Vipsania Agrippina. But he too predeceased the Emperor on July 1, 23.
Nero and his younger brother Drusus were the oldest adoptive grandsons of Tiberius. They jointly became Heirs Apparent. However, both were accused of treason along with their mother in AD 32. Nero was exiled to an island and Drusus in a prison where they either starved to death or was murdered by order of the emperor in AD 33.
Dupondius. Rome mint, struck under Caligula, 37-38 AD. NERO ET DRVSVS CAESARES, Nero & Drusus on horseback riding right / C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT around large S C.
Cohen 1. RIC 34
Checkecoli
|
|
004. Caligula GAIUS (CALIGULA). 37-41 AD.
Whatever damage Tiberius's later years had done to the carefully crafted political edifice created by Augustus, Gaius multiplied it a hundredfold. When he came to power in A.D. 37 Gaius had no administrative experience beyond his honorary quaestorship, and had spent an unhappy early life far from the public eye. He appears, once in power, to have realized the boundless scope of his authority and acted accordingly. His reign highlighted an inherent weakness in the Augustan Principate, raw monarchy in which only the self-discipline of the incumbent acted as a restraint on his behavior.
Æ As (28mm, 10.19 gm). Rome mint. Struck 37-38 AD. Bare head left / Vesta seated left, holding patera and sceptre. RIC I 38; Cohen 27. Near VF, dark brown surfaces. Ex-CNG
ecoli
|
|
004a. CaesoniaSpain, Carthago Nova. Gaius Caligula, with Caesonia. A.D. 37-41. Æ 26.6 mm (11.5 g). Cn. Atellius Flaccus and Cn. Pompeius Flaccus, duovirs. Laureate head of Caligula right / Draped bust of Caesonia, as Salus, right. RPC 186.
Checkecoli
|
|
004b. Agrippina SeniorAgrippina Senior. Died AD 33. Æ Sestertius (34mm, 24.10 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Gaius (Caligula), AD 40-41. Draped bust right / Carpentum drawn left by two mules. RIC I 55 (Gaius); Trillmich Group I. Good Fine, dark gray-brown patina, rough surfaces.
Check
From the Ronald J. Hansen Collection. Ex Noble 79 (26 July 2005), lot 3590.
Ex-CNG printed sale 94 320/300ecoli
|
|
005. CLAUDIUS 41 AD - 54 ADCLAUDIUS. 41-54 AD.
I, Claudius was a very sympathetic treatment of Claudius; nevertheless, along with Claudius the God, those books hold a special place in my library. Without those books, I would not have taken an interest in the classics in high school, and subsequently, ancient coins. Certainly Claudius was not a saint; nor good as we define a person now; but given the circumstances and the unlimited power he weld, few of us could have done it better.
Æ As (9.50 gm). Bare head left / Libertas standing right, holding pileus. RIC I 113; BMCRE 202; Cohen 47. Ex-CNG ecoli
|
|
005a. AntoniaAntonia
she exposed a plot between her daughter Livilla and Sejanus, Tiberius's Praetorian Prefect. This led to Sejanus's downfall and to the death of Livilla. Claudius, her biggest disappointment (she once called him a "monster") was the only one of her children to survive her.
She committed suicide in 37 AD on Caligula's orders after expressing unhappiness over the murder of her youngest grandson, Tiberius Gemellus. There is a passage in Suetonius's "Life of Gaius" that mentions how Caligula may have given her poison himself. Renowned for her beauty and virtue, Antonia spent her long life revered by the Roman people and enjoyed many honors conferred upon her by her relatives.
Æ Dupondius (10.61 gm). Struck by Claudius. Draped bust right / Claudius standing left, holding simpulum. RIC I 92 (Claudius); BMCRE 166 (same); Cohen 6. Ex-CNG
Checkecoli
|
|
005b. BritannicusBritannicus (son of Claudius) AE17. Ionia, Smyrna
Britannicus (41 - 55 A.D.) was the son of the Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Messalina. His original name was "Germanicus" but was changed in honor of his father's conquest of Britain in 43 AD.
Nobody is sure why Claudius made Nero his successor and not Britannicus, although the fact that Britannicus may have been Caligula's son is a factor. Britannicus was killed by (partisans of) his step-brother (and brother-in-law) Nero so that Nero could become emperor of Rome.
His sister Octavia is the heroine of the play written at some time after the death of Nero. It's title is titled her name, but its central message is the wrong done to the Claudian house because of the wrong done to its last male member and its last hope.
Britannicus. Before 54 AD. AE 17mm (4.31 g), Minted at Ionia, Smyrna. Bare head right 'ZMYP' below bust / Nike flying right. cf S(GIC) 516. Scarce. Some dirt and patina chipping.
ecoli
|
|
005bb. Antonia, daughter of Claudius JUDAEA, Roman Administration. Claudius, with Britannicus, Antonia, and Octavia. AD 41-54. Æ (23mm, 12.02 g, 12h). Caesarea Panias mint. Struck before 49 CE. Laureate head of Claudius left / The children of Claudius: from left to right, Antonia, Britannicus, and Octavia, the two daughters each holding a cornucopia. Meshorer 350; Hendin 1259; Sofaer 83; RPC I 4842. Fair, green and brown patina with touches of red. Rare.ecoli
|
|
005c. GermanicusGermanicus
After the death of Augustus in 14, the Senate appointed Germanicus commander of the forces in Germania. A short time after, the legions rioted on the news that the succession befell on the unpopular Tiberius. Refusing to accept this, the rebel soldiers cried for Germanicus as emperor. But he chose to honor Augustus' choice and put an end to the mutiny, preferring to continue only as a general. In the next two years, he subdued the Germanic tribes east of the Rhine, and assured their defeat in the Battle of the Weser River in 16.
Germanicus died in Alexandria, Egypt. His death was surrounded with speculations, and several sources refer to claims that he was poisoned by Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, governor of Syria, under orders of the emperor Tiberius.
AS, struck under Caligula. GERMANICVS CAESAR TI AVGVST F DIVI AVG N, bare head left / C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT around large SC. Cohen 1.
Checkecoli
|
|
005cc. Valeria MessalinaMessalina, 41-48 AD
Size/Weight: 17mm, 3.36g
AEOLIS, Aegae. Messalina. Augusta, AD 41-48. Draped bust right / Zeus Aëtophorus standing left. RPC I 2430; SNG Copenhagen 23.
Obverse: CЄBACTH MЄCAΛЄINA draped bust right
Reverse: AIΓAЄΩN Zeus standing left, holding eagle and scepter
This should look familiar, A. Reich :)
Attribution: RPC 2430, SNG Aulock -, SNG Leypold -, SNG Righetti -, Lindgren -, Sear GIC – ecoli
|
|
005d. Agrippina IILYDIA, Hypaepa. Agrippina Jr., mother of Nero. Augusta, 50-59 AD. Æ 14mm (2.33 gm). Draped bust of Agrippina right / Cult statue of Artemis. RPC I 2541; SNG Copenhagen -.
Julia Vipsania Agrippina Minor or Agrippina Minor (Latin for "the younger") (November 7, AD 15 – March 59), often called "Agrippinilla" to distinguish her from her mother, was the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina Major. She was sister of Caligula, granddaughter and great-niece to Tiberius, niece and wife of Claudius, and the mother of Nero. She was born at Oppidum Ubiorum on the Rhine, afterwards named in her honour Colonia Agrippinae (modern Cologne, Germany).
Agrippina was first married to (1st century AD) Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. From this marriage she gave birth to Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who would become Roman Emperor Nero. Her husband died in January, 40. While still married, Agrippina participated openly in her brother Caligula's decadent court, where, according to some sources, at his instigation she prostituted herself in a palace. While it was generally agreed that Agrippinilla, as well as her sisters, had ongoing sexual relationships with their brother Caligula, incest was an oft-used criminal accusation against the aristocracy, because it was impossible to refute successfully. As Agrippina and her sister became more problematic for their brother, Caligula sent them into exile for a time, where it is said she was forced to dive for sponges to make a living. In January, 41, Agrippina had a second marriage to the affluent Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus. He died between 44 and 47, leaving his estate to Agrippina.
As a widow, Agrippina was courted by the freedman Pallas as a possible marriage match to her own uncle, Emperor Claudius, and became his favourite councillor, even granted the honor of being called Augusta (a title which no other queen had ever received). They were married on New Year's Day of 49, after the death of Claudius's first wife Messalina. Agrippina then proceeded to persuade Claudius to adopt her son, thereby placing Nero in the line of succession to the Imperial throne over Claudius's own son, Brittanicus. A true Imperial politician, Agrippina did not reject murder as a way to win her battles. Many ancient sources credited her with poisoning Claudius in 54 with a plate of poisened mushrooms, hence enabling Nero to quickly take the throne as emperor.
