| Image search results - "Agrippina" |
AE sestertius. Struck under Claudius, circa 50-54 AD, uncertain eastern provincial mint located in the modern-day Balkans.
Obv : TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG F BRITANNICVS, draped bust left.
Rev : - No legend, Mars advancing left, holding spear and shield, SC in fields. 35mm, 19.4g. Extremely Rare.
Ref : BMCRE 226
Cohen 2
RCV 1908, valued at $32,000 in Fine, which is a few multiples greater than any other sestertius issued during the several centuries the denomination was in use.
A large number of the surviving examples of this series (one may even suggest a majority of them), due to their rarity, have been subjected to modern alteration techniques such as smoothing, tooling, and repatination. As such, it's actually pleasant to see a bit of field roughness and a 'plain brown' patina of old copper on this example, evidence that it is just as ugly as it was the day it was last used in circulation back in Ancient Rome.
Britannicus, originally known as Germanicus after Claudius' older brother, was the emperor's original intended heir and natural son. Machinations by Agrippina II eventually saw Britannicus supplanted by her own son Nero, (by Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus) who took the throne upon Claudius' suspicious death. Britannicus himself died a few years later, reportedly poisoned by his step-brother. The future emperor Titus and Britannicus were close friends, and Titus became quite ill and nearly died after eating from the same poisoned dish that killed Britannicus.R. Smits
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5 Claudius and AgrippinaCLAUDIUS AND AGRIPPINA
Æ As, Bosporus (23mm, 6g)
Minted circa 50–54 AD by King Kotys I (46 – 63 AD)
TI KLAVDIOV KAICAPOC; Head of Claudius r.; "IB" below / IOVLIAN AGRIPPINAN CEBACTHN; Head of Agrippina l.; monogram "BAK" in field to l.
Anokhin # 348
RI0025Sosius
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Tetricus II, RIC 272 Colonia Agrippina, 273-274 CE.AE Antonia Of Tetricus II as Caesar
Obverse: C PIV ESV TETRICVS CAES, draped and radiated bust right.
Reverse: SPES P VBLICA, Speas walking left, holding flower.
Mint (Koln) Colonia Agrippina RIC 272
Colonia20.8 mm., 3.1 g.NORMAN K
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"As de Nîmes" or "crocodile" Ӕ dupondius of Nemausus (9 - 3 BC), honoring Augustus and AgrippaIMP DIVI F , Heads of Agrippa (left) and Augustus (right) back to back, Agrippa wearing rostral crown and Augustus the oak-wreath / COL NEM, crocodile right chained to palm-shoot with short dense fronds and tip right; two short palm offshoots left and right below, above on left a wreath with two long ties streaming right.
Ó”, 24.5 x 3+ mm, 13.23g, die axis 3h; on both sides there are remains of what appears to be gold plating, perhaps it was a votive offering? Rough edges and slight scrapes on flan typical for this kind of coin, due to primitive technology (filing) of flan preparation.
IMPerator DIVI Filius. Mint of COLonia NEMausus (currently Nîmes, France). Known as "As de Nîmes", it is actually a dupontius (lit. "two-pounder") = 2 ases (sometimes cut in halves to get change). Dupondii were often made out of a golden-colored copper alloy (type of brass) "orichalcum" and this appears to be such case.
Key ID points: oak-wreath (microphotography shows that at least one leaf has a complicated shape, although distinguishing oak from laurel is very difficult) – earlier versions have Augustus bareheaded, no PP on obverse as in later versions, no NE ligature, palm with short fronds with tip right (later versions have tip left and sometimes long fronds). Not typical: no clear laurel wreath together with the rostral crown, gold (?) plating (!), both features really baffling.
But still clearly a "middle" kind of the croc dupondius, known as "type III": RIC I 158, RPC I 524, Sear 1730. It is often conservatively dated to 10 BC - 10 AD, but these days it is usually narrowed to 9/8 - 3 BC.
It is a commemorative issue, honoring the victory over Mark Antony and conquest of Egypt in 30 BC. The heads of Augustus and Agrippa were probably positioned to remind familiar obverses of Roman republican coins with two-faced Janus. Palm branch was a common symbol of victory, in this case grown into a tree, like the victories of Augustus and Agrippa grown into the empire. The two offshoots at the bottom may mean two sons of Agrippa, Gaius and Lucius, who were supposed to be Augustus' heirs and were patrons of the colony. Palm may also be a symbol of the local Nemausian deity, which was probably worshiped in a sacred grove. When these coins were minted, the colony was mostly populated by the settled veterans of Augustus' campaigns, hence the reminiscence of the most famous victory, but some of the original Celtic culture probably survived and was assimilated by Romans. The crocodile is not only the symbol of Egypt, like in the famous Octavian's coins AEGYPTO CAPTA. It is also a representation of Mark Antony, powerful and scary both in water and on land, but a bit slow and stupid. The shape of the crocodile with tail up was specifically chosen to remind of the shape of ship on very common "legionary" denarius series, which Mark Antony minted to pay his armies just before Actium. It is probably also related to the popular contemporary caricature of Cleopatra, riding on and simultaneously copulating with a crocodile, holding a palm branch in her hand as if in triumph. There the crocodile also symbolized Mark Antony.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was born c. 64-62 BC somewhere in rural Italy. His family was of humble and plebeian origins, but rich, of equestrian rank. Agrippa was about the same age as Octavian, and the two were educated together and became close friends. He probably first served in Caesar's Spanish campaign of 46–45 BC. Caesar regarded him highly enough to send him with Octavius in 45 BC to train in Illyria. When Octavian returned to Rome after Caesar's assassination, Agrippa became his close lieutenant, performing many tasks. He probably started his political career in 43 BC as a tribune of the people and then a member of the Senate. Then he was one of the leading Octavian's generals, finally becoming THE leading general and admiral in the civil wars of the subsequent years.
In 38 as a governor of Transalpine Gaul Agrippa undertook an expedition to Germania, thus becoming the first Roman general since Julius Caesar to cross the Rhine. During this foray he helped the Germanic tribe of Ubii (who previously allied themselves with Caesar in 55 BC) to resettle on the west bank of the Rhine. A shrine was dedicated there, possibly to Divus Caesar whom Ubii fondly remembered, and the village became known as Ara Ubiorum, "Altar of Ubians". This quickly would become an important Roman settlement. Agrippina the Younger, Agrippa's granddaughter, wife of Emperor Claudius and mother of Emperor Nero, would be born there in 15 AD. In 50 AD she would sponsor this village to be upgraded to a colonia, and it would be renamed Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (colony of Claudius [at] the Altar of Agrippinians – Ubii renamed themselves as Agrippinians to honor the augusta!), abbreviated as CCAA, later to become the capital of new Roman province, Germania Inferior.
In 37 BC Octavian recalled Agrippa back to Rome and arranged for him to win the consular elections, he desperately needed help in naval warfare with Sextus Pompey, the youngest son of Pompey the Great, who styled himself as the last supporter of the republican cause, but in reality became a pirate king, an irony since his father was the one who virtually exterminated piracy in all the Roman waters. He forced humiliating armistice on the triumvirs in 39 BC and when Octavian renewed the hostilities a year later, defeated him in a decisive naval battle of Messina. New fleet had to be built and trained, and Agrippa was the man for the job. Agrippa's solution was creating a huge secret naval base he called Portus Iulius by connecting together lakes Avernus, Avernus and the natural inner and outer harbors behind Cape Misenum at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples. He also created a larger type of ship and developed a new naval weapon: harpax – a ballista-launched grapnel shot with mechanisms that allowed pulling enemy ships close for easy boarding. It replaced the previous boarding device that Romans used since the First Punic War, corvus – effective, but extremely cumbersome. A later defence against it were scythe blades on long poles for cutting ropes, but since this invention was developed in secret, the enemy had no chance to prepare anything like it. It all has proved extremely effective: in a series of naval engagements Agrippa annihilated the fleet of Sextus, forced him to abandon his bases and run away. For this Agrippa was awarded an unprecedented honour that no Roman before or after him received: a rostral crown, "corona rostrata", a wreath decorated in front by a prow and beak of a ship.
That's why Virgil (Aeneid VIII, 683-684), describing Agrippa at Actium, says: "…belli insigne superbum, tempora navali fulgent rostrata corona." "…the proud military decoration, gleams on his brow the naval rostral crown". Actium, the decisive battle between forces of Octavian and Mark Antony, may appear boring compared to the war with Sextus, but it probably turned out this way due to Agrippa's victories in preliminary naval engagements and taking over all the strategy from Octavian.
In between the wars Agrippa has shown an unusual talent in city planning, not only constructing many new public buildings etc., but also greatly improving Rome's sanitation by doing a complete overhaul of all the aqueducts and sewers. Typically, it was Augustus who later would boast that "he had found the city of brick but left it of marble", forgetting that, just like in his naval successes, it was Agrippa who did most of the work. Agrippa had building programs in other Roman cities as well, a magnificent temple (currently known as Maison Carrée) survives in Nîmes itself, which was probably built by Agrippa.
Later relationship between Augustus and Agrippa seemed colder for a while, Agrippa seemed to even go into "exile", but modern historians agree that it was just a ploy: Augustus wanted others to think that Agrippa was his "rival" while in truth he was keeping a significant army far away from Rome, ready to come to the rescue in case Augustus' political machinations fail. It is confirmed by the fact that later Agrippa was recalled and given authority almost equal to Augustus himself, not to mention that he married Augustus' only biological child. The last years of Agrippa's life were spent governing the eastern provinces, were he won respect even of the Jews. He also restored Crimea to Roman Empire. His last service was starting the conquest of the upper Danube, were later the province of Pannonia would be. He suddenly died of illness in 12 BC, aged ~51.
Agrippa had several children through his three marriages. Through some of his children, Agrippa would become ancestor to many subsequent members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He has numerous other legacies.Yurii P
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(0268) VICTORINUS268 - 270 AD
struck 269/270 AD at mint II.
AE 20 mm; 2.45 g
O: IMP C VICTORINVS P F AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right.
R: SALVS AVG, Salus standing right, feeding snake in right hand from patera held in left hand.
Colonia Agrippina mint; RIC 67, 122; Elmer 732; AGK (corr.) 21c;
laney
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001o. OctaviaOctavia was the elder sister of Octavian and due to a political marriage, the fourth wife of Marc Antony. She married him in 40 BC. After his death, she raised not only her children by him, but also his children by Cleopatra VII. She was the great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, maternal grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, and paternal great-grandmother and maternal great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero. She died in 11 BC.
Coin: Cistophorus. 39 BC. Obv: M ANTONINVS IMP COS DESIG ITER ET TERT, Jugate busts of Marc Antony, wreathed with ivy and berries, and Octavia, bare-headed. Rev: III VIR RPCII VIR R P C, cista mystica between two coiled serpents, Dionysos (Bacchus) standing left above, holding kantharos and thyrsos. SNG Cop. 408; SNG von Aulock 6555; Franke KZR 472; RSC 3; Sydenham 1198; RPC 2202.lawrence c
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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
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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
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004c. Drusilla & Other SistersDrusilla was the sister of Caligula, with whom he was reported to have an incestuous relationship. She has some solo portraits on provincial coins. His other two sisters, Agrippina the Younger and Julia, were on coins as part of the trio of sisters. For a portrait coin of Agrippina, see 005c.lawrence c
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004c01. Drusilla & Other SistersGaius (Caligula). Æ Sestertius (33.5mm, 23.85 g, 7h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38. C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT, Laureate head left / AGRIPPINA DRVSILLA IVLIA Gaius' three sisters standing facing: Agrippina (as Securitas) leaning on column, holding cornucopia, and placing hand on Drusilla (as Concordia), holding patera and cornucopia; on right, Julia (as Fortuna) holding rudder and cornucopia. RIC I 33. Portrait defaced in antiquity. CNG Auction 553, Lot 463.lawrence c
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004e. Agrippina SeniorAgrippina Senior was the daughter of Julia, Augustus's daughter. She was the wife of Germanicus, and had nine children with him, including Caligula and Agrippina Junior. After the death of Germanicus, she became opposed to Tiberius. She was banished by Tiberius in 29 AD, and she died of starvation four years later. All coin issues were posthumous.lawrence c
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004e01. Agrippina Senior AE Sestertius. 36.5mm, 25.60 g. Struck under Caligula. Obv: AGRIPPINA M F MAT C CAESARIC AVGVSTI, draped bust right. Rev: S P Q R MEMORIAE AGRIPPINAE, funeral cart pulled by two mules to left. Cohen 1, RIC 42.lawrence c
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005a. ClaudiusAugustus 41-54 AD
Uncle of Caligula. Claudius was somewhat an 'accidental' emperor. He was viewed as slow-witted and not suitable for emperor. When Caligula was assassinated, the Praetorians left Claudius alive and proclaimed him as Emperor. Once in office, he proved to a capable ruler, although his marriages created constant stresses for him. It was rumored but never proven that he was poisoned by Agrippina Junior.lawrence c
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005c01. Agrippinna Junior Hierapolis, Phrygia. Bronze assarion, RPC I 2983 (4 spec.); SNGvA 3649; BMC Phrygia p. 249, 127, Hierapolis (near Pamukkale, Turkey) mint, weight 3.731g, maximum diameter 16.2mm, die axis 0o, magistrate Magytes Neoteros, c. 55 A.D.; obverse AΓPIΠΠINA ΣEBAΣTH, draped bust right; reverse MAΓYTHΣ NEΩTEPOΣ IEPAΠOΛEITΩN, Demeter seated left on throne, stalk of grain and two poppies in right hand. A FORUM coin.lawrence c
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005c1. Agrippina JuniorAE16. 18mm, 3.12 g. Aezani, Phrygia. Obv: AΓΡIΠΠINAN CEBACTHN, draped bust right. Rev: AIZANITΩN, draped bust of Persephone right, ear of corn before. BMC 92, SGI 532.
lawrence c
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005c2. Agrippina JuniorAE 14.8mm, 2.93 g. Philadelphia, Lydia. 54-59 AD.
Obv: AΓΡIΠΠEINAN ΣEBAΣTHN, draped bust right.
