AGRIPPINA SENIOR, wife of Germanicus, mother of Gaius (Caligula). Died 33 AD. Æ Sestertius (28.08 gm, 7h). Rome mint. Struck under Claudius, 42-54 AD.

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AGRIPPINA SENIOR, wife of Germanicus, mother of Gaius (Caligula). Died 33 AD. Æ Sestertius (28.08 gm, 7h). Rome mint. Struck under Claudius, 42-54 AD. Draped bust right / Legend around large S C. RIC I 102 (Claudius); von Kaenel Type 78; BMCRE 219 (Claudius); Cohen 3.

Caligula Vesta As-Exceptional

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Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ As (12.33 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 40-41. C CAESAR DIVI AVG PRON AVG P M TR P IIII P P, bare head left / VESTA, S C across field, Vesta seated left, holding patera in extended right hand, cradling scepter in left arm. RIC I 38; BMCRE 46; BN 54; Cohen 27.

SPAIN, Caesaraugusta. Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ As (14.44 g, 6h).

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SPAIN, Caesaraugusta. Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ As (14.44 g, 6h). Licinianus and Germanus, duoviri. Laureate head left / Pontiff veiled in toga driving yoke of oxen right, plowing pomerium. RPC I 371 (same obv. die as illustration); SNG Copenhagen 562.

Sextus Pompey. 42 BC. AV Aureus (8.17 g, 8h). Mint in Sicily.

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Sextus Pompey. 42 BC. AV Aureus (8.17 g, 8h). Mint in Sicily. Bare head of Sextus Pompey right; all within oak wreath / Bare heads of Pompey the Great right vis-à-vis Cnaeus Pompey Junior left; lituus to left, tripod to right. Crawford 511/1; Evans 3 (O2/R3); CRI 332; Bahrfeldt 87.1 corr. (same dies); Calicó 71; Sydenham 1346A corr. (same dies as illustration); BMCRR 14 (same dies); Vagi 28 (same dies as illustration).


Sextus Pompey, the younger son of Pompey the Great, inherited his father's vast influence and personal following. He first established himself in Spain in 44 BC as the successful leader of the anti-Caesarian forces and following the death of Caesar, the Senate, believing itself freed from the domination of the Caesarians, bestowed on Sextus the title of praefectus classis et orae maritimae (Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet and of the Sea Coasts). However, four months later the Senate was forced by Octavian and the second triumvirate to rescind this title, and Sextus was proscribed. Upon receiving word of the Senate's abrogation of his commission and seeing the hostilities the Caesarians were exacting on the leading figures in Rome, Sextus set sail from Massilia in Gaul and headed for Sicily. Here he established a powerful base from which he could blockade Italy and provide a safe haven for those fleeing the proscriptions. Alarmed at the developments, Octavian sent a naval squadron under the command of Salvidienus Rufus to handle the situation, but Salvidienus was defeated off the coast of Rhegium. Following this battle, Sextus took the title of imperator iterum. Sextus would continue the republican struggle against the second triumvirate until his death in 36 BC. This remarkable dynastic aureus provides us with the most life-like portraits of Pompey's two sons and records many of the events of 43-42 BC. The oak wreath (corona civica) and the title IMP ITER on the obverse commemorate Sextus' defeat of Salvidienus, while the reverse legend records the title bestowed on him by the Senate in 43 BC. The lituus behind Pompey's head signifies Pompey's membership in the college of augurs, while the tripod behind Cnaeus' head represents his affiliation with the quindecimviri sacris faciundis.

Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ Sestertius (27.99 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38.

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Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ Sestertius (27.99 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38. C•CAESAR•AVG•GERMANICVS•PON•M•TR•POT, laureate head left / ADLOCVT above, COH in exergue, Gaius, bareheaded and togate, standing left on daïs, extending right hand in gesture of address; behind him a sella castrensis (chair); in front of him stand five soldiers right, all helmeted, holding shields, and parazonia; four aquilae behind them. RIC I 32; BMCRE 33-35; BN 45-46; Cohen 1.