For some time, Agrippina influenced Nero as he was relatively ill-equipped to rule on his own. But Nero eventually felt that she was taking on too much power relative to her position as a woman of Rome. He deprived her of her honours and exiled her from the palace, but that was not enough. Three times Nero tried to poison Agrippina, but she had been raised in the Imperial family and was accustomed to taking antidotes. Nero had a machine built and attached to the roof of her bedroom. The machine was designed to make the ceiling collapse — the plot failed with the machine. According to the historians Tacitus and Suetonius, Nero then plotted her death by sending for her in a boat constructed to collapse, intending to drown Agrippina. However, only some of the crew were in on the plot; their efforts were hampered by the rest of the crew trying to save the ship. As the ship sank, one of her handmaidens thought to save herself by crying that she was Agrippina, thinking they would take special care of her. Instead the maid was instantly beaten to death with oars and chains. The real Agrippina realised what was happening and in the confusion managed to swim away where a passing fisherman picked her up. Terrified that his cover had been blown, Nero instantly sent men to charge her with treason and summarily execute her. Legend states that when the Emperor's soldiers came to kill her, Agrippina pulled back her clothes and ordered them to stab her in the belly that had housed such a monstrous son.
ecoli
|
|
005d. Nero Claudius DrususNero Claudius Drusus. Died 9 BC. Æ Sestertius (35mm, 27.77 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Claudius, circa AD 50-54. Bare head of Nero Claudius left / Claudius seated left on curule chair, holding branch and roll; around chair, weapons and armor to either side of globe. RIC I 109 (Claudius). Fine, rough reddish-brown surfaces.
Ex-CNG sale 209, lot 325 128/100
Check
ecoli
|
|
006. Nero (54 AD - 68 AD) Nero, last of the Julio-Claudians, had been placed in the difficult position of absolute authority at a young age coupled with the often-contradictory efforts of those in a position to manipulate him. Augustus, however, had not been much older when he began his bid for power, and so a great deal of the responsibility for Nero's conduct must also rest with the man himself. Nero's reign was not without military operations (e.g., the campaigns of Corbulo against the Parthians, the suppression of the revolt of Boudicca in Britain), but his neglect of the armies was a critical error.
Nero As, 26x27 mm, 10.0 g. Obverse: Nero laureate right, NERO CAESAR AVG GERM IMP. Reverse: Temple of Janus, with latticed window to left and closed double doors to right, PACE PR VBIQ PARTA IANVM CLVSIT, SC.
Checkecoli
|
|
006a. ClaudiaEGYPT, Alexandria. Nero, with Claudia. AD 54-68. BI Tetradrachm (22mm, 10.74 g, 12h). Dated RY 3 (AD 56/57). Laureate head of Nero right / Draped bust of Claudia Octavia right; L Γ (date) below chin. Köln 122-4; Dattari (Savio) 190; K&G 14.7; RPC I 5202; Emmett 127.3. Near VF. Ex - CNG
Furthermore, the carefully contrived marriage between Octavia and Nero was a disaster on a personal level. Nero soon embarked on a serious relationship with a freedman named Acte, and more importantly developed an active dislike for his wife. "Quickly feeling aversion to intimacy with Octavia, he replied to his friends who were finding fault with him that she ought to be satisfied with the outward trappings of a wife." This antipthy was not likely to produce offspring who would unite the Julian and Claudian lines. By 58 Nero was becoming involved with a freeborn mistress, Poppaea, whom he would want to make his empress in exchange for Octavia. But the legitimacy of his principate derived from his relationship with his predecessor, and he was not so secure that he could do without the connection with Claudius provided through his mother and his wife. In 59 he was able to arrange for Agrippina's death, but it was not until 62 that he felt free to divorce Octavia and marry Poppaea. The initial grounds for putting Octavia aside was the charge that she was barren because she had had no children. But a more aggressive attack was needed when opposition arose from those who still challenged Nero's prncipate and remained loyal to Octavia as the last representative of her family. With the connivance of Poppaea, charges of adultery were added, Octavia was banished to Campania and then to the island of Pandataria off the coast, and finally killed. Her severed head was sent to Rome. ecoli
|
|
006a. Nero / PoppaeaAlexandria, Egypt: Nero / Poppaea
Poppaea was married first to Rufrius Crispinus, then to the future (brief) emperor Otho. When Poppaea became mistress of the emperor Nero, Otho's friend, Nero appointed Otho to an important post as governor of Lusitai. Nero married Poppaea, and Poppaea was given the title Augusta. Poppaea and Nero had a daughter, Claudia, who did not live long. Poppaea urged Nero to kill his mother, Agrippina the Younger, and to divorce and later murder his first wife, Octavia. She is also reported to have persuaded Nero to kill the philosopher Seneca, who had supported Nero's previous mistress, Acte Claudia. Nero supposedly kicked her when she was pregnant in 65 C.E. and she died.
Billon tetradrachm, AD 54-68 (year 10 = AD 64) . 11.79gm, 24mm. Radiate head of Nero right / Bust of Poppaea right. Emmett 128 (10); Milne 218. F+ with some corrosion on reverse. Purchased from C. & L. Deland in 1973. ecoli
|
|
006b. Claudia Aug.JUDAEA, Caesaraea Panias. Diva Poppaea and Diva Claudia. Died AD 65 and AD 63, respectively. Æ 20mm (6.00 g, 12h). Struck AD 65-68. Statue of Diva Poppaea seated left within distyle temple / Statue of Diva Claudia standing left within hexastyle temple. RPC I 4846; Meshorer, Caesarea, Pl. 7, H; SNG ANS 858; Hendin 578. Fine, dark green patina under light earthen deposits.
Ex-CNG
ecoli
|
|
006c. Statilia Messalina IONIA, Ephesus. Nero, with Statilia Messalina. AD 54-68. Æ . Struck AD 66. Laureate head of Nero right / Draped bust of Messalina right. RPC 2631; SNG von Aulock 7864. Very rare.
ecoli
|
|
007. Galba (68 AD - 69 AD)GALBA. 68-69 AD.
Galba had displayed talent and ambition during his lengthy career. He enjoyed distinguished ancestry, moved easily among the Julio-Claudian emperors (with the exception of Nero towards the end of his principate), and had been awarded the highest military and religious honors of ancient Rome. His qualifications for the principate cannot be questioned. Even so, history has been unkind to him. Tacitus characterized Galba as "weak and old," a man "equal to the imperial office, if he had never held it." To be sure, Galba's greatest mistake lay in his general handling of the military. His treatment of the army in Upper Germany was heedless, his policy towards the praetorians short sighted. Given the climate in 68-69, Galba was unrealistic in expecting disciplina without paying the promised rewards.
AR Denarius (18mm, 2.97 gm). Rome mint. Bare head right / Legend in three lines within oak wreath. RIC I 167; RSC 287. Ex-CNGecoli
|
|
008. Otho 69 ADOTHO. 69 AD.
Otho remains an enigma - part profligate Neronian wastrel and part conscientious military commander willing to give his life for the good of the state. Our sources are at a loss to explain the paradox. Neither Otho's person nor his bearing suggested such great courage. He is said to have been of moderate height, splay-footed and bandy-legged, but almost feminine in his care of his person. He had the hair of his body plucked out, and because of the thinness of his locks wore a wig so carefully fashioned and fitted to his head, that no one suspected it. Moreover, they say that he used to shave every day and smear his face with moist bread, beginning the practice with the appearance of the first down, so as never to have a beard; also that he used to celebrate the rites of Isis publicly in the linen garment prescribed by the cult.
AR Denarius (18mm, 3.20 gm). Bare head left / Securitas standing left, holding wreath and sceptre. RIC I 12; RSC 19. Fine. Ex-CNGecoli
|
|
009. Vitellius 69 ADVITELLIUS. 69 AD.
Without doubt, the most fortuitous moment in Vitellius' political career was his appointment as governor of Lower Germany by the emperor Galba late in 68.
Vitellius has not escaped the hostility of his biographers. While he may well have been gluttonous, his depiction as indolent, cruel, and extravagant is based almost entirely on the propaganda of his enemies. On the other hand, whatever moderating tendencies he did show were overshadowed by his clear lack of military expertise, a deficiency that forced him to rely in critical situations on largely inneffective lieutenants. As a result he was no match for his Flavian successors, and his humiliating demise was perfectly in keeping with the overall failure of his reign.
AR Denarius (20mm, 3.24 gm). Rome mint. Laureate head right / Tripod-lebes; dolphin above, raven below. RIC I 109; RSC 111. Ex-Cngecoli
|
|
010. Vespasian 69 AD - 79 ADVespasian
The character of this emperor showed very little, if anything, of the pagan tyrant. Though himself a man of no literary culture, he became the protector of his prisoner of war, the Jewish historian Josephus, a worshipper of the One God, and even permitted him the use of his own family name (Flavius). While this generosity may have been in some degree prompted by Josephus's shrewd prophecy of Vespasian's elevation to the purple, there are other instances of his disposition to reward merit in those with whom he was by no means personally sympathetic. Vespasian has the distinction of being the first Roman Emperor to transmit the purple to his own son; he is also noteworthy in Roman imperial history as having very nearly completed his seventieth year and died a natural death: being in feeble health, he had withdrawn to benefit by the purer air of his native Reate, in the "dewy fields" (rosei campi) of the Sabine country. By his wife, Flavia Domitilla, he left two sons, Titus and Domitian, and a daughter, Domitilla, through whom the name of Vespasian's empress was passed on to a granddaughter who is revered as a confessor of the Faith.