Rev: ΦIΛAΔEΛΦEΩN NEIKANΩΡ, cornucopiae full of fruit. RPC 3042; BMC 59.
lawrence c
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005c3. Claudius & Agrippina JuniorEphesos,Ionia. AE19 Assarion. 20.8mm, 6.57 g. Obv: Jugate busts of Claudius and Agrippina right. Rev: EΦE KOYΣI-NIOΣ TO Δ to left and right of stag standing right. RPC 2624. A FORUM coin.lawrence c
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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
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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
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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
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01 - Personalities of the EmpirePompey, Brutus, Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Augustus, Livia, Caius & Lucius, Agrippa, Nero Claudius Drusus, Germanicus, Agrippina Sr., Tiberius, Drusus and Antoniamdelvalle
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012a Aggrippna Sr. sestertius 27.8gmobv: AGRIPPINA MF MAT C CAESARIS AVGVSTI drp. bust r.
rev: MEMORIAE AGRIPPINAE SPQR above, capentum drawn l. by two mules
"wife of Germanicus, mother of gaius"hill132
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012p Claudius I. (41-54 A.D.), Ionia, Ephesos, RPC I 2624, AE-18, Stag standing right, KOYΣI/NIOΣ, O/T/Δ//EΦE, #1012p Claudius I. (41-54 A.D.), Ionia, Ephesos, RPC I 2624, AE-18, Stag standing right, KOYΣI/NIOΣ, O/T/Δ//EΦE, #1
avers: No legends, Jugate busts of Claudius and Agrippina (the Younger) right.
reverse: Stag standing right, KOYΣI/NIOΣ (Causinius, magistrate) in two lines above, o/T monogram left, ∆ right, EΦE below.
exergue: O/T/Δ//EΦE, diameter: 18,0-19,0mm, weight: 4,38g, axis: 0h,
mint: City: Ephesus, Region: Ionia, Province: Asia, Conventus of Ephesus,
date: 41-54 A.D.,
ref: RPC I 2624, SNG Cop 373-374, BMC 205-206, Weber 5872,
Q-001quadrans
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016b Agrippina jr. AE15obv: drp. bust r.
rev: eagle std. on branch looking l.hill132
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02 - Personalities of the EmpireCalígula, Claudius, Britannicus , Agrippina jr., Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Domitila, Titus, Domitia and Julia Titimdelvalle
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027 BC-14 AD - AVGVSTVS AE as - struck by Ascinius Gallus moneyer (16 BC)obv: CAESAR AVGVSTVS TRIBVNIC POTEST (bare head right)
rev: C ASINIVS C F GALLVS III VIR AAAFF around large SC
ref: RIC I 373, Cohen 369 (2frcs)
mint: Rome
9.60gms, 25mm
Ascinius Gallus, the former moneyer was an important senator, who married Vipsania, the daughter of Agrippa. On the death of Augustus, briefly, he was offered as a possible alternate to the throne, instead of Tiberius. After the death of Vipsania, he was also an ally of Agrippina Senior, and the "leak green party," a possible plot against the throne identified by Sejanus. He was executed for treason by Tiberius during the Praetorian Prefect's nominal rule of the capital.berserker
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028 - ANTONIAAntonia
Antonia 36 BC - 37 was the younger of two daughters of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor. She was a niece of the Emperor Augustus, sister-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, mother of the Emperor Claudius, and both maternal great-grandmother and paternal great-aunt of the Emperor Nero
for obverse, reverse and coin details click hereshanxi
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04 Gaius (Caligula) RIC I 014Gaius (Caligula). 37-41 A.D. AR Denarius. Rome Mint, 37-38 A.D. (3.55g, 19.1m, 5h). Obv: [C CAE]SAR AVG GERM P M TR POT, laureate head right. Rev: AGRIPPINA MAT C CAES AVG GERM, Agrippina, bust, draped right, hair falling in queue down her neck. RIC I 14 (R), RSC 2. Ex personal collection Steve McBride.
Agrippina “the elder” was Gaius’ mother. Falsely accused of wrongdoing by Tiberius, Agrippina was exiled and died of starvation, whether self-imposed or at the orders of Tiberius, is not clear. Upon ascending the throne, Gaius, recovered his mother’s ashes, and restored her name. This coin commemorates the veneration of his mother.Lucas H
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043 - AGRIPPINA MINORAgrippina Minor was the younger sister of emperor Caligula, the niece and fourth wife of emperor Claudius, and the mother of emperor Nero
for obverse, reverse and coin details click hereshanxi
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08-01 - AGRIPPINA MADRE (14 A.C. - 33 D.C.)AE Sestercio 35 mm 25.6 gr.
Hija de Agrippa y Julia, nieta de Augusto, mujer de Germánico y madre de Calígula. Emisión póstuma acuñada por su cuñado Claudio.
Anv: "AGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI [CAESARIS]" - Busto vestido viendo a derecha.
Rev: "[TI CL]AVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P" - Leyenda alrededor de gran "S C ".
Acuñada 42 D.C.
Ceca: Roma
Referencias: RIC Vol.1 #102 Pag.128 - Sear RCTV Vol.1 #1906 Pag.376 - BMCRE #219 - Cohen Vol.1 #3 Pag.231 - DVM #2 Pag.78 - CBN (Claudius) #236 - Von Kaenel #78, pl.49, 2063mdelvalle
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08-01 - AGRIPPINA MADRE (14 A.C. - 33 D.C.)AE Sestercio 35 mm 25.6 gr.
Hija de Agrippa y Julia, nieta de Augusto, mujer de Germánico y madre de Calígula. Emisión póstuma acuñada por su cuñado Claudio.
Anv: "AGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI [CAESARIS]" - Busto vestido viendo a derecha.
Rev: "[TI CL]AVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P" - Leyenda alrededor de gran "S C ".
Acuñada 42 D.C.
Ceca: Roma
Referencias: RIC Vol.1 #102 Pag.128 - Sear RCTV Vol.1 #1906 Pag.376 - BMCRE #219 - Cohen Vol.1 #3 Pag.231 - DVM #2 Pag.78 - CBN (Claudius) #236 - Von Kaenel #78, pl.49, 2063mdelvalle
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093 Saloninus (258-260 A.D. Caesar), Colonia-Agrippina, RIC V-I 009A, AR-Antoninianus, -/-//--, PIETAS AVG, Sacrificial instruments, #1093 Saloninus (258-260 A.D. Caesar), Colonia-Agrippina, RIC V-I 009A, AR-Antoninianus, -/-//--, PIETAS AVG, Sacrificial instruments, #1
avers: SALON VALERIANVS CAES, Radiate, draped bust right.
reverse: PIETAS AVG, Sacrificial implements: Lituus, knife, patera, vase, simpulum and sprinkler.
exergue: -/-//--, diameter: 22,5-24,5mm, weight: 2,63g, axis: 0h,
mint: Colonia-Agrippina, date: 258-259 A.D.,
ref: RIC V-I 9A, p-, C-41, Göbl 0914e, Sear 10767,
Q-001quadrans
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10-01 - CLAUDIO (41 - 54 D.C.)AR Denario 3.13 grs.
Anv: TI. CLAVD. CAESAR AVG. GERM. P. M. TRIB. POT. P. P.. Cabeza laureada de Claudio a derecha.
Rev: AGRIPPINAE AVGVSTAE. Busto de Agripina a derecha con corona de espigas.
Julia Vipsania Agripina , más conocida cómo Agripina la Menor para distinguirla de su madre, fue la hija mayor de Germánico y Agripina la Mayor, bisnieta por tanto de Marco Antonio y Octavia. Fue además Esposa de Ahenobarbo, hermana de Calígula, mujer y sobrina de Claudio I y madre de Nerón.
Acuñada 50 - 54 D.C.
Ceca: Roma Italia
Rareza: R
Referencias: RIC Vol.1 #81 Pag.126 (Plate.16) - Sear RCTV Vol.1 #1886 Pag.371 - BMCRE Vol.1 #75 - Cohen Vol.1 (Agrippine et Claude) #4 Pag.274 - DVM #27 Pag.84 - CBN #82 - RSC Vol. II #4 Pag.11mdelvalle
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10-01 - CLAUDIO y AGRIPINA Jr. (41 - 54 D.C.)AR Denario 20.0 mm 3.13 grs.
Anv: TI. CLAVD. CAESAR AVG. GERM. P. M. TRIB. POT. P. P.. Cabeza laureada de Claudio a derecha.
Rev: AGRIPPINAE AVGVSTAE. Busto de Agripina a derecha con corona de espigas.
Julia Vipsania Agripina , más conocida cómo Agripina la Menor para distinguirla de su madre, fue la hija mayor de Germánico y Agripina la Mayor, bisnieta por tanto de Marco Antonio y Octavia. Fue además Esposa de Ahenobarbo, hermana de Calígula, mujer y sobrina de Claudio I y madre de Nerón.
Acuñada 50 - 54 D.C.
Ceca: Roma Italia
Rareza: R
Referencias: RIC Vol.1 #81 Pag.126 (Plate.16) - Sear RCTV Vol.1 #1886 Pag.371 - BMCRE Vol.1 #75 - Cohen Vol.1 (Agrippine et Claude) #4 Pag.274 - DVM #27 Pag.84 - CBN #82 - RSC Vol. II #4 Pag.11mdelvalle
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1407a, Constantius II, 337-361 A.D. (Antioch)AE4, 337-361 A.D. Antioch, aVF/VF,Obv:– DN CONSTANTIVS P F AVG, Pearl and rosette diadem, head right/R: Wreath with VOT XX MVLT XXX, SMANB in exe.RIC VIII Antioch 113,Item ref: RI170b.
AE3, 2.80 grams, 330-333, Heraclea, aVF. Obv: FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C - Laureate bust right, draped and cuirassed. R: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS - Two soldiers looking in at each other and both holding a spear; between them, two standards Exe: SMHB.
Constantius II was born in Illyricum in August AD 317, the son of Constantine the Great and Fausta, and was proclaimed Caesar in AD 323.
In AD 337, at the death of his father Constantine, he acceded to the throne together with his two brothers Constantine II and Constans. But this accession by the three brothers was tainted by the murder of their cousins Dalmatius and Hannibalianus, whom Constantine had also intended as joint heirs. These murders are believed to have been masterminded by Constantius II.
Eventually, Constantius II was left as the sole emperor of the Roman empire. Constantius elevated his cousin, Julian, to the rank of Caesar (junior emperor) and gave him his sister Helena in marriage. Julian was assigned the task of dealing with the Frankish leader, Silvanus, who had proclaimed himself emepror at Colonia Agrippina. Julian's success led his men to declare him Augustus. Julian, while reluctant to take the throne, accepted.
Constantius II, therefore, left the Mesopotamian frontier and marched his troops west, seeking to deal with the usurper. As he reached Cilicia in the winter of AD 361, he was overcome by a sudden fever and died at Mopsucrene. Julian, the Apostate, succeded him as Emperor.
Our chief source for Constantius' reign is the great historian Ammianus Marcellinus. He presents a mixed view of that emperor. In some ways a sound administrator and competent general, Constantius is also portrayed as easily influenced by those around him such as his wives, courtiers and the eunuchs of the court (Ammianus 21. 16. 16). Ammianus (21.16.18) also attacks Constantius' great interest in Church affairs--alleging that he bankrupted the courier service with calls for Church councils. Of course, imperial interest in Church affairs was a major policy of his father Constantine and it may be that Constantius was trying to emulate his model (if only with mixed success). Indeed, Constantius II (like his brothers Constantine II and Constans) was raised a Christian. Among his many laws is the famous CTh 16.10.2 of 341 which either prohibited or re-issued his father's prohibition of pagan sacrifices. Sympathetic to Arianism, he spent a great deal of his reign calling Church councils. One of the longest-reigned emperors in Roman history, Constantius is hard for the modern historian to fully understand both due to his own actions and due to the interests of the authors of primary sources for his reign.
By Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University & Robert Frakes, Clarion University
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1407h, Constantius II, 337-361 A.D. (Heraclea)Constantius II 337-361 A.D. AE3, 2.80 grams, 330-333, Heraclea, aVF. Obverse: FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C - Laureate bust right, draped and cuirassed; Reverse: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS - Two soldiers looking in at each other and both holding a spear; between them, two standards; SMHB in exergue.
Constantius II was born in Illyricum in August AD 317, the son of Constantine the Great and Fausta, and was proclaimed Caesar in AD 323.
In AD 337, at the death of his father Constantine, he acceded to the throne together with his two brothers Constantine II and Constans. But this accession by the three brothers was tainted by the murder of their cousins Dalmatius and Hannibalianus, whom Constantine had also intended as joint heirs. These murders are believed to have been masterminded by Constantius II.
Eventually, Constantius II was left as the sole emperor of the Roman empire. Constantius elevated his cousin, Julian, to the rank of Caesar (junior emperor) and gave him his sister Helena in marriage. Julian was assigned the task of dealing with the Frankish leader, Silvanus, who had proclaimed himself emepror at Colonia Agrippina. Julian's success led his men to declare him Augustus. Julian, while reluctant to take the throne, accepted.
Constantius II, therefore, left the Mesopotamian frontier and marched his troops west, seeking to deal with the usurper. As he reached Cilicia in the winter of AD 361, he was overcome by a sudden fever and died at Mopsucrene. Julian, the Apostate, succeded him as Emperor.
Our chief source for Constantius' reign is the great historian Ammianus Marcellinus. He presents a mixed view of that emperor. In some ways a sound administrator and competent general, Constantius is also portrayed as easily influenced by those around him such as his wives, courtiers and the eunuchs of the court (Ammianus 21. 16. 16). Ammianus (21.16.18) also attacks Constantius' great interest in Church affairs--alleging that he bankrupted the courier service with calls for Church councils. Of course, imperial interest in Church affairs was a major policy of his father Constantine and it may be that Constantius was trying to emulate his model (if only with mixed success). Indeed, Constantius II (like his brothers Constantine II and Constans) was raised a Christian. Among his many laws is the famous CTh 16.10.2 of 341 which either prohibited or re-issued his father's prohibition of pagan sacrifices. Sympathetic to Arianism, he spent a great deal of his reign calling Church councils. One of the longest-reigned emperors in Roman history, Constantius is hard for the modern historian to fully understand both due to his own actions and due to the interests of the authors of primary sources for his reign.
By Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University & Robert Frakes, Clarion University
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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1407r, Constantius II, 22 May 337 - 3 November 361 A.D.Bronze AE 3, RIC 272, aVF, 2.203g, 18.1mm, 0o, Rome mint, 352 - 355 A.D.; obverse D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; reverse FEL TEMP REPARATIO, soldier spearing fallen horseman, RT in ex.
Constantius II was born in Illyricum in August AD 317, the son of Constantine the Great and Fausta, and was proclaimed Caesar in AD 323.
In AD 337, at the death of his father Constantine, he acceded to the throne together with his two brothers Constantine II and Constans. But this accession by the three brothers was tainted by the murder of their cousins Dalmatius and Hannibalianus, whom Constantine had also intended as joint heirs. These murders are believed to have been masterminded by Constantius II.