Before a battle, or on parade, the emperor would address his troops in an event known as an adlocutio cohortium (address to the cohorts). This was an important opportunity for the emperor to be present among his troops to inspire morale. This sestertius was issued on the occasion of a donative for the Praetorian Guard and was the first to employ the adlocutio as a reverse type.

Mark Antony and Cleopatra. 36 BC. AR Tetradrachm (12.34 g, 12h). Antioch in Syria mint.

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Mark Antony and Cleopatra. 36 BC. AR Tetradrachm (12.34 g, 12h). Antioch in Syria mint. BACIΛICCA KΛЄOΠATPA ΘЄA NЄωTЄPA, diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra right, her dress embroidered with pearls / ANTωNIOC AYTOKPATωP TPITON TPIωN [ANDPωN], bare head of Antony right. RPC 4094; McAlee 174; Prieur 27; BMC 53.

These tetradrachms, struck after the separation of Antony and Octavia, herald the political alliance between the triumvir and the Egyptian queen. Lacking any more certain alternative, this issue has been assigned to Antioch. During this time, Antony was continually moving throughout the eastern provinces, as well as against Parthia. Consequently, these coins could have been struck anywhere in order to facilitate an ad hoc payment for his soldiers. R. McAlee, in his book on Roman Antioch, points out that the letter forms – C for Σ and ω for Ω – are inconsistent with those on contemporary Antiochene issues. Those issues with a horse-head control mark to the left of Antony’s head may hint at a possible mint further east, connecting it with Antony’s Armenian intevention in 34 BC, or, more attractively, the invasion of Parthia in 36 BC (cf. Shore 92 for Parthian bronze issues with a very similar horse-head design), events commemorated in an elaborate political display in Alexandria later in 34 BC. Such posturings clearly demonstrated Antony’s political ambition to separate the eastern Roman provinces, combine them with the Ptolemaic kingdom, and create a new empire of his own. CNG

Britannicus. AD 41-55. Æ Sestertius (29.81 g, 6h). Uncertain Balkan/Thracian mint. Struck under Claudius, circa AD 50-54

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Britannicus. AD 41-55. Æ Sestertius (29.81 g, 6h). Uncertain Balkan/Thracian mint. Struck under Claudius, circa AD 50-54. TI CLAVDIVS • CAESAR • G • F • BRITANNICVS •, bareheaded and draped bust left / Mars, barefoot, but wearing full military outfit, including sagum (cape), advancing left, holding spear in outstretched right hand and round shield in left; large S C across field. RIC I pg. 130, note; von Kaenel, "Britannicus, Agrippina Minor und Nero in Thrakien," SNR 63 (1984), Type B, 5 (same dies); BMCRE 226 (Claudius).

The attribution of the sestertii of Britannicus has been a matter of some speculation. Formerly, the issue had been attributed to Rome around the end of Claudius’ reign when Britannicus adopted the toga virilis. Mattingly, however, demonstrated that such an attribution was problematic, since the Rome mint was not producing aes at that time. Instead, he assigned the type to the early years of Titus, when many restoration and commemorative issues were being struck, a logical assumption given the reported close friendship between the two. More recently, substantial numbers of Latin coins (sestertii and dupondii) in the name of Britannicus, Agrippina Jr., Nero Caesar, and Nero Augustus have been found in the Balkan region, and von Kaenel argued for a Thracian origin for the series. Von Kaenel’s analysis is plausible, since the style and fabric of the coins, as well as the find spots, indeed suggest a Thracian mint, and such local issues would have been struck for use by the legions servicing the border.

Tiberius Claudius Germanicus was born on 12 February AD 41, only a few weeks after his father Claudius became emperor. After Claudius' conquest of Britain in AD 43, the boy's name was changed to Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, and the sources refer to him simply as Britannicus. In AD 55 while dining with friends, he was poisoned and died. The murder was almost certainly ordered by Nero who wanted to clear the way for his own succession to the throne.