A man of strict military discipline and simple tastes, Vespasian proved to be a conscientious and generally tolerant administrator. More importantly, following the upheavals of A.D. 68-69, his reign was welcome for its general tranquility and restoration of peace. In Vespasian Rome found a leader who made no great breaks with tradition, yet his ability ro rebuild the empire and especially his willingness to expand the composition of the governing class helped to establish a positive working model for the "good emperors" of the second century. In contrast to his immediate imperial predecessors, Vespasian died peacefully - at Aquae Cutiliae near his birthplace in Sabine country on 23 June, A.D. 79, after contracting a brief illness. The occasion is said to have inspired his deathbed quip: "Oh my, I must be turning into a god!"
Denarius. IMP CAES VESP AVG P M COS IIII, laureate head right / VES-TA to either side of Vesta standing left, holding simpulum & scepter. RSC 574ecoli
|
|
011. Titus 79-81 ADTitus. 79-81 AD.
Titus was the beneficiary of considerable intelligence and talent, endowments that were carefully cultivated at every step of his career, from his early education to his role under his father's principate. Cassius Dio suggested that Titus' reputation was enhanced by his early death. [[17]] It is true that the ancient sources tend to heroicize Titus, yet based upon the evidence, his reign must be considered a positive one. He capably continued the work of his father in establishing the Flavian dynasty and he maintained a high degree of economic and administrative competence in Italy and beyond. In so doing, he solidified the role of the emperor as paternalistic autocrat, a model that would serve Trajan and his successors well.
AR Denarius (3.44 gm). Laureate head right/Radiate figure on rostral column. RIC II 16a; BMCRE 29; RSC 289. Fine. Scarce and interesting reverse type. Ex-CNGecoli
|
|
011a. Julia TitiJulia Flavia (17 September 64 - 91) was the only child to the Emperor Titus from his second marriage to the well-connected Marcia Furnilla. Titus divorced Furnilla after Julia's birth. Julia was born in Rome.
When growing up, Titus offered her in marriage to his brother Domitian, but he refused because of his infatuation with Domitia Longina. Later she married her second cousin Titus Flavius Sabinus, brother to consul Titus Flavius Clemens, who married her first cousin Flavia Domitilla. By then Domitian had seduced her.
When her father and husband died, she became Emperor Domitian’s mistress. He openly showed his love. Falling pregnant, Julia died of a forced abortion. Julia was deified and her ashes her mixed with Domitian by an old nurse secretly in the Temple of the Flavians.
AEOLIS, Temnus. Julia Titi. Augusta, AD 79-91. Æ 16mm (2.18 gm). Draped bust right / EPI AGNOU THMNIT, Athena standing left, holding palladium and scepter, shield resting on ground. RPC II 981. Near VF, dark green patina, small flan crack. Ex-CNG
From the Garth R. Drewry Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 51 (15 September 1999), lot 875; Marcel Burstein Collection.
ecoli
|
|
012. Domitian 81-96 ADDomitian
As emperor, Domitian was to become one of Rome's foremost micro managers, especially concerning the economy. Domitian's reach extended well beyond the economy. Late in A.D. 85 he made himself censor perpetuus, censor for life, with a general supervision of conduct and morals. The move was without precedent and, although largely symbolic, it nevertheless revealed Domitian's obsessive interest in all aspects of Roman life. While the military abilities of Vespasian and Titus were genuine, those of Domitian were not. Partly as an attempt to remedy this deficiency, Domitian frequently became involved in his own military exploits outside of Rome. He claimed a triumph in A.D. 83 for subduing the Chatti in Gaul, but the conquest was illusory.
as Caesar, AR Denarius. 76 AD. CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS, laureate head right / COS IIII, Pegasus walking right. RSC 47ecoli
|
|
012a. DomitiaDomitia, wife of Domitian. Augusta, 82-96 AD.
In 70, Domitia was married to Lucius Aelius Lamia, but she attracted the attention of Domitian, son of emperor Vespasian. Shortly afterwards she was taken from her husband and remarried with the future emperor. They had a son in the next year and a daughter in 74, both died young. Domitian was very fond of his wife and carried her in all his travels. In 83, Domitia Longina's affair with the actor Paris was disclosed. Paris was executed and Domitia received her letter of divorce from Domitian. She was exiled, but remained close to Roman politics and to Domitian.
CILICIA, Epiphanea. Æ 21mm (7.18 gm). Dated year 151 (83/84 AD). Draped bust right / Athena standing left, righ hand extended, left resting on shield; ANP (date) left. RPC I 1786; SNG Levante 1813; SNG France -; SNG Copenhagen -. VF, dark green patina, some smoothing. Very rare, only 1 specimen (the Levante specimen), recorded in RPC. Ex-CNGecoli
|
|
101. NervaNerva
Nerva is credited with beginning the practice of adopting his heir rather than selecting a blood relative. Nerva's reign was more concerned with the continuation of an existing political system than with the birth of a new age. Indeed, his economic policies, his relationship with the senate, and the men whom he chose to govern and to offer him advice all show signs of Flavian influence. In many respects, Nerva was the right man at the right time. His immediate accession following Domitian's murder prevented anarchy and civil war, while his age, poor health and moderate views were perfect attributes for a government that offered a bridge between Domitian's stormy reign and the emperorships of the stable rulers to follow.
Denarius. IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR POT II, laureate head right / COS III PATER PATRAE, ladle, sprinkler, jug & lituus. RSC 51. ecoli
|
|
102. TrajanTrajan
Hadrian saw to it that Trajan received all customary honors: the late emperor was declared a divus, his victories were commemorated in a great triumph, and his ashes were placed in the base of his column. Trajan's reputation remained unimpaired, in spite of the ultimate failure of his last campaigns. Early in his principate, he had unofficially been honored with the title optimus, "the best," which long described him even before it became, in 114, part of his official titulature. His correspondence with Pliny enables posterity to gain an intimate sense of the emperor in action. His concern for justice and the well-being of his subjects is underscored by his comment to Pliny, when faced with the question of the Christians, that they were not to be sought out, "nor is it appropriate to our age."
Denarius. IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG GERM, laureate head right / P M TR P COS II P P, Vesta seated left, veiled, holding patera & torch. RSC 203. ecoli
|
|
102a. PlotinaPlotina, wife of Trajan.
Under Trajan, his female relations played enormously important roles in the empire's public life, and received honors perhaps unparalleled. Trajan's wife, Pompeia Plotina, is reported to have said, when she entered the imperial palace in Rome for the first time, that she hoped she would leave it the same person she was when she entered. She received the title Augusta no later than 105. She survived Trajan, dying probably in 121, and was honored by Hadrian with a temple, which she shared with her husband, in the great forum which the latter had built.
Æ trial strike of denarius dies (23 mm, 7.42 g). Rome. [PL]OTINA AVG IMP TRAIANI, diademed and draped bust right, hair in queue down neck / CAES AVG GERMA [D]A[C] COS V[I P P], Vesta seated left, holding palladium in right hand, sceptre in left. Cf. RIC 730 (Trajan); cf. BMC 526 (Trajan); cf. RSC 3. VF, rough green patina. Very unusual and probably unique. Ex Spink 160 (9-10 October 2002), 852. ecoli
|
|
102b. Matidia Matidia. Augusta, A.D. 112-119. AR denarius. Rome mint, Struck A.D. 112.
Matidia. Augusta, A.D. 112-119. AR denarius (19.6 mm, 2.74 g, 7 h). Rome mint, Struck A.D. 112. MATIDIA AVG DIVAE MARCIANA F, diademed and draped bust right, wearing hair in elaborate coiffure / PIETAS AVGVST, Pietas standing left, extending hands to child standing on either side. RIC 759 (Trajan); BMCRE 660 (Trajan); RSC 10. near Fine.ecoli
|
|
102c. Marciana Mysia, Parium. Trajan. A.D. 98-117. AE 18. Rare.
Mysia, Parium. Trajan. A.D. 98-117. AE 18 (18.12 mm, 3.86 g, 7 h). TRAIANVS AVG, laureate head of Trajan right / PLOTINA ET MARCIANA AVG, confronted busts of Marciana and Plotina, both diademed and draped. Weber 5151; SNG France 1468. Fine, areas of original encrustation - "as found" - free of the C/M usually seen . Rare.ecoli
|
|
103. HadrianHadrian
With execution of four power men in the beginning of his reign, his relations with the senate were irrevocably damaged, never really to improve until his death, when the senate hoped to have posthumous revenge. Much was said against him after his death, and by many persons. The senate wished to annul his acts, and would have refrained from naming him "the Deified" had not Antoninus requested it. Antoninus, moreover, finally built a temple for him at Puteoli to take the place of a tomb, and he also established a quinquennial contest and flamens and sodales and many other institutions which appertain to the honour of one regarded as a god. It is for this reason, as has been said before, that many think that Antoninus received the surname Pius.
AR Denarius. IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, laureate bust right / P M TR P COS III, Victory flying right with trophy. RSC 1132, RIC 101ecoli
|
|
103a. SabinaSabina
Vibia Sabina was born in 86 CE was the daughter of Salonia Matidia, daughter of Trajan's sister Marciana, and her first husband Lucius Vibius Sabinus. Hence she was a grand niece of emperor Trajan. By the intervention of Trajan's wife Plotina she married Hadrian in 100 CE, thus reinforcing Hadrian's claim to the throne.