Eventually, Constantius II was left as the sole emperor of the Roman empire. Constantius elevated Julian to the rank of Caesar (junior emperor) and gave him his sister Helena in marriage. Julian was assigned the task of dealing with the Frankish leader, Silvanus, who had proclaimed himself emepror at Colonia Agrippina. Julian's success lead his men to declare him Augustus. Julian, while reluctant to take the throne, accepted.
Constantius II, therefore left the Mesopotamian frontier and marched his troops west, seeking to deal with the usurper. As he reached Cilicia in the winter of AD 361, he was overcome by a sudden fever and died at Mopsucrene. Julian, the Apostate, succeded him as Emperor.
Our chief source for Constantius' reign is the great historian Ammianus Marcellinus. He presents a mixed view of that emperor. In some ways a sound administrator and competent general, Constantius is also portrayed as easily influenced by those around him such as his wives, courtiers and the eunuchs of the court (Ammianus 21. 16. 16). Ammianus (21.16.18) also attacks Constantius' great interest in Church affairs--alleging that he bankrupted the courier service with calls for Church councils. Of course, imperial interest in Church affairs was a major policy of his father Constantine and it may be that Constantius was trying to emulate his model (if only with mixed success). Indeed, Constantius II (like his brothers Constantine II and Constans) was raised a Christian. Among his many laws is the famous CTh 16.10.2 of 341 which either prohibited or re-issued his father's prohibition of pagan sacrifices. Sympathetic to Arianism, he spent a great deal of his reign calling Church councils. One of the longest-reigned emperors in Roman history, Constantius is hard for the modern historian to fully understand both due to his own actions and due to the interests of the authors of primary sources for his reign.
By Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University & Robert Frakes, Clarion University
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1409a, Julian II "the Philosopher," February 360 - 26 June 363 A.D.Julian II, A.D. 360-363; RIC 167; VF; 2.7g, 20mm; Constantinople mint; Obverse: DN FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG, helmeted & cuirassed bust right, holding spear & shield; Reverse: VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath; CONSPB in exergue; Attractive green patina. Ex Nemesis.
De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
Julian the Apostate (360-363 A.D.)
Walter E. Roberts, Emory University
Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University
Introduction
The emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus reigned from 360 to 26 June 363, when he was killed fighting against the Persians. Despite his short rule, his emperorship was pivotal in the development of the history of the later Roman empire. This essay is not meant to be a comprehensive look at the various issues central to the reign of Julian and the history of the later empire. Rather, this short work is meant to be a brief history and introduction for the general reader. Julian was the last direct descendent of the Constantinian line to ascend to the purple, and it is one of history's great ironies that he was the last non-Christian emperor. As such, he has been vilified by most Christian sources, beginning with John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzus in the later fourth century. This tradition was picked up by the fifth century Eusebian continuators Sozomen, Socrates Scholasticus, and Theodoret and passed on to scholars down through the 20th century. Most contemporary sources, however, paint a much more balanced picture of Julian and his reign. The adoption of Christianity by emperors and society, while still a vital concern, was but one of several issues that concerned Julian.
It is fortunate that extensive writings from Julian himself exist, which help interpret his reign in the light of contemporary evidence. Still extant are some letters, several panegyrics, and a few satires. Other contemporary sources include the soldier Ammianus Marcellinus' history, correspondence between Julian and Libanius of Antioch, several panegyrics, laws from the Theodosian Code, inscriptions, and coinage. These sources show Julian's emphasis on restoration. He saw himself as the restorer of the traditional values of Roman society. Of course much of this was rhetoric, meant to defend Julian against charges that he was a usurper. At the same time this theme of restoration was central to all emperors of the fourth century. Julian thought that he was the one emperor who could regain what was viewed as the lost glory of the Roman empire. To achieve this goal he courted select groups of social elites to get across his message of restoration. This was the way that emperors functioned in the fourth century. By choosing whom to include in the sharing of power, they sought to shape society.
Early Life
Julian was born at Constantinople in 331. His father was Julius Constantius, half-brother of the emperor Constantine through Constantius Chlorus, and his mother was Basilina, Julius' second wife. Julian had two half-brothers via Julius' first marriage. One of these was Gallus, who played a major role in Julian's life. Julian appeared destined for a bright future via his father's connection to the Constantinian house. After many years of tense relations with his three half-brothers, Constantine seemed to have welcomed them into the fold of the imperial family. From 333 to 335, Constantine conferred a series of honors upon his three half-siblings, including appointing Julius Constantius as one of the consuls for 335. Julian's mother was equally distinguished. Ammianus related that she was from a noble family. This is supported by Libanius, who claimed that she was the daughter of Julius Julianus, a Praetorian Prefect under Licinius, who was such a model of administrative virtue that he was pardoned and honored by Constantine.
Despite the fact that his mother died shortly after giving birth to him, Julian experienced an idyllic early childhood. This ended when Constantius II conducted a purge of many of his relatives shortly after Constantine's death in 337, particularly targeting the families of Constantine's half-brothers. ulian and Gallus were spared, probably due to their young age. Julian was put under the care of Mardonius, a Scythian eunuch who had tutored his mother, in 339, and was raised in the Greek philosophical tradition, and probably lived in Nicomedia. Ammianus also supplied the fact that while in Nicomedia, Julian was cared for by the local bishop Eusebius, of whom the future emperor was a distant relation. Julian was educated by some of the most famous names in grammar and rhetoric in the Greek world at that time, including Nicocles and Hecebolius. In 344 Constantius II sent Julian and Gallus to Macellum in Cappadocia, where they remained for six years. In 351, Gallus was made Caesar by Constantius II and Julian was allowed to return to Nicomedia, where he studied under Aedesius, Eusebius, and Chrysanthius, all famed philosophers, and was exposed to the Neo-Platonism that would become such a prominent part of his life. But Julian was most proud of the time he spent studying under Maximus of Ephesus, a noted Neo-Platonic philospher and theurgist. It was Maximus who completed Julian's full-scale conversion to Neo-Platonism. Later, when he was Caesar, Julian told of how he put letters from this philosopher under his pillows so that he would continue to absorb wisdom while he slept, and while campaigning on the Rhine, he sent his speeches to Maximus for approval before letting others hear them. When Gallus was executed in 354 for treason by Constantius II, Julian was summoned to Italy and essentially kept under house arrest at Comum, near Milan, for seven months before Constantius' wife Eusebia convinced the emperor that Julian posed no threat. This allowed Julian to return to Greece and continue his life as a scholar where he studied under the Neo-Platonist Priscus. Julian's life of scholarly pursuit, however, ended abruptly when he was summoned to the imperial court and made Caesar by Constantius II on 6 November 355.
Julian as Caesar
Constantius II realized an essential truth of the empire that had been evident since the time of the Tetrarchy--the empire was too big to be ruled effectively by one man. Julian was pressed into service as Caesar, or subordinate emperor, because an imperial presence was needed in the west, in particular in the Gallic provinces. Julian, due to the emperor's earlier purges, was the only viable candidate of the imperial family left who could act as Caesar. Constantius enjoined Julian with the task of restoring order along the Rhine frontier. A few days after he was made Caesar, Julian was married to Constantius' sister Helena in order to cement the alliance between the two men. On 1 December 355, Julian journeyed north, and in Augusta Taurinorum he learned that Alamannic raiders had destroyed Colonia Agrippina. He then proceeded to Vienne where he spent the winter. At Vienne, he learned that Augustudunum was also under siege, but was being held by a veteran garrison. He made this his first priority, and arrived there on 24 June 356. When he had assured himself that the city was in no immediate danger, he journeyed to Augusta Treverorum via Autessioduram, and from there to Durocortorum where he rendezvoused with his army. Julian had the army stage a series of punitive strikes around the Dieuse region, and then he moved them towards the Argentoratum/Mongontiacum region when word of barbarian incursions reached him.
From there, Julian moved on to Colonia Agrippina, and negotiated a peace with the local barbarian leaders who had assaulted the city. He then wintered at Senonae. He spent the early part of the campaigning season of 357 fighting off besiegers at Senonae, and then conducting operations around Lugdunum and Tres Tabernae. Later that summer, he encountered his watershed moment as a military general. Ammianus went into great detail about Julian's victory over seven rogue Alamannic chieftains near Argentoratum, and Julian himself bragged about it in his later writing. After this battle, the soldiers acclaimed Julian Augustus, but he rejected this title. After mounting a series of follow-up raids into Alamannic territory, he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia, and on the way defeated some Frankish raiders in the Mosa region. Julian considered this campaign one of the major events of his time as Caesar.
Julian began his 358 military campaigns early, hoping to catch the barbarians by surprise. His first target was the Franks in the northern Rhine region. He then proceeded to restore some forts in the Mosa region, but his soldiers threatened to mutiny because they were on short rations and had not been paid their donative since Julian had become Caesar. After he soothed his soldiers, Julian spent the rest of the summer negotiating a peace with various Alamannic leaders in the mid and lower Rhine areas, and retired to winter quarters at Lutetia. In 359, he prepared once again to carry out a series of punitive expeditions against the Alamanni in the Rhine region who were still hostile to the Roman presence. In preparation, the Caesar repopulated seven previously destroyed cities and set them up as supply bases and staging areas. This was done with the help of the people with whom Julian had negotiated a peace the year before. Julian then had a detachment of lightly armed soldiers cross the Rhine near Mogontiacum and conduct a guerilla strike against several chieftains. As a result of these campaigns, Julian was able to negotiate a peace with all but a handful of the Alamannic leaders, and he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia.
Of course, Julian did more than act as a general during his time as Caesar. According to Ammianus, Julian was an able administrator who took steps to correct the injustices of Constantius' appointees. Ammianus related the story of how Julian prevented Florentius, the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, from raising taxes, and also how Julian actually took over as governor for the province of Belgica Secunda. Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, supported Ammianus' basic assessment of Julian in this regard when he reported that Julian was an able representative of the emperor to the Gallic provincials. There is also epigraphic evidence to support Julian's popularity amongst the provincial elites. An inscription found near Beneventum in Apulia reads:
"To Flavius Claudius Julianus, most noble and sanctified Caesar, from the caring Tocius Maximus, vir clarissimus, for the care of the res publica from Beneventum".
Tocius Maximus, as a vir clarissimus, was at the highest point in the social spectrum and was a leader in his local community. This inscription shows that Julian was successful in establishing a positive image amongst provincial elites while he was Caesar.
Julian Augustus
In early 360, Constantius, driven by jealousy of Julian's success, stripped Julian of many troops and officers, ostensibly because the emperor needed them for his upcoming campaign against the Persians. One of the legions ordered east, the Petulantes, did not want to leave Gaul because the majority of the soldiers in the unit were from this region. As a result they mutinied and hailed Julian as Augustus at Lutetia. Julian refused this acclamation as he had done at Argentoratum earlier, but the soldiers would have none of his denial. They raised him on a shield and adorned him with a neck chain, which had formerly been the possession of the standard-bearer of the Petulantes and symbolized a royal diadem. Julian appeared reluctantly to acquiesce to their wishes, and promised a generous donative. The exact date of his acclamation is unknown, but most scholars put it in February or March. Julian himself supported Ammianus' picture of a jealous Constantius. In his Letter to the Athenians, a document constructed to answer charges that he was a usurper, Julian stated that from the start he, as Caesar, had been meant as a figurehead to the soldiers and provincials. The real power he claimed lay with the generals and officials already present in Gaul. In fact, according to Julian, the generals were charged with watching him as much as the enemy. His account of the actual acclamation closely followed what Ammianus told us, but he stressed even more his reluctance to take power. Julian claimed that he did so only after praying to Zeus for guidance.
Fearing the reaction of Constantius, Julian sent a letter to his fellow emperor justifying the events at Lutetia and trying to arrange a peaceful solution. This letter berated Constantius for forcing the troops in Gaul into an untenable situation. Ammianus stated that Julian's letter blamed Constantius' decision to transfer Gallic legions east as the reason for the soldiers' rebellion. Julian once again asserted that he was an unwilling participant who was only following the desire of the soldiers. In both of these basic accounts Ammianus and Julian are playing upon the theme of restoration. Implicit in their version of Julian's acclamation is the argument that Constantius was unfit to rule. The soldiers were the vehicle of the gods' will. The Letter to the Athenians is full of references to the fact that Julian was assuming the mantle of Augustus at the instigation of the gods. Ammianus summed up this position nicely when he related the story of how, when Julian was agonizing over whether to accept the soldiers' acclamation, he had a dream in which he was visited by the Genius (guardian spirit) of the Roman state. The Genius told Julian that it had often tried to bestow high honors upon Julian but had been rebuffed. Now, the Genius went on to say, was Julian's final chance to take the power that was rightfully his. If the Caesar refused this chance, the Genius would depart forever, and both Julian and the state would rue Julian's rejection. Julian himself wrote a letter to his friend Maximus of Ephesus in November of 361 detailing his thoughts on his proclamation. In this letter, Julian stated that the soldiers proclaimed him Augustus against his will. Julian, however, defended his accession, saying that the gods willed it and that he had treated his enemies with clemency and justice. He went on to say that he led the troops in propitiating the traditional deities, because the gods commanded him to return to the traditional rites, and would reward him if he fulfilled this duty.
During 360 an uneasy peace simmered between the two emperors. Julian spent the 360 campaigning season continuing his efforts to restore order along the Rhine, while Constantius continued operations against the Persians. Julian wintered in Vienne, and celebrated his Quinquennalia. It was at this time that his wife Helena died, and he sent her remains to Rome for a proper burial at his family villa on the Via Nomentana where the body of her sister was entombed. The uneasy peace held through the summer of 361, but Julian concentrated his military operations around harassing the Alamannic chieftain Vadomarius and his allies, who had concluded a peace treaty with Constantius some years earlier. By the end of the summer, Julian decided to put an end to the waiting and gathered his army to march east against Constantius. The empire teetered on the brink of another civil war. Constantius had spent the summer negotiating with the Persians and making preparations for possible military action against his cousin. When he was assured that the Persians would not attack, he summoned his army and sallied forth to meet Julian. As the armies drew inexorably closer to one another, the empire was saved from another bloody civil war when Constantius died unexpectedly of natural causes on 3 November near the town of Mopsucrenae in Cilicia, naming Julian -- the sources say-- as his legitimate successor.