CAESAR- Julius Caesar. August 43 BC. AR Denarius (3.96 g, 12h). Rome mint

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Julius Caesar. August 43 BC. AR Denarius (3.96 g, 12h). Rome mint. L Flaminius Chilo, quattuorvir aere argento auro flando feriundo. Laureate head right within within pelleted border / L • FLAMINIVS down right field, IIII VIR up left, Venus Genetrix as Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus in outstretched right hand and long scepter in left; all within pelleted border. Crawford 485/1; CNR I 102/1 (same obv. die); CRI 113; Sydenham 1089; RSC 26.


While this coin derives its general type from those issues struck at Rome in the month prior to Caesar’s assassination in March 44 BC, its anepigraphic obverse now shows an idealized head of Caesar that is no longer veiled, while on the reverse, Venus Genetrix holds a caduceus in place of the traditional Victory. This revised, decidedly pro-Caesarian imagery comports with the events of 43 BC. Following his assassination, it was Caesar’s fellow consul and second-in-command, Antony, and not Octavian, Caesar’s official heir, who was in power. Within days of the funeral, Antony proclaimed himself as Caesar’s dictatorial successor, first by surrounding himself with a bodyguard made up of Caesar’s veterans and then by compelling the Senate in June 44 BC to transfer the provinces of Gallia Transalpina and Gallia Cisalpina – the latter under the control of one of the conspirators, Decimus Brutus – to himself for a five-year period. When Brutus refused to yield his province, Antony sent a military expedition to oust him, and laid siege to Brutus at Mutina (mod. Modena), beginning in October 44 BC.

At the same time as Antony began to flex his quasi-dictatorial muscle, Cicero, who had been sympathetic to the conspirators, but later moved that the Senate not declare Caesar as a tyrant in order to gain their amnesty, began denouncing Antony through a series of speeches, known as the Philippics. He soon became the subject of a campaign of blandishment by Octavian, newly arrived at Rome to claim his inheritance, who hoped to acquire Cicero as an ally (and with him, other influential senators). Octavian also began raising an army. Many of the recruits had been veterans of Caesar’s army, yet Octavian was also able to acquire two of Antony’s own legions with promises of money. These events demonstrated clearly that Octavian was developing the necessary personal political skills that would give him the ultimate victory in the unfolding conflict. In January 43 BC, the Senate granted Octavian the office of propraetor along with the power of imperium (military command), sending him, along with the consuls for that year, Aulus Hirtius and Gaius Vibius Pansa to break up the siege. At Forum Gallorum and then again at Mutina, Antony was successfully defeated, although both of the consuls died as a result. Octavian was now in sole command of the army sent to defeat Antony. Young and inexperienced at the beginning of the campaign, after Mutina he had shown himself to be Antony’s military equal.

Antony, whom the Senate now declared hostis (an enemy of the state), meanwhile, withdrew further into Gallia Transalpina to Parma (which he sacked) and then to Placentia (mod. Piacenza). He then made his way into Liguria, where he met up with Marcus Lepidus, who had been his ally since Caesar’s assassination. There they remained until November 43 BC.

Octavian, now proven in the field, was slighted by the Senate’s miscalculated decision to reward Decimus Brutus for Antony’s defeat by transferring command of the legions away from Octavian to Brutus. As a result, he remained stationary in the Po Valley and refused any further assistance in the pursuit of Antony. In July 43 BC, Octavian dispatched emissaries to the Senate. He demanded hat he be appointed the consulship now left vacant by the deaths of Hirtius and Pansa and that the declaration of Antony as a hostis be rescinded. When the Senate refused his demands, Octavian marched on Rome in force. Facing no opposition (Cicero by now being resigned to the fact that Octavian would ally himself with Antony), Octavian was elected consul on 19 August 43 BC along with his cousin (and fellow great-nephew of Julius Caesar), Quintus Pedius, who would oversee the creation of the Lex Pedia in September, making Caesar’s murder, or the calling for it, capital crimes punishable by death.