The marriage was not happy and she didn't bear him any children. She did, however, follow Hadrian on his many travels, and she received the title of Augusta in 128 CE. She died in 136 or 137 CE and was dutifully deified after her death
AR denarius. SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG Diademed and draped bust right, hair in plait behind / VES TA Vesta seated left, holding Palladium and scepter. RIC 410, RSC 81.ecoli
|
|
103b. AeliusAelius was adopted by an aging and ailing Hadrian in 136 and named successor to the throne, although he had no military experience; he had served as a senator. He had powerful political connections, but was in poor health. His tastes were luxurious and extravagant and his life said to have been frivolous. Hadrian's choice seems to have been an error in judgement. Some scholars have suggested that Aelius may have been Hadrian's bastard son, but there is no reason to believe this. Aelius himself was never to become emperor, dying shortly before Hadrian.
Copper as, S 3993, RIC 1067, gF, 10.88g, 27.9mm, 180o, Rome mint, 137 A.D.; obverse L AELIVS CAESAR, bare head right; reverse TR•POT COS II S C, Spes advancing right, holding flower and raising drapery; attractive translucent brown toning, ex Scott Collection, ex Forum
Checkecoli
|
|
103c. Antinous EGYPT, Antinoöpolis. 2nd-3rd centuries AD. PB Tessera (22mm, 4.45 g, 2h). Dated year 2 of an uncertain era. Draped bust of Antinous right, wearing hem-hem crown; L B flanking / Victory advancing left, wings spread, holding palm frond and wreath. Milne –; Dattari (Savio) 11655; Köln –. Fine, dark gray surfaces.ecoli
|
|
104. Antoninus PiusAntoninus Pius
The long reign of the emperor Antoninus Pius is often described as a period of peace and quiet before the storm which followed and plagued his successor, Marcus Aurelius. In addition to the relative peacefulness, this emperor set the tone for a low-keyed imperial administration which differed markedly from those of his two immediate predecessors, Trajan and Hadrian. Antoninus managed to govern the empire capably and yet with such a gentle hand that he earned the respect, acclaim, and love of his subjects. Antoninus Pius died in March of A.D. 161, after giving the appropriate imperial watchword which so typified his reign, "equanimity". He was soon afterward deified by the Senate.
RI2. Denarius. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XXIIII, laureate head right / FELIC SAEC COS IIII, Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus & leaning on short column. RSC 361. RIC 309ecoli
|
|
104. Antoninus PiusAntoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Sestertius (31mm, 24.70 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 149. Laureate head right / Crossed cornucopias from which a grape bunch flanked by two grain ears hang, surmounted by busts of boy. RIC III 857; Banti 410. Near VF, brown patina, minor surface roughness.
From the Fairfield Collection. Ex Pegasi Auctions 25 (8 November 2011), lot 504.
The infants are thought to be T. Aelius Antoninus and T. Aurelius Antoninus, the twin sons of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Junior born in AD 149. These were the first male offspring of the couple, offering hope for the establishment of the new dynasty, but both died in infancy.
Ex-CNG Eauction 329 446/150/180ecoli
|
|
104a. Faustina Faustina I
Annia Galeria Faustina, "the Elder", was the wife of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, an aunt of Marcus Aurelius, and mother of Faustina the Younger. She was the daughter of the consul Marcus Annius Verus, and married Antoninus around 110 AD. They had two sons and two daughters. She became Augusta upon the accession of her husband. Although Augustan History impugned her character, criticizing her for "excessive frankness" and "levity", she and Antoninus seem to have been happily married until her death in 140 or 141
obv: DIVA FAVSTINA (diademed & draped bust right)
rev: AVGVSTA (Pietas standing left with raised hand, altar at foot left)
ref: RIC III 374 (Ant.Pius), RSC 124 (2frcs)
Corrected attribute...ecoli
|
|
105. Marcus AureliusMarcus Aurelius
The joint succession may have been motivated by military exigency. During his reign Marcus Aurelius was almost constantly at war with various peoples outside the Empire. Germanic tribes and other peoples launched many raids along the long European border, particularly into Gaul — Germans, in turn, may have been under attack from more warlike tribes farther east. In Asia, a revitalized Parthian Empire renewed its assault. A highly authoritative figure was needed to command the troops, yet the emperor himself could not defend both fronts at the same time. Neither could he simply appoint a general to lead one assault; earlier popular military leaders like Julius Caesar and Vespasian had used the military to overthrow the existing government and install themselves as supreme leaders.
Marcus Aurelius solved the problem by sending Verus to command the legions in the East. He was authoritative enough to command the full loyalty of the troops, but already powerful enough that he had little incentive to overthrow Marcus. The plan succeeded — Verus remained loyal until his death on campaign in 169. This joint emperorship was faintly reminiscent of the political system of the Roman Republic, which functioned according to the principle of collegiality and did not allow a single person to hold supreme power. Joint rule was revived by Diocletian's establishment of the Tetrarchy in the late 3rd century.
Virtus
In Roman mythology, Virtus was the god of bravery and military strength. His Greek equivalent was Arete. The word, "Virtus" is commonly used in mottos of universities and other entities.
Marcus Aurelius, as Caesar, Denarius. 155-156 AD. AVRELIVS CAES ANTON AVG PII F, bare head right / TR POT X COS II, Virtus, helmeted, standing left, holding parazonium & spear. RSC 703. RIC 468ecoli
|
|
105a. Faustina IIFaustina Jr
Originally promised by Hadrian to Lucius Verus, Atoninus betrothed her to his cousin Marcus Aurelius in 139; they married in 145. She was raised to an Augusta the following year. She was said to have had a lively personality, but the late and unreliable Augustan History impugns her character, relating stories of adultery with sailors and gladiators, suggesting that Commodus was either the son of a gladiator (as explanation for his interest in gladiatorial combat), or that Faustina washed herself with the blood of an executed gladiator and then lay with Aurelius in that state. Faustina went with Aurelius on his campaign to the north (170-174) and then to the East, where she died (175). Aurelius consecrated her and founded a second Puellae Faustinianae in her name.
Denarius. FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / IVNO, Juno stg. front, head left, holding scepter, feeding peacock at feet out of patera. RIC 688, RSC 120ecoli
|
|
105b. Lucius VerusLucius Verus was a well educated, active participant in military and political affairs. He had a colorful personality. He is reputed to have been one of the most handsome of emperors whose vanity allowed him to highlight his blond hair with gold dust. The letters of Marcus Cornelius Fronto, teacher to Marcus and Lucius, are far gentler in their portrayal of Lucius' personality and grand life style than are the historical accounts of the biographies included in the Historia Augusta. Whether out of true respect or devoted brotherly love, it is evident that Marcus Aurelius treated Lucius as a partner in governing the empire and commanding its military forces. Typical of his tolerance of others, Marcus Aurelius chronically ignored or defused the questionable behavior and friendships of his brother.
AR Denarius (2.80 gm). Struck 162/3 AD. Bare head right / Providentia standing left holding globe and cornucopiae. RIC III 491 (Aurelius); RSC 156. VF. EX -CNGecoli
|
|
105c. LucillaAnnia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla (March 7, 150–183) was the daughter of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger.
In AD 164, she was betrothed by her father to his co-emperor and adoptive brother, Lucius Verus, gaining the title of Augusta. Following his death she married Pompeianus. Lucilla was implicated in several plots to overthrow Commodus (her brother and then emperor) and was banished to the island of Capreae in AD 182. Shortly afterwards she was put to death by Commodus.
Silver Denarius Obv: LVCILLA AVG ANTONINI AVG F - Bare head right, draped. Rev: VENVS - Venus standing left, holding apple and scepter. Rome mint: AD 165-169 RIC III, 784, page 276 - Cohen 70- SEAR RCV II (2002), 5491, page 370 /3.05 g.ecoli
|
|
106. CommodusCommodus
According to Gibbon, the emperor Commodus spent the early years of his reign "in a seraglio of three hundred beautiful women and as many boys, of every rank and of every province." Later, adding bloodshed to his round of pleasures, he launched a career in murder, beginning with the dispatch of the usual senators, ministers and family members and continuing with the slaughter of beasts. Styling himself the Roman Hercules, he went as a performer into the amphitheater, where he cut down before the public a number of ostriches, a panther, a hundred lions, an elephant, a rhinoceros and a giraffe. He then entered the lists as a gladiator. Commodus fought 735 times and paid himself such a high fee for each appearance that a new tax had to be levied. He was strangled by a wrestler while drunk.
Denarius. 192 AD. L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL, laureate head right / P M TR P XVII IMP VIII COS VII P P, Fides standing left holding standard & cornucopiae, star right. RSC 583a. RIC 233ecoli
|
|
106a. CrispinaCrispina married the sixteen year-old, Commodus in the summer of 178 and brought him, as a dowry, a large number of estates. These, when added to the Imperial holdings, gave him control of a substantial part of Lucanian territory. The actual ceremony was modest but was commemorated on coinage and largesse was distributed to the people. An epithalamium for the occasion was composed by the sophist Julius Pollux.