Julian was in Dacia when he learned of his cousin's death. He made his way through Thrace and came to Constantinople on 11 December 361 where Julian honored the emperor with the funeral rites appropriate for a man of his station. Julian immediately set about putting his supporters in positions of power and trimming the imperial bureaucracy, which had become extremely overstaffed during Constantius' reign. Cooks and barbers had increased during the late emperor's reign and Julian expelled them from his court. Ammianus gave a mixed assessment of how the new emperor handled the followers of Constantius. Traditionally, emperors were supposed to show clemency to the supporters of a defeated enemy. Julian, however, gave some men over to death to appease the army. Ammianus used the case of Ursulus, Constantius' comes sacrum largitionum, to illustrate his point. Ursulus had actually tried to acquire money for the Gallic troops when Julian had first been appointed Caesar, but he had also made a disparaging remark about the ineffectiveness of the army after the battle of Amida. The soldiers remembered this, and when Julian became sole Augustus, they demanded Ursulus' head. Julian obliged, much to the disapproval of Ammianus. This seems to be a case of Julian courting the favor of the military leadership, and is indicative of a pattern in which Julian courted the goodwill of various societal elites to legitimize his position as emperor.
Another case in point is the officials who made up the imperial bureaucracy. Many of them were subjected to trial and punishment. To achieve this goal, during the last weeks of December 361 Julian assembled a military tribunal at Chalcedon, empanelling six judges to try the cases. The president of the tribunal was Salutius, just promoted to the rank of Praetorian Prefect; the five other members were Mamertinus, the orator, and four general officers: Jovinus, Agilo, Nevitta, and Arbetio. Relative to the proceedings of the tribunal, Ammianus noted that the judges, " . . . oversaw the cases more vehemently than was right or fair, with the exception of a few . . .." Ammianus' account of Julian's attempt at reform of the imperial bureaucracy is supported by legal evidence from the Theodosian Code. A series of laws sent to Mamertinus, Julian's appointee as Praetorian Prefect in Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, illustrate this point nicely. On 6 June 362, Mamertinus received a law that prohibited provincial governors from bypassing the Vicars when giving their reports to the Prefect. Traditionally, Vicars were given civil authority over a group of provinces, and were in theory meant to serve as a middle step between governors and Prefects. This law suggests that the Vicars were being left out, at least in Illyricum. Julian issued another edict to Mamertinus on 22 February 362 to stop abuse of the public post by governors. According to this law, only Mamertinus could issue post warrants, but the Vicars were given twelve blank warrants to be used as they saw fit, and each governor was given two. Continuing the trend of bureaucratic reform, Julian also imposed penalties on governors who purposefully delayed appeals in court cases they had heard. The emperor also established a new official to weigh solidi used in official government transactions to combat coin clipping.
For Julian, reigning in the abuses of imperial bureaucrats was one step in restoring the prestige of the office of emperor. Because he could not affect all elements of society personally, Julian, like other Neo-Flavian emperors, decided to concentrate on select groups of societal elites as intercessors between himself and the general populace. One of these groups was the imperial bureaucracy. Julian made it very clear that imperial officials were intercessors in a very real sense in a letter to Alypius, Vicar of Britain. In this letter, sent from Gaul sometime before 361, the emperor praises Alypius for his use of "mildness and moderation with courage and force" in his rule of the provincials. Such virtues were characteristic of the emperors, and it was good that Alypius is representing Julian in this way. Julian courted the army because it put him in power. Another group he sought to include in his rule was the traditional Senatorial aristocracy. One of his first appointments as consul was Claudius Mamertinus, a Gallic Senator and rhetorician. Mamertinus' speech in praise of Julian delivered at Constantinople in January of 362 is preserved. In this speech, Claudius presented his consular selection as inaugurating a new golden age and Julian as the restorer of the empire founded by Augustus. The image Mamertinus gave of his own consulate inaugurating a new golden age is not merely formulaic. The comparison of Julian to Augustus has very real, if implicit, relevance to Claudius' situation. Claudius emphasized the imperial period as the true age of renewal. Augustus ushered in a new era with his formation of a partnership between the emperor and the Senate based upon a series of honors and offices bestowed upon the Senate in return for their role as intercessor between emperor and populace. It was this system that Julian was restoring, and the consulate was one concrete example of this bond. To be chosen as a consul by the emperor, who himself had been divinely mandated, was a divine honor. In addition to being named consul, Mamertinus went on to hold several offices under Julian, including the Prefecture of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa. Similarly, inscriptional evidence illustrates a link between municipal elites and Julian during his time as Caesar, something which continued after he became emperor. One concrete example comes from the municipal senate of Aceruntia in Apulia, which established a monument on which Julian is styled as "Repairer of the World."
Julian seems to have given up actual Christian belief before his acclamation as emperor and was a practitioner of more traditional Greco-Roman religious beliefs, in particular, a follower of certain late antique Platonist philosophers who were especially adept at theurgy as was noted earlier. In fact Julian himself spoke of his conversion to Neo-Platonism in a letter to the Alexandrians written in 363. He stated that he had abandoned Christianity when he was twenty years old and been an adherent of the traditional Greco-Roman deities for the twelve years prior to writing this letter.
(For the complete text of this article see: http://www.roman-emperors.org/julian.htm)
Julian’s Persian Campaign
The exact goals Julian had for his ill-fated Persian campaign were never clear. The Sassanid Persians, and before them the Parthians, had been a traditional enemy from the time of the Late Republic, and indeed Constantius had been conducting a war against them before Julian's accession forced the former to forge an uneasy peace. Julian, however, had no concrete reason to reopen hostilities in the east. Socrates Scholasticus attributed Julian's motives to imitation of Alexander the Great, but perhaps the real reason lay in his need to gather the support of the army. Despite his acclamation by the Gallic legions, relations between Julian and the top military officers was uneasy at best. A war against the Persians would have brought prestige and power both to Julian and the army.
Julian set out on his fateful campaign on 5 March 363. Using his trademark strategy of striking quickly and where least expected, he moved his army through Heirapolis and from there speedily across the Euphrates and into the province of Mesopotamia, where he stopped at the town of Batnae. His plan was to eventually return through Armenia and winter in Tarsus. Once in Mesopotamia, Julian was faced with the decision of whether to travel south through the province of Babylonia or cross the Tigris into Assyria, and he eventually decided to move south through Babylonia and turn west into Assyria at a later date. By 27 March, he had the bulk of his army across the Euphrates, and had also arranged a flotilla to guard his supply line along the mighty river. He then left his generals Procopius and Sebastianus to help Arsacius, the king of Armenia and a Roman client, to guard the northern Tigris line. It was also during this time that he received the surrender of many prominent local leaders who had nominally supported the Persians. These men supplied Julian with money and troops for further military action against their former masters. Julian decided to turn south into Babylonia and proceeded along the Euphrates, coming to the fortress of Cercusium at the junction of the Abora and Euphrates Rivers around the first of April, and from there he took his army west to a region called Zaitha near the abandoned town of Dura where they visited the tomb of the emperor Gordian which was in the area. On April 7 he set out from there into the heart of Babylonia and towards Assyria.
Ammianus then stated that Julian and his army crossed into Assyria, which on the face of things appears very confusing. Julian still seems to be operating within the province of Babylonia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The confusion is alleviated when one realizes that,for Ammianus, the region of Assyria encompassed the provinces of Babylonia and Assyria. On their march, Julian's forces took the fortress of Anatha, received the surrender and support of several more local princes, and ravaged the countryside of Assyria between the rivers. As the army continued south, they came across the fortresses Thilutha and Achaiachala, but these places were too well defended and Julian decided to leave them alone. Further south were the cities Diacira and Ozogardana, which the Roman forces sacked and burned. Soon, Julian came to Pirisabora and a brief siege ensued, but the city fell and was also looted and destroyed. It was also at this time that the Roman army met its first systematic resistance from the Persians. As the Romans penetrated further south and west, the local inhabitants began to flood their route. Nevertheless, the Roman forces pressed on and came to Maiozamalcha, a sizable city not far from Ctesiphon. After a short siege, this city too fell to Julian. Inexorably, Julian's forces zeroed in on Ctesiphon, but as they drew closer, the Persian resistance grew fiercer, with guerilla raids whittling at Julian's men and supplies. A sizable force of the army was lost and the emperor himself was almost killed taking a fort a few miles from the target city.
Finally, the army approached Ctesiphon following a canal that linked the Tigris and Euphrates. It soon became apparent after a few preliminary skirmishes that a protracted siege would be necessary to take this important city. Many of his generals, however, thought that pursuing this course of action would be foolish. Julian reluctantly agreed, but became enraged by this failure and ordered his fleet to be burned as he decided to march through the province of Assyria. Julian had planned for his army to live off the land, but the Persians employed a scorched-earth policy. When it became apparent that his army would perish (because his supplies were beginning to dwindle) from starvation and the heat if he continued his campaign, and also in the face of superior numbers of the enemy, Julian ordered a retreat on 16 June. As the Roman army retreated, they were constantly harassed by guerilla strikes. It was during one of these raids that Julian got caught up in the fighting and took a spear to his abdomen. Mortally wounded he was carried to his tent, where, after conferring with some of his officers, he died. The date was 26 June 363.
Conclusion
Thus an ignominious end for a man came about who had hoped to restore the glory of the Roman empire during his reign as emperor. Due to his intense hatred of Christianity, the opinion of posterity has not been kind to Julian. The contemporary opinion, however, was overall positive. The evidence shows that Julian was a complex ruler with a definite agenda to use traditional social institutions in order to revive what he saw as a collapsing empire. In the final assessment, he was not so different from any of the other emperors of the fourth century. He was a man grasping desperately to hang on to a Greco-Roman conception of leadership that was undergoing a subtle yet profound change.
Copyright (C) 2002, Walter E. Roberts and Michael DiMaio, Jr. Used by permission.
In reality, Julian worked to promote culture and philosophy in any manifestation. He tried to reduce taxes and the public debts of municipalities; he augmented administrative decentralisation; he promoted a campaign of austerity to reduce public expenditure (setting himself as the example). He reformed the postal service and eliminated the powerful secret police.
by Federico Morando; JULIAN II, The Apostate, See the Julian II Page on NumisWiki
Flavius Claudius Iulianus was born in 331 or maybe 332 A.D. in Constantinople. He ruled the Western Empire as Caesar from 355 to 360 and was hailed Augustus by his legions in Lutetia (Paris) in 360. Julian was a gifted administrator and military strategist. Famed as the last pagan emperor, his reinstatement of the pagan religion earned him the moniker "the Apostate." As evidenced by his brilliant writing, some of which has survived to the present day, the title "the Philosopher" may have been more appropriate. He died from wounds suffered during the Persian campaign of 363 A.D. Joseph Sermarini, FORVM.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1ah Marcus AgrippaDied 12 BC
As, minted by Caligula.
Head left wearing rostral crownt, M AGRIPPA L F COS III
Neptune standing facing, head left, naked except for cloak draped behind him & over both arms, holding small dolphin in right hand & vertical trident in left, SC
RIC 58
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (c 63 BC–12 BC) was a close friend, and defence minister of the future emperor Augustus. He was responsible for many of his military victories, most notably Actium against the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII of Egypt. He was son-in-law to Augustus, maternal grandfather of the Emperor Caligula, father-in-law of the Emperors Tiberius and Claudius, and maternal great-grandfather of the Emperor Nero. He probably served in Caesar’s campaign of 46/45 BC against Pompey and Caesar regarded him highly enough to send him with Octavius in 45 BC to study at Apollonia. From then on Agrippa played a major part in Augustus’ career, as military commander and admiral, also undertaking major public works, and writing works on geography (following his survey of the Empire) and other subjects. He erected many fine buildings in Rome, including the original Pantheon on the Campus Martius (during his third consulship 27 BC). He married Claudia Marcella the Elder, daughter of Octavia the Younger in 28 BC, and Julia the Elder in 21 BC, with whom he had five children. His daughter Agrippina Vipsania the Younger the married Tiberius, and his daughter Agrippina Vipsania the Elder married Germanicus. His last campaign initiated the conquest of the upper Danube region, which would become the Roman province of Pannonia in 13 BC. Augustus had Agrippa’s remains placed in his own mausoleum. Ronald Syme offers a compelling case that Agrippa was much more co-ruler of the empire with Augustus than he was a subordinate.Blindado
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1am DrususHeir to throne until assassination by Sejanus in 23
As
Bare head, left, DRVSVS CAESAR TI AVG F DIVI AVG N
PONTIF TRIBVN POTEST ITER SC
RIC 45
Nero Claudius Drusus, later adopted as Drusus Julius Caesar (13BC - 23AD), called Drusus the Younger, was the only child of Tiberius and his first wife, Vipsania Agrippina. Tiberius and Drusus delivered the only two eulogies for Augustus in front of the temple to the god Julius. In 14, after the death of Augustus, Drusus suppressed a mutiny in Pannonia. In 15 he became consul. He governed Illyricum from 17 to 20. In 21 he was again consul, while in 22 he received tribunicia potestas (tribunician power), a distinction reserved solely for the emperor or his immediate successor. Drusus married his paternal cousin Livilla in 4. Their daughter Julia was born shortly after. Their son Tiberius Gemellus (his twin brother Germanicus Gemellus died in infancy) was born in 19. By 23 Drusus, who made no secret of his antipathy towards Sejanus, looked likely to succeed Tiberius as emperor. Sources concur that with Livilla as his accomplice Sejanous poisoned her husband Drusus.
Suetonius says, "He lacked affection not only for his adopted son Germanicus, but even for his own son Drusus the Younger, whose vices were inimical to him, Drusus indeed pursing loose and immoral ways. So inimical, that Tiberius seemed unaffected by his death (in 23AD), and quickly took up his usual routine after the funeral, cutting short the period of mourning. When a deputation from Troy offered him belated condolences, he smiled as if at a distant memory, and offered them like sympathy for the loss of their famous fellow-citizen Hector!"Blindado
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1an GermanicusAdopted by Tiberius in 4 AD, died mysteriously in 19
As, struck by Caligula
Bare head, left, GERMANICVS CAESAR TI AVGVST F DIVI AVG N
C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT SC
RIC 57
Germanicus Julius Caesar (c16 BC-AD 19) was was born in Lugdunum, Gaul (modern Lyon). At birth he was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle. He received the agnomen Germanicus, in 9 BC, when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honour of his victories in Germania. Germanicus was the grandson-in-law and great-nephew of the Emperor Augustus, nephew and adoptive son of the Emperor Tiberius, father of the Emperor Caligula, brother of the Emperor Claudius, and the maternal grandfather of the Emperor Nero. He married his maternal second cousin Agrippina the Elder, a granddaughter of Augustus, between 5 and 1 BC. The couple had nine children. Two died very young; another, Gaius Julius Caesar, died in early childhood. The remaining six were: Nero Caesar, Drusus Caesar, the Emperor Caligula, the Empress Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla, and Julia Livilla.
