Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Roman Coins| ▸ |The Twelve Caesars| ▸ |Agrippina Jr.||View Options: | | | Agrippina Jr., daughter of Agrippina Sr. and Germanicus, sister of Caligula, and mother of Nero, was born in 16 A.D. Despite an incestuous relationship, she was exiled by her brother Caligula. She seduced her uncle Claudius and married him soon after. After she ensured her son Nero would succeed him as emperor, she murdered Claudius by feeding him poisoned mushrooms. A soothsayer once prophesied that if Nero became emperor, he would kill his mother, Agrippina replied "Let him kill me, only let him rule!" In March of 59 A.D., Nero arranged for her to board a vessel that was rigged to collapse and capsize. She survived the wreck, swam to shore, and made it to one of her villas, but was executed on Nero's orders. |
The image on the reverse resembles sculptures of Artemis, the Lady of Ephesus, including one at the Ephesus Archaeological Museum and another at the Vatican. The Ionians worshiped Artemis as a mother goddess, akin to the Phrygian Cybele. Her cult image was adorned with multiple rounded breast like protuberances on her chest. They have been variously interpreted as accessory breasts, eggs, grapes, acorns, or even bull testes. Excavation at the site of the Artemision in 1987/8 found a multitude of tear-shaped amber beads that once adorned the ancient wooden xoanon. |