Upon her marriage, Crispina received the title of Augusta, and thus, became Empress of the Roman Empire as her husband was co-emperor with her father-in-law at the time. The previous empress and her mother-in-law, Faustina the Younger, having died three years prior to her arrival.
Like most marriages of young members of the nobiles, it was arranged by paters: in Crispina's case by her father and her father-in-law, Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Crispina probably meant little to her egocentric husband though she was a beautiful woman. The other possible reason being that Commodus was known to prefer the company of men. Crispina is described as being a graceful person with a susceptible heart, but there is no medal extant of her.
As Augusta, Crispina was extensively honoured with public images, during the last two years of her father-in-law's reign and the initial years of her husband's reign. She did not seem to have any significant political influence over her husband during his bizarre reign. However, she was not exempted from court politics either as her sister-in-law, Lucilla, was an ambitious woman and was reportedly jealous of Crispina, the reigning empress, due to her position and power.
Crispina's marriage failed to produce an heir due to her husband's inability, which led to a dynastic succession crisis. In fact, both Anistius Burrus (with whom Commodus had share his first consulate as sole ruler) and Gaius Arrius Antoninus, who were probably related to the imperial family, were allegedly put to death 'on the suspicion of pretending to the throne'.
After ten years of marriage, Crispina was falsely charged with adultery by her husband and was banished to the island of Capri in 188, where she was later executed. After her banishment, Commodus did not marry again but took on a mistress, a woman named Marcia, who was later said to have conspired in his murder.
Crispina, wife of Commodus, 177-192, AE Dupondius or As (24x25mm), aVF. Sear RCV 6018. Obv. CRISPINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right. Rev. IVNO LVCINA S C, Juno standing left holding patera and scepter. The coin is brown and green, on a squarish flan.ecoli
|
|
107. PertinaxPertinax
Only a mediocre public speaker, Pertinax was first and foremost a gritty old soldier. He was heavily built, had a pot belly, although it was said, even by his critics, that he possessed the proud air of an emperor.
He possessed some charm, but was generally understood to be a rather sly character. He also acquired a reputation for being mean and greedy. He apparently even went as far as serving half portions of lettuce and artichoke before he became emperor. It was a characteristic which would not serve him well as an emperor.
When he took office, Pertinax quickly realized that the imperial treasury was in trouble. Commodus had wasted vast sums on games and luxuries. If the new emperor thought that changes would need to be made to bring the finances back in order he was no doubt right. But he sought to do too much too quickly. In the process he made himself enemies.
The gravest error, made at the very beginning of his reign, was to decide to cut some of the praetorian's privileges and that he was going to pay them only half the bonus he had promised.
Already on 3 January AD 193 the praetorians tried to set up another emperor who would pay up. But that senator, wise enough to stay out of trouble, merely reported the incident to Pertinax and then left Rome.
The ordinary citizens of Rome however also quickly had enough of their new emperor. Had Commodus spoilt them with lavish games and festivals, then now Pertinax gave them very little.
And a truly powerful enemy should be the praetorian prefect Laetus. The man who had after all put Pertinax on the throne, was to play an important role in the emperor's fate. It isn't absolutely clear if he sought to be an honest advisor of the emperor, but saw his advise ignored, or if he sought to manipulate Pertinax as his puppet emperor. In either case, he was disappointed.
And so as Pertinax grew ever more unpopular, the praetorians once more began to look for a new emperor. In early March, When Pertinax was away in Ostia overseeing the arrangements for the grain shipments to Rome, they struck again. This time they tried to set up one of the consuls, Quintus Sosius Falco.
When Pertinax returned to Rome he pardoned Falco who'd been condemned by the senate, but several praetorians were executed. A slave had given them away as being part of the conspiracy.
These executions were the final straw. On 28 March AD 193 the praetorians revolts.
300 hundred of them forced the gates to the palace. None of the guards sought to help their emperor.
Everyone, so it seemed, wanted rid of this emperor. So, too, Laetus would not listen as Pertinax ordered him to do something. The praetorian prefect simply went home, leaving the emperor to his fate.
Pertinax did not seek to flee. He stood his ground and waited, together with his chamberlain Eclectus. As the praetorians found him, they did not discover an emperor quivering with fear, but a man determined on convincing them to put down their weapons. Clearly the soldiers were over-awed by this brave man, for he spoke to them for some time. But eventually their leader found enough courage to step forwards and hurl his spear at the emperor. Pertinax fell with the spear in his chest. Eclectus fought bravely for his life, stabbing two, before he two was slain by the soldiers.
The soldiers then cut off Pertinax' head, stuck it on a spear and paraded through the streets of Rome.
Pertinax had ruled for only 87 days. He was later deified by Septimius Severus.
RI1. Pertinax. A.D. 193. AR denarius (18.0 mm, 2.74 g, 7 h). Rome mint. Rare. IMP CAES P HELV PERTIN AVG, laureate head right / OPI DIVIN TR P COS II, Ops seated left, holding two stalks of grain, resting hand on seat of throne. RIC 8a; RSC 33; BMCRE 19. aVF, flan crack.ecoli
|
|
108. Didius Julianus193 A.D. - The Year of Five Emperors. On 1 January, the Senate selected Pertinax, against his will, to succeed the late Commodus as Emperor. The Praetorian Guard assassinated him on 28 March and auctioned the throne to the highest bidder, Didius Julianus, who offered 300 million sesterces. Outraged by the Praetorians, legions in Illyricum select Septimius Severus as emperor; in Britannia the legions select their governor Clodius Albinus, and in Syria the legions select their governor Pescennius Niger. On 1 June Septimius Severus entered the capital, put Julianus put to death and replaced the Praetorian Guard with his own troops. Clodius Albinus allied with Severus and accepted the title of Caesar. Pescennius Niger was defeated, killed and his head displayed in Rome.
SH67895. Orichalcum sestertius, RIC VI 14, BMCRE V 20, Cohen 3, Cayon III 1, SRCV II 6075, aF, weight 19.437 g, maximum diameter 27.6 mm, die axis 180o, Rome mint, obverse IMP CAES M DID SEVER IVLIAN AVG, laureate head right; reverse CONCORD MILIT, S - C, Concordia Militum standing half left, flanked by legionary eagle before in right and standard behind in left.
Ex-FORVM
ecoli
|
|
108a MANLIA SCANTILLAAE sestertius. Rome mint.
MANL SCANTILLA AVG. Draped bust right / IVNO REGINA SC. Juno standing left, holding patera and sceptre; peacock at feet. RIC IV 18b (Didius Julianus). VERY RARE
Checkecoli
|
|
108b. Didia ClaraDidia Clara. Augusta, AD 193. Æ Sestertius. Rome mint. Draped bust right / Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm branch set on ground and cornucopia. RIC IV 20 (Didius); Banti 1. Fair.ecoli
|
|
201. SEPTIMIUS SEVERUSSEPTIMIUS SEVERUS. 193-211 AD.
The order Severus was able to impose on the empire through both the force of arms and the force of law failed to extend to his own family. His now teenaged sons, Caracalla and Geta, displayed a reckless sibling rivalry that sometimes resulted in physical injury. The emperor believed the lack of responsibilities in Rome contributed to the ill-will between his sons and decided that the family would travel to Britain to oversee military operations there. Caracalla was involved in directing the army's campaigns, while Geta was given civilian authority and a promotion to joint emperor with his father and brother.
RI6
AR Denarius (19mm, 3.41 gm). Struck 200-201 AD. SEVERVS AVG PART MAX, laureate head right / RESTITVTOR VRBIS, Septimius standing left, holding patera
in right hand over tripod altar, and spear in left. RIC IV 167; BMCRE 202; RSC 9. Good VF. Ex-CNGecoli
|
|
![RIC_0391[carac]a.jpg](albums/userpics/12015/thumb_RIC_0391%5Bcarac%5Da.jpg "Filename=RIC_0391[carac]a.jpg
Filesize=49KiB
Dimensions=500x235
Date added=Dec 01, 2004")
201a. JULIA DOMNAJULIA DOMNA, mother of Caracalla.
When Septimius Severus claimed the empire after Didius Julianus had succeeded Pertinax in 193, two serious rivals challenged him, Pescennius Niger in the East and Clodius Albinus in the West. Julia accompanied her husband in the campaign against Pescennius, having been honored with the title mater castrorum. After this successful campaign, there was another campaign in the East, against the Parthians, in 197. Afterwards, she was with Severus on a journey to Egypt and other parts of the empire. She was widely honored with inscriptions throughout this period, and numerous coin issues emphasized her imperial position.
She opposed Plautianus, the praetorian prefect and father-in-law of Caracalla, and was partially responsible for his downfall and his daughter Plautilla's disgrace. She was often accused of adultery; nonetheless, the emperor chose to ignore these charges, if true, and the marriage continued. Among her passions were literature and philosophy; she gathered writers and philosophers in a kind of salon, and urged Philostratus to write the life of Apollonius of Tyana.
In 212, Caracalla murdered Geta while he sought succor in his mother's arms; covered with his blood, she was forbidden by Caracalla to grieve. Her relationship with Caracalla during the six years of his reign was mixed. She had some public duties but largely devoted herself to philosophy. She accompanied Caracalla to the east on campaign against the Parthians in 217; when she learned, in Antioch, that he had been assassinated, she resolved upon death, which followed her refusal to take food.