According to Suetonius: Germanicus, who was the son of Drusus the Elder and Antonia the Younger, was adopted (in 4AD) by Germanicus’s paternal uncle, Tiberius. He served as quaestor (in7AD) five years before the legal age and became consul (in12AD) without holding the intermediate offices. On the death of Augustus (in AD14) he was appointed to command the army in Germany, where, his filial piety and determination vying for prominence, he held the legions to their oath, though they stubbornly opposed Tiberius’s succession, and wished him to take power for himself.
He followed this with victory in Germany, for which he celebrated a triumph (in 17 AD), and was chosen as consul for a second time (18 AD) though unable to take office as he was despatched to the East to restore order there. He defeated the forces of the King of Armenia, and reduced Cappadocia to provincial status, but then died at Antioch, at the age of only thirty-three (in AD 19), after a lingering illness, though there was also suspicion that he had been poisoned. For as well as the livid stains which covered his body, and the foam on his lips, the heart was found entire among the ashes after his cremation, its total resistance to flame being a characteristic of that organ, they say, when it is filled with poison.
All considered Germanicus exceptional in body and mind, to a quite outstanding degree. Remarkably brave and handsome; a master of Greek and Latin oratory and learning; singularly benevolent; he was possessed of a powerful desire and vast capacity for winning respect and inspiring affection.
His scrawny legs were less in keeping with the rest of his figure, but he gradually fleshed them out by assiduous exercise on horseback after meals. He often killed enemy warriors in hand-to-hand combat; still pleaded cases in the courts even after receiving his triumph; and left various Greek comedies behind amongst other fruits of his studies.
At home and abroad his manners were unassuming, such that he always entered free or allied towns without his lictors.
Whenever he passed the tombs of famous men, he always offered a sacrifice to their shades. And he was the first to initiate a personal search for the scattered remains of Varus’s fallen legionaries, and have them gathered together, so as to inter them in a single burial mound.
As for Germanicus, Tiberius appreciated him so little, that he dismissed his famous deeds as trivial, and his brilliant victories as ruinous to the Empire. He complained to the Senate when Germanicus left for Alexandria (AD19) without consulting him, on the occasion there of a terrible and swift-spreading famine. It was even believed that Tiberius arranged for his poisoning at the hands of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, the Governor of Syria, and that Piso would have revealed the written instructions at his trial, had Tiberius not retrieved them during a private interview, before having Piso put to death. As a result, the words: ‘Give us back Germanicus!’ were posted on the walls, and shouted at night, all throughout Rome. The suspicion surrounding Germanicus’ death (19 AD) was deepened by Tiberius’s cruel treatment of Germanicus’s wife, Agrippina the Elder, and their children.Blindado
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1ao Caligula37-41
As
Bare head, left, C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT
Vesta std, VESTA SC
RIC 38
The son of Germanicus, modern research suggests, was not as bad a ruler as history generally supposes, but the winners write the history, and Caligula had the dubious honor of being the first loser to die in the purple at the hand of assassins.
Suetonius recorded: Gaius Caesar (Caligula) was born on the 31st of August AD12, in the consulship of his father, Germanicus, and Gaius Fonteius Capito. The sources disagree as to his place of birth. Gnaeus Lentulus Gaetulicus claims it was Tibur (Tivoli), Pliny the Elder, says it was among the Treveri in the village of Ambitarvium, above Confluentes (the site of Koblenz) at the junction of the Moselle and Rhine. . . . His surname Caligula (‘Little Boot’) was bestowed on him affectionately by the troops because he was brought up amongst them, dressed in soldier’s gear.
Caligula accompanied his father, Germanicus, to Syria (in AD 19). On his return, he lived with his mother, Agrippina the Elder until she was exiled (in 29 AD), and then with his great-grandmother Livia. When Livia died (in 29 AD), he gave her eulogy from the rostra even though he was not of age. He was then cared for by his grandmother Antonia the Younger, until at the age of eighteen Tiberius summoned him to Capreae (Capri, in AD 31). On that day he assumed his gown of manhood and shaved off his first beard, but without the ceremony that had attended his brothers’ coming of age.
On Capraea, though every trick was tried to lure him, or force him, into making complaints against Tiberius, he ignored all provocation, . . . behaving so obsequiously to his adoptive grandfather, Tiberius, and the entire household, that the quip made regarding him was well borne out, that there was never a better slave or a worse master.
Even in those days, his cruel and vicious character was beyond his control, and he was an eager spectator of torture and executions meted out in punishment. At night, disguised in wig and long robe, he abandoned himself to gluttony and adulterous behaviour. He was passionately devoted it seems to the theatrical arts, to dancing and singing, a taste in him which Tiberius willingly fostered, in the hope of civilizing his savage propensities.
And came near to assuming a royal diadem at once, turning the semblance of a principate into an absolute monarchy. Indeed, advised by this that he outranked princes and kings, he began thereafter to claim divine power, sending to Greece for the most sacred or beautiful statues of the gods, including the Jupiter of Olympia, so that the heads could be exchanged for his own. He then extended the Palace as far as the Forum, making the Temple of Castor and Pollux its vestibule, and would often present himself to the populace there, standing between the statues of the divine brothers, to be worshipped by whoever appeared, some hailing him as ‘Jupiter Latiaris’. He also set up a special shrine to himself as god, with priests, the choicest sacrificial victims, and a life-sized golden statue of himself, which was dressed each day in clothes of identical design to those he chose to wear.
He habitually committed incest with each of his three sisters, seating them in turn below him at large banquets while his wife reclined above. . . . His preferred method of execution was by the infliction of many slight wounds, and his order, issued as a matter of routine, became notorious: ‘Cut him so he knows he is dying.’ Blindado
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1ao3 Julia DrusillaAE 20 of Smyrna (Izmir, Turkey)
Laureate head of Caligula, right, ΓAION KAICAPA EΠI AOYIOΛA
Drusilla as Persephone seated left, poppies between two stalks of grain in right hand, long scepter vertical behind in left hand, ∆POYCIΛΛAN ZMYPNAIΩN MHNOΦANHC
Caligula’s sister
Klose XXVIII, 27 (Vs4/Rs10); RPC I 2472; SNG Cop 1343; SNGvA 2202; BMC Ionia p. 269, 272
According to Suetonius’ salacious account: Germanicus had married Agrippina the Elder, daughter of Marcus Agrippa and Julia the Elder, and she had borne him nine children. Two died in infancy, another in early childhood. . . .
The other children survived their father: three girls, Agrippina the Younger, Drusilla and Livilla, born in successive years; and three boys, Nero, Drusus, and Gaius Caesar (Caligula). . . . [Caligula] habitually committed incest with each of his three sisters, seating them in turn below him at large banquets while his wife reclined above. It is believed that he violated Drusilla’s virginity while a minor, and been caught in bed with her by his grandmother Antonia, in whose household they were jointly raised. Later, when Drusilla was married to Lucius Cassius Longinus, an ex-consul, he took her from him and openly treated her as his lawful married wife. When he fell ill he made her heir to his estate and the throne.
When Drusilla died (in 38AD) he declared a period of public mourning during which it was a capital offense to laugh, or bathe, or to dine with parents, spouse or children. Caligula himself was so overcome with grief that he fled the City in the middle of the night, and travelled through Campania, and on to Syracuse, returning again with the same degree of haste, and without cutting his hair or shaving. From that time forwards whenever he took an important oath, even in public or in front of the army, he always swore by Drusilla’s divinity.Blindado
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1ap_2 MessalinaThird wife of Claudius, married in 38 (?)
AE 20, Knossos mint
Bare head of Claudius left, CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS
Draped bust of Messalina right, VALERIA MESSALINA [CAPITONE CYTHERONTE IIVIR] or [CYTHERO CAPITONE] (end of legend off flan)
According to Suetonius: [Claudius] was betrothed twice at an early age: to Aemilia Lepida, great-granddaughter of Augustus, and to Livia Medullina, who also had the surname of Camilla and was descended from the ancient family of Camillus the dictator. He put away the former before their marriage, because her parents had offended Augustus; the latter was taken ill and died on the very day which had been set for the wedding. He then married Plautia Urgulanilla, whose father had been honoured with a triumph, and later Aelia Paetina, daughter of an ex-consul. He divorced both these, Paetina for trivial offences, but Urgulanilla because of scandalous lewdness and the suspicion of murder. Then he married Valeria Messalina, daughter of his cousin Messala Barbatus. But when he learned that besides other shameful and wicked deeds she had actually married Gaius Silius, and that a formal contract had been signed in the presence of witnesses, he put her to death and declared before the assembled praetorian guard that inasmuch as his marriages did not turn out well, he would remain a widower, and if he did not keep his word, he would not refuse death at their hands. . . . [He later married Agrippina Jr.]
He had children by three of his wives: by Urgulanilla, Drusus and Claudia; by Paetina, Antonia; by Messalina, Octavia and a son, at first called Germanicus and later Britannicus. . . .
But it is beyond all belief, that at the marriage which Messalina had contracted with her paramour Silius he signed the contract for the dowry with his own hand, being induced to do so on the ground that the marriage was a feigned one, designed to avert and turn upon another a danger which was inferred from certain portents to threaten the emperor himself. . . .
He was so terror-stricken by unfounded reports of conspiracies that he had tried to abdicate. When, as I have mentioned before, a man with a dagger was caught near him as he was sacrificing, he summoned the senate in haste by criers and loudly and tearfully bewailed his lot, saying that there was no safety for him anywhere; and for a long time he would not appear in public. His ardent love for Messalina too was cooled, not so much by her unseemly and insulting conduct, as through fear of danger, since he believed that her paramour Silius aspired to the throne. . . .
Appius Silanus met his downfall. When Messalina and Narcissus had put their heads together to destroy him, they agreed on their parts and the latter rushed into his patron's bed-chamber before daybreak in pretended consternation, declaring that he had dreamed that Appius had made an attack on the emperor. Then Messalina, with assumed surprise, declared that she had had the same dream for several successive nights. A little later, as had been arranged, Appius, who had received orders the day before to come at that time, was reported to be forcing his way in, and as if were proof positive of the truth of the dream, his immediate accusation and death were ordered. . . .
Blindado
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1aq Agrippina juniorMarried Claudius 49 AD
Diobol of Alexandria
Draped bust right, wreathed with corn, hair bound in plait behind, AGRIPPEINA CЄBACTH
Draped bust of Euthenia right, wreathed with corn, holding ears of corn, ЄYQH-NIA across fields, L-IB below
Milne 124
Agrippina the Younger, Julia Agrippina, or Agrippinilla (Little Agrippina) after 50 AD known as Julia Augusta Agrippina (c16 AD –59) was sister of Caligula, niece and fourth wife of Claudius and the mother of Nero. In 28, Tiberius arranged for Agrippina to marry her paternal second cousin Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. Their only son was named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, after Domitius’s recently deceased father. This child would become the Emperor Nero. In 39, Agrippina and her sister Livilla, with their maternal cousin, Drusilla’s widower, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, were involved in a failed plot to murder Caligula, and make Lepidus emperor. Lepidus was executed. Agrippina and Livilla were exiled by their brother to the Pontine Islands.
Suetonius says, "But it was Agrippina the Younger, his brother Germanicus’s daughter, who ensnared him, assisted by a niece’s privilege of exchanging kisses and endearments. At the next Senate meeting, he primed a group of Senators to propose that he ought to marry Agrippina, as it was in the public interest, and that such marriages between uncle and niece should from then on be regarded as lawful, and no longer incestuous. He married her (AD 49) with barely a day’s delay, but only one freedman and one leading centurion married their respective nieces, to follow suit. Claudius himself, with Agrippina, attended the centurion’s wedding."
The Euthenia reverse reminds one of "euthanasia." which is what some suspect she did to Claudius to elevate her son Nero to the purple.Blindado
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1ar Nero54-68
As
Bare head, right, IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P MAX TR P P P
Genius, GENIO AVGVSTI
RIC 86
Suetonius wrote: Nero was born nine months after the death of Tiberius, at Antium, at sunrise on the 15th of December (AD 37). . . . While he was still a young stripling he took part in a successful performance of the Troy Game in the Circus, in which he exhibited great self-possession. At the age of twelve or so (sometime in AD 50), he was adopted by Claudius, who appointed Annaeus Seneca, already a member of the Senate, as his tutor. The following night, it is said, Seneca dreamed that his young charge was really Caligula, and Nero soon proved the dream prophetic by seizing the first opportunity to reveal his cruel disposition. . . . After Claudius’s death (AD 54) had been announced publicly, Nero, who was not quite seventeen years old, decided to address the Guards in the late afternoon, since inauspicious omens that day had ruled out an earlier appearance. After being acclaimed Emperor on the Palace steps, he was carried in a litter to the Praetorian Camp where he spoke to the Guards, and then to the House where he stayed until evening. He refused only one of the many honours that were heaped upon him, that of ‘Father of the Country’, and declined that simply on account of his youth.
Eutropius summarized: To him succeeded NERO, who greatly resembled his uncle Caligula, and both disgraced and weakened the Roman empire; he indulged in such extraordinary luxury and extravagance, that, after the example of Caius Caligula, he even bathed in hot and cold perfumes, and fished with golden nets, which he drew up with cords of purple silk. He put to death a very great number of the senate. To all good men he was an enemy. At last he exposed himself in so disgraceful a manner, that he danced and sung upon the stage in the dress of a harp-player and tragedian. He was guilty of many murders, his brother, wife, and mother, being put to death by him. He set on fire the city of Rome, that he might enjoy the sight of a spectacle such as Troy formerly presented when taken and burned.
In military affairs he attempted nothing. Britain he almost lost; for two of its most noble towns4 were taken and levelled to the ground under his reign. The Parthians took from him Armenia, and compelled the Roman legions to pass under the yoke. Two provinces however were formed under him; Pontus Polemoniacus, by the concession of King Polemon; and the Cottian Alps, on the death of King Cottius.
15 When, having become detestable by such conduct to the city of Rome, and being deserted at the same time by every one, and declared an enemy by the senate, he was sought for to be led to punishment (the punishment being, that he should be dragged naked through the streets, with a fork placed under his head,5 be beaten to death with rods, and then hurled from the Tarpeian rock), he fled from the palace, and killed himself in a suburban villa of one of his freed-men, between the Salarian and Nomentane roads, at the fourth milestone from the city. He built those hot baths at Rome, which were formerly called the Neronian, but now the Alexandrian. He died in the thirty-second year of his age, and the fourteenth year of his reign; and in him all the family of Augustus became extinct.
Having successfully dispatched his scheming mother Agrippina in 59 and survived a decade on the throne, Nero must have felt like a genius when this was minted ca 64 AD!Blindado
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1bc Trajan98-117
Sestertius
Laureate head, right, IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V PP
Roma and kneeling Dacian, SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI SC
RIC 485
Eutropius enthused: To [Nerva] succeeded ULPIUS CRINITUS TRAJANUS, born at Italica in Spain, of a family rather ancient than eminent for his father was the first consul in it. He was chosen emperor at Agrippina, a city of Gaul. He exercised the government in such a manner, that he is deservedly preferred to all the other emperors. He was a man of extraordinary skill in managing affairs of state, and of remarkable courage. The limits of the Roman empire, which, since the reign of Augustus, had been rather defended than honourably enlarged, he extended far and wide. He rebuilt some cities in Germany; he subdued Dacia by the overthrow of Decebalus, and formed a province beyond the Danube, in that territory which the Thaiphali, Victoali, and Theruingi now occupy. This province was a thousand miles in circumference.
He recovered Armenia, which the Parthians had seized, putting to death Parthamasires who held the government of it. He gave a king to the Albani. He received into alliance the king of the Iberians, Sarmatians, Bosporani, Arabians, Osdroeni, and Colchians. He obtained the mastery over the Cordueni and Marcomedi, as well as over Anthemusia, an extensive region of Persia. He conquered and kept possession of Seleucia, Ctesiphon, Babylon, and the country of the Messenii. He advanced as far as the boundaries of India, and the Red Sea, where he formed three provinces, Armenia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, including the tribes which border on Madena. He afterwards, too, reduced Arabia into the form of a province. He also fitted out a fleet for the Red Sea, that he might use it to lay waste the coasts of India.
Yet he went beyond his glory in war, in ability and judgment as a ruler, conducting himself as an equal towards all, going often to his friends as a visitor, either when they were ill, or when they were celebrating feast days, and entertaining them in his turn at banquets where there was no distinction of rank, and sitting frequently with them in their chariots; doing nothing unjust towards any of the senators, nor being guilty of any dishonesty to fill his treasury; exercising liberality to all, enriching with offices of trust, publicly and privately, every body whom he had known even with the least familiarity; building towns throughout the world, granting many immunities to states, and doing every thing with gentleness and kindness; so that during his whole reign, there was but one senator condemned, and he was sentenced by the senate without Trajan's knowledge. Hence, being regarded throughout the world as next to a god, he deservedly obtained the highest veneration both living and dead. . . .
After having gained the greatest glory both in the field and at home, he was cut off, as he was returning from Persia, by a diarrhoea, at Seleucia in Isauria. He died in the sixty-third year, ninth month, and fourth day of his age, and in the nineteenth year, sixth month, and fifteenth day of his reign. He was enrolled among the gods, and was the only one of all the emperors that was buried within the city. His bones, contained in a golden urn, lie in the forum which he himself built, under a pillar whose height is a hundred and forty-four feet. So much respect has been paid to his memory, that, even to our own times, they shout in acclamations to the emperors, "More fortunate than Augustus, better than Trajan!" Blindado
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1db Saloninus259
Son of Gallienus
Antoninianus
Radiate draped bust, right, SALON VALERIANVS NOB CAES
Sacrificial implements, PIETAS AVG
RIC 9
Zosimus recorded Saloninus' fate: After this, Posthumus, who commanded the Celtic army, was also inclined towards innovation, and accompanied some soldiers that revolted at the same time to Agrippina, which is the principal city on the Rhine, in which he besieged Saloninus, the son of Gallienus, threatening to remain before the walls until he was given up to him. On this account the soldiers found it necessary to surrender both him and Silvanus, whom his father had appointed his guardian, both of whom Posthumus put to death, and made himself sovereign of the Celtae.
Blindado
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1df Victorinus268-270
AE Antoninianus
Radiate, cuirassed bust, right, IMP C VICTORINVS P F AVG
Pax walking left, holding olive-branch and sceptre, PAX AVG
RIC 55
According to the Historia Augusta: When the elder Postumus saw that Gallienus was marching against him with great forces, and that he needed the aid not only of soldiers but also of a second prince, he called Victorinus, a man of soldierly energy, to a share in the imperial power, and in company
with him he fought against Gallienus. Having summoned to their aid huge forces of Germans, they protracted the war for a long time, but at last they were conquered. Then, when Lollianus, too, had been slain, Victorinus alone remained in command. He also, because he devoted his time to seducing the wives of his soldiers and officers, was slain at Agrippina l through a conspiracy formed by a certain clerk, whose wife he had debauched ; his mother Vitruvia, or rather Victoria, who was later called Mother of the Camp, had given his son Victorinus the title of Caesar, but the boy, too, was immediately killed after his father was slain at Agrippina. [Scholars doubt that Postumus raised Victorianus to the purple, they he was one of his generals, and suggest a held power later during the time of Claudius.]Blindado
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4. Agrippina the ElderDenomination: AE Sestertius
Date: AD 50-54, struck under Claudius.
Obv: AGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI CAESARIS, draped bust to right.
Rev: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P around S C.
Diameter: 36mm
Weight: 26.92 grams
Mint: Rome
RIC I 102
Ex Roma Numismatics E-Sale 81 (25 February 2021), lot 1059.
Romancollector
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41-54 AD - AGRIPPINA Senior AE Sestertius - struck under Claudius (ca.42-43 AD)obv: AGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI CAESARIS (draped bust right, hair behind in an elaborate plait)
rev: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P around large SC
ref: RIC I 102 [Claudius], Cohen 3, BMC 219
mint: Rome
25.89gms, 35mm
Rare
Agrippina was the wife of Germanicus, and the father of six children who survived into adulthood, including the emperor Caligula. She was banished by Tiberius to the island of Pandataria, where she died of starvation in 33 AD. Her memory was honored under Caligula and Claudius.berserker
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41-54 AD - CLAUDIUS & AGRIPPINA Junior AE18 of Ephesos - struck 49-50 ADobv: Jugate laureate heads of Claudius and draped bust of Agrippina II, right
rev: EFE / KOYCI-NIOC / TO-D (stag standing right) (D = episcopus for the fourth time)
ref: BMC 205, RPC 2624, SNG Cop.373
mint: Ephesos
6.49 gms, 18 mm
Very rare - original green patina
Julia Agrippina (Agrippina the Younger) was the 4th wife of the emperor Claudius. She was murdered by her son, Nero, in 59 A.D. berserker
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704a, Caligula, 16 March 37 - 24 January 41 A.D.Caligula, 37 - 41 AD, Ionia, Smyrna. AE 17mm. Klose, Smyrna 27a. RPC 2473. 2.89 gm. Fine. Menophanes, Aviola, Procos, 37-38 AD. Obverse: AION, laureate head right; Reverse: Nike holding wreath right. Ex Tom Vossen.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
GAIUS (CALIGULA) (A.D. 37-41)
Garrett G. Fagan
Pennsylvania State University
Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Caligula) was born on 31 August, A.D. 12, probably at the Julio-Claudian resort of Antium (modern Anzio), the third of six children born to Augustus's adopted grandson, Germanicus, and Augustus's granddaughter, Agrippina. Caligula was the Roman Emperor between A.D. 37-41). Unfortunately, his is the most poorly documented reign of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The literary sources for these four years are meager, frequently anecdotal, and universally hostile.[[1]] As a result, not only are many of the events of the reign unclear, but Gaius himself appears more as a caricature than a real person, a crazed megalomaniac given to capricious cruelty. Although some headway can be made in disentangling truth from embellishment, the true character of the youthful emperor will forever elude us.
As a baby he accompanied his parents on military campaigns in the north and was shown to the troops wearing a miniature soldier's outfit, including the hob-nailed sandal called caliga, whence the nickname by which posterity remembers him. His childhood was not a happy one, spent amid an atmosphere of paranoia, suspicion, and murder. Instability within the Julio-Claudian house, generated by uncertainty over the succession, led to a series of personal tragedies.
When Tiberius died on 16 March A.D. 37, Gaius was in a perfect position to assume power, despite the obstacle of Tiberius's will, which named him and his cousin Tiberius Gemellus joint heirs. (Gemellus's life was shortened considerably by this bequest, since Gaius ordered him killed within a matter of months.) Backed by the Praetorian Prefect Q. Sutorius Macro, Gaius asserted his dominance. He had Tiberius's will declared null and void on grounds of insanity, accepted the powers of the Principate as conferred by the Senate, and entered Rome on 28 March amid scenes of wild rejoicing. His first acts were generous in spirit: he paid Tiberius's bequests and gave a cash bonus to the Praetorian Guard, the first recorded donativum to troops in imperial history.
The ancient sources are practically unanimous as to the cause of Gaius's downfall: he was insane. The writers differ as to how this condition came about, but all agree that after his good start Gaius began to behave in an openly autocratic manner, even a crazed one. The sources describe his incestuous relations with his sisters, laughable military campaigns in the north, the building of a pontoon bridge across the Bay at Baiae, and the plan to make his horse a consul. Their unanimous hostility renders their testimony suspect, especially since Gaius's reported behavior fits remarkably well with that of the ancient tyrant, a literary type enshrined in Greco-Roman tradition centuries before his reign. Further, the only eye-witness account of Gaius's behavior, Philo's Embassy to Gaius, offers little evidence of outright insanity, despite the antagonism of the author, whom Gaius treated with the utmost disrespect.
The conspiracy that ended Gaius's life was hatched among the officers of the Praetorian Guard, apparently for purely personal reasons. It appears also to have had the support of some senators and an imperial freedman. As with conspiracies in general, there are suspicions that the plot was more broad-based than the sources intimate, and it may even have enjoyed the support of the next emperor Claudius, but these propositions are not provable on available evidence. On 24 January A.D. 41 the praetorian tribune Cassius Chaerea and other guardsmen caught Gaius alone in a secluded palace corridor and cut him down. He was 28 years old and had ruled three years and ten months.
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. For the elite, this situation proved intolerable and ensured the blackening of Caligula's name in the historical record they would dictate. The sensational and hostile nature of that record, however, should in no way trivialize Gaius's importance. His reign highlighted an inherent weakness in the Augustan Principate, now openly revealed for what it was -- a raw monarchy in which only the self-discipline of the incumbent acted as a restraint on his behavior. That the only means of retiring the wayward princes was murder marked another important revelation: Roman emperors could not relinquish their powers without simultaneously relinquishing their lives.
Copyright © 1997, Garrett G. Fagan.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Ancient Smyrna
The 5,000 year-old city of Izmir is one of the oldest cities of the Mediterranean basin. The original city was established in the third millennium BC (at present day Bayraklı), at which time it shared with Troy the most advanced culture in Anatolia.
Greek settlement is attested by the presence of pottery dating from about 1000 BC. In the first millennium BC Izmir, then known as Smyrna, ranked as one of the most important cities of the Ionian Federation. During this period, it is believed that the epic poet Homer resided here.
Lydian conquest of the city around 600 BC brought this golden age to an end. Smyrna was little more than a village throughout the Lydian and subsequent sixth century BC Persian rule. In the fourth century BC a new city was built on the slopes of Mt. Pagos (Kadifekale) during the reign of Alexander the Great. Smyrna's Roman period, beginning in the first century BC, was its second great era.
In the first century AD, Smyrna became one of the earliest centers of Christianity and it was one of the Seven Churches of Revelation. Both Revelation and the Martyrdom of Polycarp indicate the existence of a Jewish community in Smyrna as early as the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The letter to the church at Smyrna in Revelation indicates that the Christians were spiritually "rich" and apparently in conflict with the Jews (2:9).
The origins of the Christian community there, which was established in the 1st century, are unknown. Ignatius of Antioch stopped at Smyrna on his way to martyrdom in Rome in 107 AD, and he sent a letter back to the Christians there from later in his journey. Smyrna's bishop, Polycarp, was burned at the stake in Smyrna's stadium around 156 AD.
Byzantine rule came in the fourth century and lasted until the Seljuk conquest in 11th century. In 1415, under Sultan Mehmed Çelebi, Smyrna became part of the Ottoman Empire.
The city earned its fame as one of the most important port cities of the world during the 17th to 19th centuries. The majority of its population were Greek but merchants of various origins (especially Greek, French, Italian, Dutch, Armenian, Sephardi and Jewish) transformed the city into a cosmopolitan portal of trade. During this period, the city was famous for its own brand of music (Smyrneika) as well as its wide range of products it exported to Europe (Smyrna/Sultana raisins, dried figs, carpets, etc.).
Today, Izmir is Turkey's third largest city and is nicknamed "the pearl of Aegean." It is widely regarded as the most Westernized city of Turkey in terms of values, ideology, gender roles, and lifestyle.
© 2005-08 Sacred Destinations. All rights reserved.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/izmir-history.htm
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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706a, Nero, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D.6, Nero, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D. AE setertius, Date: 66 AD; RIC I 516, 36.71 mm; 25.5 grams; aVF. Obverse: IMP NERO CAESAR AVG PONT MAX TR POT PP, Laureate bust right; Reverse: S C, ROMA, Roma seated left, exceptional portrait and full obverse legends. Ex Ancient Imports.
NERO (54-68 A.D.)
It is difficult for the modern student of history to realize just how popular Nero actually was, at least at the beginning of his reign. Rome looked upon her new Emperor with hope. He was the student of Seneca, and he had a sensitive nature. He loved art, music, literature, and theatre. He was also devoted to horses and horse racing—a devotion shared by many of his subjects. The plebs loved their new Emperor. As Professor of Classics Judith P. Hallett (University of Maryland, College Park) says, “It is not clear to me that Nero ever changed or that Nero ever grew-up, and that was both his strength and his weakness. Nero was an extraordinarily popular Emperor: he was like Elvis” (The Roman Empire in the First Century, III. Dir. Margaret Koval and Lyn Goldfarb. 2001. DVD. PBS/Warner Bros. 2003).
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Herbert W. Benario
Emory University
Introduction and Sources
The five Julio-Claudian emperors are very different one from the other. Augustus dominates in prestige and achievement from the enormous impact he had upon the Roman state and his long service to Rome, during which he attained unrivaled auctoritas. Tiberius was clearly the only possible successor when Augustus died in AD 14, but, upon his death twenty-three years later, the next three were a peculiar mix of viciousness, arrogance, and inexperience. Gaius, better known as Caligula, is generally styled a monster, whose brief tenure did Rome no service. His successor Claudius, his uncle, was a capable man who served Rome well, but was condemned for being subject to his wives and freedmen. The last of the dynasty, Nero, reigned more than three times as long as Gaius, and the damage for which he was responsible to the state was correspondingly greater. An emperor who is well described by statements such as these, "But above all he was carried away by a craze for popularity and he was jealous of all who in any way stirred the feeling of the mob." and "What an artist the world is losing!" and who is above all remembered for crimes against his mother and the Christians was indeed a sad falling-off from the levels of Augustus and Tiberius. Few will argue that Nero does not rank as one of the worst emperors of all.