AR Denarius
(19mm, 2.86 gm). IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, draped
bust right / VESTA, Vesta, veiled, seated left,
holding simpulum and sceptre. RIC IV 391 (Caracalla); BMCRE 31 (same); RSC 226. EF. Ex-CNG
ecoli
|
|
201b. Clodius AlbinusBy the time Severus made it back from the east in 196, the breach with Albinus was beyond repair. The emperor's son Caracalla had been displayed to the army as Caesar and heir. Albinus had been proclaimed emperor and gone into open revolt, crossed the English Channel and gained the support of many aristocrats from Gaul and Spain. Lyon became Albinus' headquarters, from which he minted coins that wishfully hinted at reconciliation. Albinus had taken the title of Augustus, but he still kept the name Septimius.
Albinus was unable to expand his control eastward despite achieving a victory against the governor of Lower Germany. By the middle of the year 196, his momentum had stalled. Gaul was drenched in the blood of Roman soldiers as the two sides repeatedly engaged in indecisive battles.[[8]] The ever increasing chaos in the region even allowed an opportunist to raise his own army to harass Albinus' troops.[[9]]
Time was running out for Albinus. His troops were defeated early in 197 at Tournus, on the river Saône 65 miles north of Lyon.[[10]] Severus could now sweep his armies into Gaul. Albinus retreated to Lyon, where he prepared for one final stand. The battle, one of the fiercest in Roman history, took place 19 February 197 and involved more than 100,000 men.[[11]] In the initial fighting, Albinus' troops forced the Severans into retreat, during which Severus fell off his horse. But Albinus' success was shortlived. The Severan cavalry appeared, and Albinus' army was routed. The battlefield was strewn with bodies, and Severus' victorious troops were allowed to vent their anger by sacking Lyon. Albinus, who was trapped in a house along the river Rhône, committed suicide. Heis wife and children were be ordered killed by Severus, who also had Albinus' head cut off and sent to Rome for display.
Clodius Albinus had the breeding and upbringing to have been a popular emperor among the senatorial aristocracy, but he lacked the cunning and daring of his erstwhile ally and eventual rival Severus. Albinus would never be included among the canonical list of emperors, and his defeat finally ended the period of instability and civil war that originated with the death of Commodus.
CLODIUS ALBINUS, as Caesar. 193-195 AD. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.14 gm). Rome mint. Bare head right / Roma seated left on shield, holding Victory and reversed spear. RIC IV 11b; RSC 61a. VF. Ex - CNGecoli
|
|
201c. Pescennius NigerGaius Pescennius Niger was governor of Syria in the year 193 when he learned of the emperor Pertinax's murder. Niger's subsequent attempt to claim the empire for himself ended in failure in Syria after roughly one year. His life before becoming governor of Syria is not well known. He was born in Italy to an equestrian family. He seems to have been older than his eventual rival Septimius Severus, so his birth should perhaps be placed ca. AD 135-40. Niger may have held an important position in the administration of Egypt. He won renown, along with Clodius Albinus, for participation in a military campaign in Dacia early in Commodus' reign. Although Niger could have been adlected into the senate before the Dacian campaign, he was by now pursuing a senatorial career and must have been held in high esteem by Commodus. Niger was made a suffect consul, probably in the late 180s, and he was sent as governor to the important province of Syria in 191.
Niger was a well-known and well-liked figure to the Roman populace. After Pertinax became emperor at the beginning of 193, many in Rome may have hoped that the elderly Pertinax would adopt Niger as his Caesar and heir, but Pertinax was murdered without having made succession plans. When Didius Julianus arrived at the senate house on 29 March 193, his first full day as emperor, a riot broke out among the Roman crowd. The rioters took over the Circus Maximus, from which they shouted for Niger to seize the throne. The rioters dispersed the following day, but a report of their demonstration may well have arrived in the Syrian capital, Antioch, with the news that Pertinax had been murdered and replaced by Julianus.
Spurred into action by the news, Niger had himself proclaimed emperor in Antioch. The governors of the other eastern provinces quickly joined his cause. Niger's most important ally was the respected proconsul of Asia, Asellius Aemilianus, and support began to spread across the Propontis into Europe. Byzantium welcomed Niger, who now was preparing further advances. Niger took the additional cognomen Justus, "the Just." Justice was promoted as the theme of his intended reign, and personifications of Justice appeared on his coins.
Other provincial governors, however, also set their sights on replacing Julianus. Albinus in Britain and Septimius Severus in Upper Pannonia (western Hungary) had each aspired to the purple, and Severus was marching an army on Rome. Severus was still 50 miles from the city when the last of Julianus' dwindling authority disappeared. Julianus was killed in Rome 1 June 193.
Niger sent messengers to Rome to announce his acclamation, but those messengers were intercepted by Severus. A deal was struck between Severus and Albinus that kept Albinus in Britain with the title of Caesar. The larger armies of the western provinces were now united in their support for Severus. Niger's support was confined to the east. Severus had Niger's children captured and held as hostages, and a legion was sent to confront Niger's army in Thrace.
The first conflict between the rival armies took place near Perinthus. Although Niger's forces may have inflicted greater casualties on the Severan troops, Niger was unable to secure his advance; he returned to Byzantium. By the autumn of 193, Severus had left Rome and arrived in the region, though his armies there continued to be commanded by supporters. Niger was offered the chance of a safe exile by Severus, but Niger refused.
Severan troops crossed into Asia at the Hellespont and near Cyzicus engaged forces supporting Niger under the command of Aemilianus. Niger's troops were defeated. Aemilianus attempted to flee but was captured and killed. Not long after, in late December 193 or early January 194, Niger was defeated in a battle near Nicaea and fled south to Antioch. Eastern provincial governors now switched their loyalty to Severus, and Niger faced revolts even in Syria. By late spring 194, the Severan armies were in Cilicia preparing to enter Syria. Niger and his army met the Severan troops near Issus. The battle was a decisive defeat for Niger, who fled back to Antioch. The Syrian capital that only one year earlier had cheered as Niger was proclaimed emperor now waited in fear for the approach of its new master. Niger prepared to flee once more, but outside Antioch he was captured and killed.
Despite his popularity with the Roman mob, Pescennius Niger lacked both the strong loyalty of other senatorial commanders and the number of soldiers that his rival Severus enjoyed. Niger was ultimately unable to make himself the true avenger of Pertinax, and his roughly one-year control of the eastern provinces never qualified him to be reckoned a legitimate emperor.
BITHYNIA, Caesarea. Pescennius Niger. AD 193-194. Æ 22mm (6.35 g). Laureate head right / KAICAREIAC GERMANIKHC, coiled serpent left. RG p. 282, 9, pl. XLIV, 8 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen -; SNG von Aulock -. Near VF, brown patina, rough surfaces. Very rare. Ex-CNGecoli
|
|
202. CARACALLACARACALLA. 198-217 AD.
The emperor visited Alexandria for intellectual and religious reasons, staying at the Serapeum and being present at the temple's sacrifices and cultural events. Earlier, during the German war, the emperor visited the shrine of the Celtic healing-god Grannus. Caracalla also visited the famous temple of Asclepius in Pergamum and fully participated in its program, which involved sleeping inside the temple compound and having his dreams interpreted.
It was this religious devotion that led to Caracalla's murder in 217. Although suspicious of the praetorian prefect Macrinus, Caracalla allowed himself to be accompanied by only a small, select corps of bodyguards on an early spring trip from the camp at Edessa to the temple of the moon-god at Carrhae, about 25 miles away. During the journey back on 8 April 217, Caracalla was killed. The returning guards claimed the emperor was ambushed while defecating, and that the alleged assassin was one of their own, a soldier named Martialis. Martialis was himself killed by the avenging guards, or so the story went. Suspicion was strong that Macrinus arranged the entire affair.
Caracalla's violent end seemed appropriate for an emperor who, early in his reign, had his own brother killed. Yet the moralizing about fratricide by both ancient and modern historians obscures the energetic, reformist and even intellectual character of Caracalla's reign. Some of the reforms, especially the pay raise for soldiers, would prove burdensome for future emperors, but the changes brought about in the little more than five years of Caracalla's sole rule would have long-lasting implications throughout the empire for generations to come.
AR Denarius (19mm, 3.11 gm). Struck 215 AD. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, laureate head right / P M TR P XVIII COS IIII PP, Sol standing left, radiate, raising right hand and holding globe. RIC IV 264a; BMCRE 139; RSC 288. EF
Ex - CNGecoli
|
|
202a. PlautillaPlautilla
From the time of his name change to Antoninus, Caracalla was the designated heir of Severus. Less than three years later he was proclaimed emperor, officially joining his father as co-rulers of the empire. At the age of 14 he was married to the daughter of the praetorian prefect Plautianus Publia Fulvia Plautilla, but the teenager despised his wife. The marriage ended less than three years later after the execution of Plautianus for treason, and there were no children.