The prime sources for Nero's life and reign are Tacitus' Annales 12-16, Suetonius' Life of Nero, and Dio Cassius' Roman History 61-63, written in the early third century. Additional valuable material comes from inscriptions, coinage, papyri, and archaeology.
Early Life
He was born on December 15, 37, at Antium, the son of Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbusand Agrippina. Domitius was a member of an ancient noble family, consul in 32; Agrippina was the daughter of the popular Germanicus, who had died in 19, and Agrippina, daughter of Agrippa, Augustus' closest associate, and Julia, the emperor's daughter, and thus in direct descent from the first princeps. When the child was born, his uncle Gaius had only recently become emperor. The relationship between mother and uncle was difficult, and Agrippina suffered occasional humiliation. But the family survived the short reign of the "crazy" emperor, and when he was assassinated, it chanced that Agrippina's uncle, Claudius, was the chosen of the praetorian guard, although there may have been a conspiracy to accomplish this.
Ahenobarbus had died in 40, so the son was now the responsibility of Agrippina alone. She lived as a private citizen for much of the decade, until the death of Messalina, the emperor's wife, in 48 made competition among several likely candidates to become the new empress inevitable. Although Roman law forbade marriage between uncle and niece, an eloquent speech in the senate by Lucius Vitellius, Claudius' closest advisor in the senatorial order, persuaded his audience that the public good required their union. The marriage took place in 49, and soon thereafter the philosopher Seneca [[PIR2 A617]] was recalled from exile to become the young Domitius' tutor, a relationship which endured for some dozen years.
His advance was thereafter rapid. He was adopted by Claudius the following year and took the name Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar or Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was preferred to Claudius' natural son, Britannicus, who was about three years younger, was betrothed to the emperor's daughter Octavia, and was, in the eyes of the people, the clear successor to the emperor. In 54, Claudius died, having eaten some poisoned mushrooms, responsibility for which was believed to be Agrippina's, and the young Nero, not yet seventeen years old, was hailed on October 13 as emperor by the praetorian guard.
The First Years of Rule
The first five years of Nero's rule are customarily called the quinquennium, a period of good government under the influence, not always coinciding, of three people, his mother, Seneca, and Sextus Afranius Burrus, the praetorian prefect. The latter two were allies in their "education" of the emperor. Seneca continued his philosophical and rhetorical training, Burrus was more involved in advising on the actualities of government. They often combined their influence against Agrippina, who, having made her son emperor, never let him forget the debt he owed his mother, until finally, and fatally, he moved against her.
Nero's betrothal to Octavia was a significant step in his ultimate accession to the throne, as it were, but she was too quiet, too shy, too modest for his taste. He was early attracted to Poppaea Sabina, the wife of Otho, and she continually goaded him to break from Octavia and to show himself an adult by opposing his mother. In his private life, Nero honed the musical and artistic tastes which were his chief interest, but, at this stage, they were kept private, at the instigation of Seneca and Burrus.
As the year 59 began, Nero had just celebrated his twenty-first birthday and now felt the need to employ the powers which he possessed as emperor as he wished, without the limits imposed by others. Poppaea's urgings had their effect, first of all, at the very onset of the year, with Nero's murder of his mother in the Bay of Naples.
Agrippina had tried desperately to retain her influence with her son, going so far as to have intercourse with him. But the break between them proved irrevocable, and Nero undertook various devices to eliminate his mother without the appearance of guilt on his part. The choice was a splendid vessel which would collapse while she was on board. As this happened, she swam ashore and, when her attendant, having cried out that she was Agrippina, was clubbed to death, Agrippina knew what was going on. She sent Nero a message that she was well; his response was to send a detachment of sailors to finish the job. When she was struck across the head, she bared her womb and said, "Strike here, Anicetus, strike here, for this bore Nero," and she was brutally murdered.
Nero was petrified with fear when he learned that the deed had been done, yet his popularity with the plebs of Rome was not impaired. This matricide, however, proved a turning point in his life and principate. It appeared that all shackles were now removed. The influence of Seneca and Burrus began to wane, and when Burrus died in 62, Seneca realized that his powers of persuasion were at an end and soon went into retirement. Britannicus had died as early as 55; now Octavia was to follow, and Nero became free to marry Poppaea. It may be that it had been Burrus rather than Agrippina who had continually urged that Nero's position depended in large part upon his marriage to Octavia. Burrus' successor as commander of the praetorian guard, although now with a colleague, was Ofonius Tigellinus, quite the opposite of Burrus in character and outlook. Tigellinus became Nero's "evil twin," urging and assisting in the performance of crimes and the satisfaction of lusts.
Administrative and Foreign Policy
With Seneca and Burrus in charge of administration at home, the first half-dozen years of Nero's principate ran smoothly. He himself devoted his attention to his artistic, literary, and physical bents, with music, poetry, and chariot racing to the fore. But his advisors were able to keep these performances and displays private, with small, select audiences on hand. Yet there was a gradual trend toward public performance, with the establishment of games. Further, he spent many nights roaming the city in disguise, with numerous companions, who terrorized the streets and attacked individuals. Those who dared to defend themselves often faced death afterward, because they had shown disrespect for the emperor. The die was being cast for the last phases of Nero's reign.
The Great Fire at Rome and The Punishment
of the Christians
The year 64 was the most significant of Nero's principate up to this point. His mother and wife were dead, as was Burrus, and Seneca, unable to maintain his influence over Nero without his colleague's support, had withdrawn into private life. The abysmal Tigellinus was now the foremost advisor of the still young emperor, a man whose origin was from the lowest levels of society and who can accurately be described as criminal in outlook and action. Yet Nero must have considered that he was happier than he had ever been in his life. Those who had constrained his enjoyment of his (seemingly) limitless power were gone, he was married to Poppaea, a woman with all advantages save for a bad character the empire was essentially at peace, and the people of Rome enjoyed a full measure of panem et circenses. But then occurred one of the greatest disasters that the city of Rome, in its long history, had ever endured.
The fire began in the southeastern angle of the Circus Maximus, spreading through the shops which clustered there, and raged for the better part of a week. There was brief success in controlling the blaze, but then it burst forth once more, so that many people claimed that the fires were deliberately set. After about a fortnight, the fire burned itself out, having consumed ten of the fourteen Augustan regions into which the city had been divided.
Nero was in Antium through much of the disaster, but his efforts at relief were substantial. Yet many believed that he had been responsible, so that he could perform his own work comparing the current fate of Rome to the downfall of Troy. All his efforts to assist the stricken city could not remove the suspicion that "the emperor had fiddled while Rome burned." He lost favor even among the plebs who had been enthusiastic supporters, particularly when his plans for the rebuilding of the city revealed that a very large part of the center was to become his new home.
As his popularity waned, Nero and Tigellinus realized that individuals were needed who could be charged with the disaster. It so happened that there was such a group ready at hand, Christians, who had made themselves unpopular because of their refusal to worship the emperor, their way of life, and their secret meetings. Further, at this time two of their most significant "teachers" were in Rome, Peter and Paul. They were ideal scapegoats, individuals whom most Romans loathed, and who had continually sung of the forthcoming end of the world.
Their destruction was planned with the utmost precision and cruelty, for the entertainment of the populace. The venue was Nero's circus near the Mons Vaticanus. Christians were exposed to wild animals and were set ablaze, smeared with pitch, to illuminate the night. The executions were so grisly that even the populace displayed sympathy for the victims. Separately, Peter was crucified upside down on the Vatican hill and Paul was beheaded along the Via Ostiensis. But Nero's attempt, and hope, to shift all suspicion of arson to others failed. His popularity even among the lower classes was irrevocably impaired.
[For a detailed and interesting discussion of Nero’s reign please see http://www.roman-emperors.org/nero.htm]
The End - Nero's Death and its Aftermath
Nero's and Tigellinus' response to the conspiracy was immediate and long-lasting. The senatorial order was decimated, as one leading member after another was put to death or compelled to commit suicide. The year 66 saw the suicides of perhaps the most distinguished victims of the "reign of terror," Caius Petronius and Thrasea Paetus. Petronius, long a favorite of Nero because of his aesthetic taste, had been an able public servant before he turned to a life of ease and indolence. He was recognized as the arbiter elegantiae of Nero's circle, and may be the author of the Satyricon. At his death, he left for Nero a document which itemized many of the latter's crimes. Thrasea, a staunch Stoic who had been for some years an outspoken opponent of Nero's policies, committed suicide in the Socratic manner. This scene is the last episode in the surviving books of Tacitus' Annals.
In the year 68, revolt began in the provinces. . . the end of Nero's reign became inevitable. Galba claimed the throne and began his march from Spain. Nero panicked and was rapidly abandoned by his supporters. He finally committed suicide with assistance, on June 9, 68, and his body was tended and buried by three women who had been close to him in his younger days, chief of whom was Acte. His death scene is marked above all by the statement, "Qualis artifex pereo," (What an artist dies in me.) Even at the end he was more concerned with his private life than with the affairs of state.
The aftermath of Nero's death was cataclysmic. Galba was the first of four emperors who revealed the new secret of empire, that an emperor could be made elsewhere than in Rome. Civil war ensued, which was only ended by the victory of the fourth claimant, Vespasian, who established the brief dynasty of the Flavians. The dynasty of the Julio-Claudians was at an end.
Nero's popularity among the lower classes remained even after his death.
. . . .
It is not excessive to say that he was one of the worst of Rome's emperors in the first two centuries and more of the empire. Whatever talents he had, whatever good he may have done, all is overwhelmed by three events, the murder of his mother, the fire at Rome, and his savage treatment of the Christians.
Precisely these qualities are the reasons that he has remained so well known and has been the subject of many writers and opera composers in modern times. These works of fiction particularly merit mention: Henryk Sienkiewicz's Quo Vadis, one of the finest works of the 1907 Nobel Laureate in Literature, and John Hersey's The Conspiracy. Nero unquestionably will always be with us.
Copyright (C) 2006, Herbert W. Benario.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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Aezanis, Phrygia, AE 17.9; Head of Persephone r.Agrippina II. Augusta 50-59 A.D. Daughter of Agrippina Sr. and Germanicus, sister of Caligula, wife of Claudius and mother of Nero, was born in 16 A.D. Aezanis, Phrygia, Bronze 2.50g. 17.9mm Obv: AGRIPPINAN SEBASTHN, Head of Agrippina II. r. Rev: AIZANITWN, Head of Persephone r. RPC 3102. Ex Gerhard RohdePodiceps
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AgrippaAgrippa, as (struck under Caligula).
Son-in-law of Augustus.
RIC 58.
11,37 g, 28-29 mm.
Rome, 37-41 A.D.
Obv. M AGRIPPA L F COS III, head of Agrippa left wearing rostral crown.
Rev. S C either side of Neptune standing left holding dolphin and trident.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a renowned Roman general and close friend of Octavian (Augustus). As general, Agrippa defeated the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. In 21 B.C., Augustus married his own daughter Julia to Agrippa. By Julia, Agrippa had two daughters, Vipsania Julia Agrippina and Vipsania Agrippina maior, and three sons, Gaius, Lucius and Agrippa Postumus.Marsman
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Agrippa, As - *Posthumous issue of Caligula, in honour of his grandfather (died 12 BC)
Rome mint, ca AD 37/41
M AGRIPPA L F COS III, head of Agrippa left with rostral crown
Neptun standing left, holding trident and dolphin. Large S C in fields
10.9 gr
Ref : RCV #1812, Cohen #3
Ex Alwin collection
The following commentary is a (quick) translation from CGB about a similar coin :
"Although Augustus associated his close friend Agrippa in his coinage, he didn't for him alone. Gaius honoured the memory of his grandfather, recalling he had been COS III in 27 BC while Augustus was COS VII at the same time.
Gaius, however, as the new emperor would like us to remember his double filiation : Through his father, Germanicus, he's descended from Nero Drusus and Antonia, thus from Tiberius ; through his mother Agrippina the elder, he tells us Agrippa and Julia are his grand parents and he's a grand grand son of Augustus. Agrippa remained prestigious all along the first century CE, although he had died 12 BC. Titus then Domitian will also strike this type, seemingly very succesfull towards population (see RCV 2589 and 2894)"Potator II
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AGRIPPINA IAE Sestertius. 28.08 gm, 7h. Rome mint. Struck under Claudius, 42-54 AD. Draped bust right .
Obverse: AGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI CAESARIS, bare-headed and draped bust right.
Reverse: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P around large SC.
RIC I 102 (Claudius); von Kaenel Type 78; BMCRE 219 (Claudius); Cohen 3.
benito
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Agrippina I (Augusta) Coin: Brass SestertiusAGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI CAESARIS - Draped bust right.
TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P around large SC. - Legend surrounding large S C
Mint: Rome (42-43 AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 26.59g / 38mm / 6h
Rarity: Common
References:
RIC I 102 [Claudius]
BMC 219
Cohen 3
von Kaenel Type 78
BnF II Claudius 236
Provenances:
London Ancient Coins (LAC)
Acquisition/Sale: London Ancient Coins (LAC) VCoins $0.00 04/20
Notes: Apr 5, 20 - The Gary R. Wilson Collection.GRWilson
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Agrippina I Senior AE SestertiusAgrippina I Senior AE Sestertius. Memorial issue struck by Claudius, 42 AD. AGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI CAESARIS, Draped bust right. / TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P, Legend around large S C. 34mm, 27.8g. Sear 1906Holding_History
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Agrippina I Senior AE SestertiusAgrippina I Senior AE Sestertius. Rome, 37-41 A.D. AGRIPPINA M F MAT C CAESARIS AVGVSTI, Draped bust right / SPQR MEMORIAE AGRIPPINAE, Two wheeled Carpentum left, drawn by two mules, stilt supported by Caryatids. RIC 55
Ex. Artemid Aste, Jean Baptiste CollectionHolding_History
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Agrippina Jr; Obol, Agrippina as Demeter/ kalathosAgrippina Junior, Augusta 50 - March 59 A.D., Roman Provincial Egypt. Bronze obol, Dattari 179; Milne 127; BMC Alexandria p. 14, 111 var (year 12); Geissen -; SNG France -, Emmett 105 (R4), Fair/Poor, Alexandria mint, 4.907g, 23.7mm, 52 - 53 A.D.; obverse “AGRIPPINA” C“EBA”C“TH”, bust of Agrippina right, as Demeter, wreathed with grain; reverse, kalathos (modius) containing stalks of grain and poppy heads bound with flower wreath, flanked on each side by a flaming torch bound with fillet, L I“G” (year 13) in ex; rare. Ex FORVMPodiceps
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Agrippina JuniorAgrippina Junior
17 mm 2.46 gm
O: Draped bust of Agrippina Junior right
R: Draped bust of Artemis right
Provincial of Phrygia, CadiKoffy
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Agrippina Junior (15 - 59 A.D.)Egypt, Alexandria
Billon Tetradrachm
O: NE KΛAY KAIΣ ΣEB ΓEΡ AYTO, laureate head right.