Rome, AD 202. PLAVTILLAE AVGVSTAE, Draped bust right, with hair not on the neck / CONCORDIAE, Concordia seated left, holding patera & cornucopiae.ecoli
|
|
202b. GetaGeta, as Caesar,
Publius Septimius Geta was the younger son of the emperor Septimius Severus. Geta's rivalry with his older brother, Caracalla, culminated in Geta's murder less than a year after Severus' death. Tradition soon idealized this victim of fratricide as a gentle prince taken by treachery far too soon. Critics of Caracalla looked back wistfully at the murdered prince, who came to be described as a lamb devoured by his ferocious, lion-like brother. The little reliable evidence about Geta's personality does not seem to support the idealized picture of a gentle prince, but the shocking nature of his death at the instigation of his brother transformed Geta's life into legend.
Denarius. P SEPT GETA CAES PONT, draped bust right / PRINC IVVENTVTIS, Geta, in military dress, standing left with baton & scepter, trophy behind. RIC 18, RSC 157ecoli
|
|
203. MACRINUSMACRINUS. 217-218 AD.
Caracalla's mother, Julia Domna, had toyed with the idea of raising a rebellion against Macrinus shortly after her son's murder, but the empress was uncertain of success and already suffering from breast cancer. She chose to starve herself to death instead.
The grandchildren of her sister, Julia Maesa, would become the focus of the successful uprising that began on 15 May 218. Her 14-year-old grandson Avitus (known to history as Elagabalus) was proclaimed emperor by one the legions camped near the family's hometown of Emesa. Other troops quickly joined the rebellion, but Macrinus marshalled loyal soldiers to crush the revolt. Macrinus also promoted his son to the rank of emperor.
The forces met in a village outside Antioch on 8 June 218. Despite the inexperience of the leaders of the rebel army, Macrinus was defeated. He sent his son, Diadumenianus, with an ambassador to the Parthian king, while Macrinus himself prepared to flee to Rome. Macrinus traveled across Asia Minor disguised as a courier and nearly made it to Europe, but he was captured in Chalcedon. Macrinus was transported to Cappadocia, where he was executed. Diadumenianus had also been captured (at Zeugma) and was similarly put to death.
Contemporaries tended to portray Macrinus as a fear-driven parvenu who was able to make himself emperor but was incapable of the leadership required by the job. An able administrator, Macrinus lacked the aristocratic connections and personal bravado that might have won him legitimacy. His short reign represented a brief interlude of Parthian success during what would prove the final decade of the Parthian empire.
AR Denarius (18mm 3.55 gm). IMP C M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust with short beard right / SALVS PVBLICA, Salus seated left, feeding snake rising up from altar, holding sceptre in left. RIC IV 86; Good VF; Ex-CNGecoli
|
|
203a. DiadumenianMarcus Opellius Antoninus Diadumenianus or Diadumenian (d. 218) was the son of Roman Emperor Macrinus, who served his father briefly as Caesar from May, 217 to 218, and as Augustus in 218.
Diadumenian had little time to enjoy his position or to learn anything from its opportunities because the legions of Syria revolted and declared Elagabalus ruler of the Roman Empire. When Macrinus was defeated on June 8, 218, at Antioch, Diadumenian followed his father's death. According to the Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Diadumenian emulated Macrinus in tyranny. He called upon his father not to spare any who might oppose them or who made plots. His head was cut off and presented to Elagabalus as a trophy.
Diadumenian, A.D. 218 Nicopolis ad Istrum, Hera
OBVERSE: Draped bust right
REVERSE: Hera standing left holding patera.
25 mm - 10 grams
Checkecoli
|
|
204. ElagabalusElagabalus was and is one of the most controversial Roman emperors. During his reign he showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos. Elagabalus' name is a Latinized form of the Semitic deity El-Gabal, a manifestation of the Semitic deity Ēl. He replaced Jupiter, head of the Roman pantheon, with a new god, Deus Sol Invictus, which in Latin means "the Sun, God Unconquered". Elagabalus forced leading members of Rome's government to participate in religious rites celebrating Sol invictus which he personally led.
He also took a Vestal Virgin as one of a succession of wives and openly boasted that his sexual interest in men was more than just a casual pastime, as it had been for previous emperors.
Elagabalus developed a reputation among his contemporaries for eccentricity, decadence, and zealotry which was likely exaggerated by his successors. This black propaganda was passed on and as such he was one of the most reviled Roman emperors to early Christian historians and later became a hero to the Decadent movement of the late 19th century.
Elagabalus Denarius. IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, horned, laureate, and draped bust right / PM TR P IIII COS III P P, Elagabalus standing left sacrificing out of patera over lighted altar & holding branch, star left. RIC 46, RSC 196ecoli
|
|
204a. Julia PaulaIVLIA CORNELIA PAVLA was the daughter of Julius Paulus, who was a Praetorian Praefect under Elagablalus. The Emperor Elagabalus, who arrived in Rome in the autumn of 219, was quickly becoming unpopular. It was probably Julia Maesa, his grandmother, who conceived the plan to marry him to a well-born Roman woman for two reasons: 1) to counter his public displays of homosexual and trans-sexual tendencies, and 2) to soften the disdain Romans felt for Syrians. She became the first wife of the fifteen-year-old Elagabalus 219, but was divorced only one year later, and returned to private life.
JULIA PAULA, wife of Elagabalus. Augusta, 219 AD. AR Denarius (20mm, 2.67 gm). Rome mint. Draped bust right / Concordia seated left holding patera; star in left field. RIC IV 211 (Elagabalus); RSC 6a. Toned;Ex-Cngecoli
|
|
204b. Julia MaesaJulia Maesa (about 170- about 226) was daughter of Julius Bassianus, priest of the sun god Heliogabalus, the patron god of Emesa in the Roman province of Syria, and grandmother of the Roman emperor Elagabalus. Like her younger sister Julia Domna, she was among the most important women ever to exercise power behind the throne in the Roman empire.
Julia Maesa was married to Julius Avitus and had two daughters, Julia Mamaea and Julia Soaemias, each one mother of an emperor. Following the accession to the throne of her brother in law Septimius Severus, Julia Maesa moved to Rome to live with her sister. After the murder of her nephew Caracalla, and the suicide of Julia Domna, she was compelled to return to Syria. But the new emperor Macrinus did not proscribe her and allowed her to keep her money. In Syria, Maesa engaged in a plot to overthrow Macrinus and place one of her grandsons, Elagabalus son of Julia Soaemias, in his place. In order to legitimise this pretension, mother and daughter rumoured that the 14-year-old boy was Caracalla's illegitimate son. The Julias were successful, mainly due to the fact that Macrinus was of an obscure origin without the proper political connections, and Elagabalus became emperor.
For her loyalty and support, Elagabalus honored Julia Maesa with the title Augusta avia Augusti (Augusta, grandmother of Augustus). When the teenager proved to be a disaster as emperor (even taking the liberty of marrying a Vestal virgin), Julia Maesa decided to promote Alexander Severus, another of her grandsons. Elagabalus was forced to adopt Alexander as son and was murdered shortly afterwards.
Julia Maesa died in an uncertain date around 226 AD and, like her sister Domna before her, was deified.
Julia Maesa Denarius. PVDICITIA, Pudicitia seated left, raising veil and holding sceptre.
Julia Maesa Denarius. IVLIA MAESA AVG, draped bust right / PVDICITIA, Pudicitia seated left, raising veil and holding sceptre. RIC 268, RSC 36. s2183. No.1502. nVF.
RSC 444, RIC 88ecoli
|
|
204c. Julia SoaemiasJulia Soaemias Bassiana (180-March 11, 222) was the daughter of Julia Maesa, a powerful Roman woman of Syrian origin, and Julius Avitus. She was niece of emperor Septimius Severus and sister of Julia Avita Mamaea.
She was married to Sextus Varius Marcellus, a Syrian Roman of an Equestrian family (meaning not a member of the Roman senate). As members of the imperial Roman family, they lived in Rome, where their numerous children were born. In 217, her cousin emperor Caracalla was killed and Macrinus ascended to the imperial throne. Julia's family was allowed to returned to Syria with the whole of their financial assets. They would not allow the usurper to stand unopposed. Together with her mother, Julia plotted to substitute Macrinus with her son Varius Avitus Bassianus (Heliogabalus). To legitimise this plot, Julia and her mother spread the rumour that the 13-year-old boy was Caracalla's illegitimate son. In 218 Macrinus was killed and Heliogabalus became emperor. Julia then became the de facto ruler of Rome, since the teenager was concerned mainly with religious matters. Their rule was not popular and soon discontent arose. Julia Soaemias and Heliogabalus were killed by the Praetorian Guard in 222. Julia was later declared public enemy and her name erased from all records.
Julia Soaemias Denarius. 220 AD. IVLIA SOAEMIAS AVG, draped bust right / VENVS CAELESTIS, Venus seated left, holding scepter, extending her hand to Cupid standing before her. RSC 14. ecoli
|
|
204d. Aquilia SeveraAquilia Severa
As part of this marriage of gods, Elagabalus married one of the Vestal Virgins, Julia Aquilia Severa (AD 220). In earlier days sexual relations with a Vestal Virgins meant the immediate death penalty for both her and her lover, then this marriage of the emperor only further enraged public opinion. Although the marriage between Elagabalus and Aquilia Severa went ahead, the emperor's religious aspirations for El-Gabal had to be abandoned, for fear of the public's reaction. Instead the god El-Gabal, by now known to the Romans as Elagabalus - the same name used for their emperor, - was 'married' to the less controversial moon goddess Urania.
EGYPT, Alexandria. Potin Tetradrachm (25mm, 14.54 gm). Dated year 5 (221/222 AD). Draped bust right / Eagle standing left, head right, wreath in beak. Köln 2374; Dattari 4188; Milne 2868; Curtis 1016; Emmett 3010. VF, brown patina, rough surfaces. From the Tony Hardy Collection. Ex-CNG ecoli
|
|
204e. Annia FaustinaPHRYGIA, Hierapolis. Annia Faustina. Augusta, AD 221. Æ (23mm, 5.93 g, 6h). Draped bust right, wearing stephane / A/KTI/A in three lines within wreath. SNG München 245; BMC 148. VF, earthen green-brown surfaces. Rare.
Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 362 (28 October 2015), lot 284.ecoli
|
|
205. Severus AlexanderSeverus Alexander
A child when chance brought him to the principate, with only two recommendations, that he was different from Elagabalus and that he was part of the Severan family, he proved to be inadequate for the challenges of the time. Military experience was the prime attribute of an emperor now, which Alexander did not have, and that lack ultimately cost him his life. Guided by his mother and employing the services of distinguished men, he returned dignity to the imperial household and to the state. He did the best he could, but that best was not good enough in the early decades of the third century A.D., with the great threats from east and north challenging Rome's primacy and, indeed, existence.
Denarius. IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate head right / VICTORIA AVG, Victory standing left with wreath. RSC 556. ecoli
|
|
205a. Julia MamaeaJulia Avita Mamaea (180–235) was the daughter of Julia Maesa, a powerful Roman woman of Syrian origin, and Julius Avitus. She was a niece of emperor Septimius Severus and sister of Julia Soaemias Bassiana.
She was married to Gessius Marcianus had a son, later emperor Alexander Severus. Unlike her sister, Julia Mamaea was reported to be a virtuous woman, never involved in scandals. As a member of the Imperial Roman family, she watched closely the death of her cousin Caracalla and the ascent to power of her nephew Heliogabalus, the oldest grandson of Julia Maesa and her choice to the throne. But eventually Heliogabalus and his mother Julia Soaemias proved incompetent rulers and favour fell on Alexander, Julia's son. He became emperor in 222, following Heliogabalus's murder by the Praetorian Guard. Julia and her mother became regents in the name of Alexander, then 14 years old. Upon adulthood, Alexander confirmed his esteem for his mother and named her consors imperii (imperial consort). It was in this condition that she accompanied her son in his campaigns: a custom started with Julia Domna (Septimius Severus's wife). Thus she travelled to the East, for the campaign against the Parthian empire, and to the Germania provinces. Julia Mamaea was with Alexander in Moguntiacum (modern Mainz), capital of Germania Superior, when he was assassinated by his troops. She suffered the same fate.
Julia Mamaea Denarius. IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, diademed & draped bust right / VESTA, Vesta standing half-left, holding palladium & scepter. RSC 81.ecoli
|
|
205b. ORBIANAGneaea Seia Herennia Sallustia Barbia Orbiana is best known as the wife of Severus Alexander. Possible one of three wives that he had. Little is known of Orbiana. She was from a distinguished family, the daughter of Senator Seius Sallustius Varius Marcinus. She was married to Severus Alexander around 225 when he was about 16. She must have initially met with the favor of Severus Alexander's mother Mamaea but this didn't last long. Orbiana had too much influence with Severus Alexander and this led to direct confrontation with Mamaea. Whether real or not, a plot was found to be led by Orbiana's father to turn the praetorian guards against Severus Alexander and put himself in power. The marriage between Severus Alexander and Orbiana was dissolved at Mamaea's insistence in 227 AD. Shortly later, Sallustius was executed and Orbiana was banished to North Africa.
ORBIANA, wife of Severus Alexander. Augusta, 225 AD. AR Denarius (19mm, 2.83 gm). Diademed and draped bust right / Concordia seated left, holding patera and double cornucopiae. RIC IV 319; RSC 1. VF
ecoli
|
|
301. MaximinusMaximinus Thrax
The first of the "soldier-emperors," Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus spent all three years of his reign on campaign. Although Rome's senatorial elite was eventually able to bring about the downfall of this non-aristocratic emperor, the victory was only a temporary check on the rising importance of the military in the third century. The historical tradition has been universally unkind to Maximinus. His arrival on the throne was similar to that of Macrinus, the only previous emperor who had not been a member of the senatorial class at the time of his accession. Yet unlike Macrinus, Maximinus was a career soldier from a backwards province who had little or no formal education. Maximinus came to be described as a ruthless, semi-barbarian tyrant, and by late antiquity he was regularly referred to with the ethnic epithet Thrax, "the Thracian."
Denarius. IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG, laureate, draped bust right / VICTORIA AVG, Victory running right. RIC 16, RSC 99ecoli
|
|
301a. Maximus CaesarMaximus Caesar AS / Sacrificial Implements
Attribution: RIC IV 7 S
Date: 235-236 AD
Obverse: C IVL VERVS MAXIMVS CAES, bust r.
Reverse: PIETAS AVG, lituus, knife, patera, vase, simpulum, and sprinkler, SC in ex.
Size: 26.3 mm
Weight: 9.8 grams
Description: A nice and scarcer sestertius with attractive detail ecoli
|
|
301b. PaulinaDiva Paulina. Died before AD 235. Æ Sestertius (21.22 g, 12h). Struck under Maximinus I, circa AD 236. Veiled and draped bust right / Paulina holding sceptre and raising hand, seated left on peacock flying right to heaven. RIC IV 3; Banti 1. From the Douglas O. Rosenberg Collection. Ex-CNG printed auction 72, 550/300
Checkecoli
|
|
302. BALBINUSBALBINUS. 238 AD.
The relation between Balbinus and Pupienus had been clouded with suspicion from the start, with both fearing an assassination from the other. They were planning an enormous double campaign, Pupienus against the Parthians and Balbinus against the Carpians, but they quarrelled frequently. It was during one of these heavy discussions, on July 29, that the Praetorian guard decided to intervene. They stormed into the room containing the emperors and killed them both. On the same day, Gordian III, only 13 years old, was proclaimed emperor.
Together they ruled a little more than three months. Coins from their short reign show one of them on one side and two clasped hands on the other to show their joint power.
AR Denarius (21mm, 2.92 gm). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Victory standing facing, head left, holding wreath and palm. RIC IV 8; BMCRE 37; RSC 27. Good VF, toned, Ex- CNGecoli
|
|
302a PupienusPupienus, born about 178, was an example of ascension in the Roman hierarchical system due to military success. He started as a primus pilus and became a military tribune, praetor, consul (twice) and governor of several Roman provinces including the troublesome Germania Inferior. In 234 he was prefect of Rome and gained a reputation for severity.
The relation between Balbinus and Pupienus had been clouded with suspicion from the start, with both fearing an assassination from the other. They were planning an enormous double campaign, Pupienus against the Parthians and Balbinus against the Carpians, but they quarrelled frequently. It was during one of these heavy discussions, on July 29, that the Praetorian guard decided to intervene. They stormed into the room containing the emperors and killed them both. On the same day, the boy Caesar, generally known in English as Gordian III, was proclaimed emperor.
Pupienus. AD 238. Æ Sestertius (31mm, 25.78 g). Rome mint. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm. RIC IV 23. Fair, brown patina.
Ex-CNG sale 141, lot 207, 215/100
Check
ecoli
|
|
302c. Gordian IEGYPT, Alexandria. Gordian I. AD 238. Potin Tetradrachm (23mm, 11.50 g, 12h). Dated RY 1 (AD 238). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Eagle standing left, head right, wreath in beak; L A (date) across field. Köln 2598; Dattari (Savio) 4665; K&G 68.1; Emmett 3342.1. Fine, dark brown patina, rough surfaces. Rare.
From a Hungarian Collection formed primarily in the 1930’s.
ecoli
|
|
303. Gordian IIIGordian III was a child emperor, but his reign was not perceived as having been burdened by the troubles faced by other young emperors. Competent administrators held important posts, and cultural traditions appear to have been upheld. Gordian III's unlikely accession and seemingly stable reign reveal that child emperors, like modern-day constitutional monarchs, had their advantage: a distance from political decision-making and factionalism that enabled the emperor to be a symbol of unity for the various constituency groups in Roman society. The paucity of information about Gordian III's reign makes it difficult to know whether the young emperor truly lived up to such an ideal, but the positive historical tradition about him gives one the suspicion that perhaps he did.
Antoninianus. IMP GORDIANVS PVS FEL AVG, radiate draped bust right / IOVI STATORI, Jupiter standing right with scepter & thunderbolt. RIC 84, RSC 109ecoli
|
|
303a. TranquillinaTHRACE, Deultum. Sabina Tranquillina, wife of Gordian III. Æ 23mm (8.03 gm).
Diademed and draped bust right / Eagle standing on altar between two standards. Jurukova 413. ecoli
|
|
|
|
|