R: AΓΡIΠΠINA ΣEBAΣTH, draped bust of Agrippina right. LE, Dated RY 5 (AD 58/9)
11.84g
26mm
RPC I 5231; Köln -; Milne 167; Emmett 107
Ex. CNG Electronic Auction #76, Lot 33
Ex. CNG Electronic Auction #157, Lot 108
Ex T. R. McIntosh Collection
Published on Wldwinds!Mat
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Agrippina maior, grand daughter of Augustus, daughter of Agrippa, wife of Germanicus, mother of Gaius ("Caligula"), 14 BC- 33 ADOrichalcum sestertius (26.9g, 36mm, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Gaius, AD 37.
AGRIPPINA·M·F·MAT·C·CAESARIS·AVGVSTI, draped bust right
S·P·Q·R· in field above, MEMORIAE / AGRIPPINAE in two lines
Carpentum drawn by two mules moving left. The Carpentum's cover is supported by standing figures at the corners and its sides are ornamented.
Gaius had the ashes of his mother returned to Rome soon after he came to power in 37 AD. He celebrated the memory of his mother, father and brothers, all murdered by Tiberius, with a series of coins. The sestertius issue was reserved for the memory of his mother. Note the lack of S C on this issue which has S P Q R instead.
RIC 55; Cohen 1Charles S
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Agrippina Senior. Sestertius of Rome.Roman Empire. Agrippina Senior (Wife of Claudius). †33 AD. AE Sestertius (orichalcum 28.37ᵍᵐ 34.5ᵐᵐ 7ʰ) of Rome, 42-43 AD. Draped bust right. AGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI CAESARIS. / Large S-C, TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P. aVF. Bt. Stephen Album, Internet Auction 25 #38. RIC I² (Claudius) #102 = RIC I¹ (pl.IX) #135; BMCRE (Claudius) 219-223; BnF 236-240; CBN 236; Cohen 3; Von Kaenel Type 78.Anaximander
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Agrippina Sr. (RIC 55, #722)RIC 55 (Common), AE Sestertius, Rome, 37-41 AD.
OBV: AGRIPPINA M F MAT CAESARIS AVGVSTI; Draped bust right.
REV: S P Q R MEMORIAE AGRIPPINAE; Carpentum drawn left by two mules.
SIZE: 35.6mm, 24.56gMaynardGee
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Agrippina Sr. Sestertius SC (Claudius)Obv.
AGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI CAESARIS
Draped bust right
Rev.
TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P around large SC
42-43 AD
35.5mm 28.15g
RIC 102 [Claudius] Cohen 3 BMC 21ancientdave
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AGRIPPINA the elderAE Sestertius. 28.08 gm, 7h. Rome mint. Struck under Claudius, 42-54 AD. Draped bust right . AGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI CAESARIS / TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP around large S C . RIC I 102 (Claudius); von Kaenel Type 78; BMCRE 219 (Claudius); Cohen 3.
CNG 69 Lot 1519.
CNG photograph.benito
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AGRIPPINA the elder AE Sestertius. 28.08 gm, 7h. Rome mint. Struck under Claudius, 42-54 AD. Draped bust right . AGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI CAESARIS / TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP around large S C . RIC I 102 (Claudius);von Kaenel Type 78; BMCRE 219 (Claudius); Cohen 3
CNG 69 Lot 1519.
benito
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Agrippina the Elder (ca. 14 B.C.-33 A.D)Agrippina the Elder (ca. 14 B.C.-33 A.D)
Sestertius
Daughter of Julia and Marcus Agrippa, wife of Germanicus and mother of Emperor Caligula. The most beautiful woman of all Caesars in the most incredible condition. The finest known specimen originally from the Morreti Collection.
Obv.Posthumous portrait ordered by Caligula to commemorate his mother who had tragically died in exile. Rev.The carpentum drawn by two mules, the vehicle reserved for the use of the women of the imperial family in the city.
Cohen 1 ; RIC 42
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Agrippina the Younger, sister of Caligula, wife of Claudius, mother of Nero. Augusta, 50-59 CE.Bosporos, under King Kotys I with Claudius & Agrippina Jr. 50-54 AD.
Æ 12 nummia or Assarion (25 mm, 9.30 gm).
Obv: TI KLAUDIOU KAICAROC, Laureate head of Claudius right, IB below.
Rev: IOULIAN AGRIPPINAN CEBACTHN, Head of Agrippina Junior left, hair weaved and tied at back of head to make a loop ponytail; BAK (monogram of Kotys I) before.
SGI 5438; RPC 1925; BMC 13.52,7; Anokhin Bosporus 348; Vagi 670; SNG Vol IX, 971; SNG Copenhagen 31; W.Wroth p. XI, 14.
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Agrippina, Drusilla and Julia, Caligula's three sistersOrichalcum sestertius (23.4g, 34mm, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Gaius ("Caligula") AD 37-38.
Obverse: C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT laureate portret of Gaius facing left
Reverse: AGRIPPINA DRVSILLA IVLIA Agrippina (Jr), the eldest sister as Securitas, leaning on column, holding cornucopia, and placing left hand on Drusilla's shoulder; Drusilla, the middle sister, as Concordia, holding patera and cornucopia; and Julia Livilla, the youngest, as Fortuna, holding rudder and cornucopia.
RIC (Gaius) 33; Cohen 4
Ex Harlan J. Berk, Buy/Bid Sale
This specimen in the style of a provincial branch mint, rarer than those in Rome-mint style.Charles S
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Alexandria AE24 Diobol. Agrippina Jr/EutheniaAgrippina Jr AE Diobol of Alexandria. AGPIPPINA CЄBACTH, draped bust right, wreathed with corn, hair bound in plait behind / Draped bust of Euthenia right, wreathed with corn, holding ears of corn, ЄYQH-NIA across fields, L-IB below.ancientone
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Antonius FelixOBV: IOY/LIAA/PIPPI/NA, (Julia Agrippina - wife of Claudius)
within a wreath tied at bottom with an X.
REV: Two crossed palm branches, around, TI KLAVDIOC KAICAP GEPM.
(Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus) Date Below (LIA - A.D. 54)
Hendin-651; AJC II Supp. 5, 32
A.D. 54 3.08gm 18mm
Danny S. Jones
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Antonius Felix, procurator under Claudius, Æ Prutah, 52-59 CEBronze prutah of Antonius Felix, procurator under Claudius, 52-59 CE, 2.50g, 17mm.
Obverse: TI KΛAVΔIOC KAICAP ΓEPM. Two crossed palm-branches; around, legend (Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus); date below, LIΔ = Year 14 = 54 C.E.
Reverse: IOY/ΛIAAΓ/PIΠΠI/NA (Julia Agrippina - wife of Claudius) within a wreath tied at bottom with an X.
Reference: Hendin 651, Treasury of Jewish Coins 342. AJC II, Supp. V, 32
Added to collection: November 17, 2005Daniel F
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Artemis, Lydia, Hierocaesarea, Artemis, stagLydia. Hierocaesaraea
Rev.: IЄPOKAICAPЄωN ЄΠI KAΠITωNOC, Artemis standing right, holding bow, stag standing right.
Æ, 18.1mm, 4.43g
for obverse, reverse and coin details click hereshanxi
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Asia Minor, Lydia, Hierocaesarea, Agrippina Junior, Artemis right, stag Lydia. Hierocaesaraea
Agrippina Junior (Augusta, 50-59)
Bronze, AE 18
Obv.: AΓPIΠΠINAN ΘЄAN CЄBACTHN, draped bust right, hair in long plait down back of neck and looped at end
Rev: IЄPOKAICAPЄωN ЄΠI KAΠITωNOC, Artemis standing right, holding bow, stag standing right.
Æ, 18.1mm, 4.43g
Ref.: RPC I 2388, SNG von Aulock 2959, GRPC Lydia 72shanxi
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Asia Minor, Lydia, Hierocaesarea, Agrippina Junior, Artemis, stagLydia. Hierocaesaraea
Agrippina Junior (Augusta, 50-59)
Bronze, AE 19
Obv.: AΓPIΠΠINAN ΘЄAN CЄBACTHN, draped bust right, hair in long plait down back of neck and looped at end, long loosely curled lock down side of neck;
Rev.: IЄPOKAICAPЄΩN ЄΠI KAΠITΩNOC, Artemis Persica standing facing, wearing long chiton, with right hand
drawing arrow from quiver on right shoulder, left hand on hip, stag at her side on left
AE, 5.93g, maximum diameter 18.8mm, die axis 0o
Ref.: RPC I 2387; BMC Lydia p. 106, 22, GRPC Lydia 69 (this coin)
Ex Pecunem, Gitbud & Naumann auction 34 (2 Aug 2015), lot 664
Ex Forvm Ancient Coins Shop (2016)
shanxi
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Asia Minor, Lydia, Hierocaesarea, Agrippina Junior, Artemis, two stagsLydia. Hierocaesaraea
Agrippina Junior (Augusta, 50-59)
Bronze, AE 17
Obv.: AΓPIΠΠINAN ΘЄAN CЄBACTHN, draped bust right, hair in long plait down back of neck and looped at end, long loosely curled lock down side of neck;
Rev.: IЄPOKAICAPЄΩN ЄΠI KAΠITΩNOC, Artemis Persica standing facing, wearing long chiton, with right hand
drawing arrow from quiver on right shoulder, left hand on hip, stag on either side
AE, 5.94g, 17mm
Ref.: RPC I 2386, GRPC Lydia -shanxi
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Axe, double-headedPHRYGIA. Eumeneia. Agrippina Jr. Æ 17. A.D. 54-59 (?). Obv: AΓPI(Î Î INA-ΣEBA)ΣTH. Draped bust right; Countermark behind. Rev: (BAΣΣAK)ΛEΩNOΣ-(EVMENEΩN). Kybele enthroned left, holding phiale in right hand streched out, left arm resting on drum. Ref: BMC 44-46; Sear GIC 536; RPC 3151. Axis: 360°. Weight: 2.80 g. Magistrate: Bassa Kleonos archierea. CM: Axe, double-headed, with serpent around the handle, in rectangular punch, c. 4 x 6 mm. Howgego 374 (11 pcs, 2 of which from Agrippina Jr.). Collection Automan.Automan
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BCC J45 Antonius Felix ClaudiusJudaea AE Prutah
Antonius Felix, procurator
under Claudius 52-59C.E.
Obv: TI KΛAVΔIOC KAICAP ΓEΡM
(Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus)
Two crossed palms, inscription around.
Date below LIΔ (year 14), struck 54 CE
Rev: IOV/ΛIA AΓ/ΡIΠΠI /NA (Julia
Agrippina, wife of Claudius) within
wreath tied at bottom with an X.
17.5mm. 3.12gm. Axis:0
Hendin III 651 (1347).v-drome
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Bust right, in circular punchPHRYGIA. Eumeneia. Agrippina Jr. Æ 16. A.D. 54-59 (?). Obv: AΓPIÎ Î I(NA)-ΣE(BAΣ)TH. Draped bust right; Countermark before. Rev: BAΣΣAKΛEΩNOΣ-EVMENEΩN. Kybele enthroned left, holding phiale in right hand streched out, left arm resting on drum. Ref: BMC 44-46; Sear GIC 536; RPC 3151. Axis: 360° Weight: 3.34 g. Magistrate: Bassa Kleonos archierea. CM: Bust right, in circular punch, 5.5 mm.Howgego - (?). Collection Automan.Automan
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caesarea maritima NeroNero and Agrippina II, circa 55 AD
Obv. [NEΡωNOC KΛAΥΔIOC ΓEΡMAN]IKOÎ¥ KAICAΡOCCE – Laureate head of Claudius r.
Rev. AGRIPPEINH[C] CEBACTH – Agrippina II, veiled, seated l, holding branch and cornucopia above, crescent.Maritima
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Caligula (Augustus) Coin: Brass SestertiusAGRIPPINA M F MAT C CAESARIS AVGVSTI - Bust of Agrippina the Elder, right, her hair falling in queue down her neck
SPQR MEMORIAE AGRIPPINAE - Carpentum, with ornamented cover and sides, drawn right by two mules
Mint: Rome (37-41AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 22.00g / 34mm / 180
Rarity: Common
References:
RIC 1-Gaius 55
Trillmich Group II; BMCRE 81-5 (Caligula)
BN 128 (Caligula)
BMCRE 86-7 (Caligula)
Cohen 1
Acquisition/Sale: sesterc1975 Ebay $0.00 7/17
The Gary R. Wilson CollectionGRWilson
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Caligula (Augustus) Coin: Brass SestertiusC CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT - Laureate head left
AGRIPPINA DRVSILLA IVLIA - AGRIPPINA DRVSILLA IVLIA, the three sisters of Caligula standing, in the guises of Securitas, Concordia, and Fortuna, S C (senatus consulto) in exergue
Exergue: SC
Mint: Rome (37-38AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 27.88g / 35.6mm / 180
Rarity: Rare
References:
RIC I 33
BMCRE p. 152, 36
BnF II 47
Cohen I 4
SRCV I 1800
Provenances:
Forvm Ancient Coins
Acquisition/Sale: Forvm Ancient Coins Internet $0.00 10/17
Notes: Jul 21, 18 - The Gary R. Wilson Collection
GRWilson
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Caligula (Augustus) Coin: Bronze Fourre Denarius FourreeC CAESAR AVG PON M TR POT III COS III - Laureate head right
AGRIPPINA MAT C CAES AVG GERM - Draped bust of Agrippina right
Mint: Rome (40AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 2.85g / 18mm / 180
Rarity: Rare
References:
RIC I 22 (official)
Lyon 179 (official)
RSC 6 (official)
Acquisition/Sale: numismaticaprados Ebay $0.00 10/17
Notes: Jan 22, 19 - The Gary R. Wilson Collection
The reverse legend translates: 'Agrippina mother of Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus'
GRWilson
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