Into this dramatic political period, Flaminius Chilo oversaw the striking of this coin with its definite pro-Caesarian imagery. The idealized portrait of Julius Caesar, with its definite impression of divinity, is not an individual die-engraver’s attempt at artistic fancy, but must have been influenced by Octavian’s consciously conceived program of manipulating public images (including that of Caesar) at Rome. On 1 January 42 BC, the Senate recognized Caesar’s new divine status as the Divus Julius and constructed a temple on the site of his cremation in the Forum. The Venus Genetrix on the reverse shows a similar manipulation. Deriving from the Greek Aphrodite Ourania, or heavenly Aphrodite, Venus Genetrix became not only the divine patroness of Rome through her son Aeneas, but also the ancestor of the gens Julia, through Aeneas’ son, Ascanius (Iulus). On the night before Pharsalus in 48 BC, Caesar vowed to construct a temple in her honor in Rome if he was successful against Pompey. Once completed, this temple, which housed a statue of the goddess, then became the centerpiece of his new forum in Rome. There are marked differences, however, between the statue (evidenced by several extant copies) and her depiction on the denarii struck in the month before his assassination. While the statue emphasized her procreative powers, the coins show her in a more martial and political context: holding a Victory in her right hand and a scepter in her left, either surrounded by weaponry (sometime set on a globe), or with the scepter set on a star (a sign of divinity). While these attributes may shift from one to another, they emphasize not only the divine assistance in Caesar’s military and political victories, but also allude tentatively to his semi-divinity. The Venus of this coin, however, minimizes her connection to earlier associations; instead, she now presents an image of Felicitas (Good Fortune), by replacing the Victory with a caduceus. It is not the Venus Genetrix of Julius Caesar, then, but now Venus Felix of all Rome who is at work. Thus, through the assistance of the two transformed divine agencies - the impending one of the Divus Julius, and that of Venus – that Octavian was able to take his first few steps toward political ascendancy. CNG

KINGS of COMMAGENE. Antiochos IV Epiphanes. AD 38-72. Æ 28mm (13.94 g, 12h).

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KINGS of COMMAGENE. Antiochos IV Epiphanes. AD 38-72. Æ 28mm (13.94 g, 12h). Diademed head right / Scorpion within wreath. RPC I 3852; cf. AC 199.

Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Denarius (21mm, 3.82 g, 6h). Uncertain mint in Spain (Colonia Patricia?).

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Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Denarius (21mm, 3.82 g, 6h). Uncertain mint in Spain (Colonia Patricia?). Struck circa 19 BC. Laureate head right / Oak wreath; OB · CIVIS above, SERVATOS below. RIC I 75a; RSC 210.

ARMENIA, Artashat (Artaxata). Civic Issue. Early 1st century AD. Æ 18mm (7.14 g, 12h). Dated CY 11 (AD 2/3).

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ARMENIA, Artashat (Artaxata). Civic Issue. Early 1st century AD. Æ 18mm (7.14 g, 12h). Dated CY 11 (AD 2/3). Winged bust of Nike right / Palm bound with tainia; AI (date) to left, monogram to right. RPC Supp. II 3844C = RPC I supp. 1738a (Aegospotami); Amandry, Artaxisata B.2.

LYDIA, Philadelphia. Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ (14mm, 2.37 g, 12h).

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LYDIA, Philadelphia. Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ (14mm, 2.37 g, 12h). Kleandros, philokaisar. ΓAIOC KAICAP, bare head right; lituus to right / Winged thunderbolt; above, ΦIΛA/ΔЄΛΦЄωN in two lines; KΛЄANΔPOC below. Cf. RPC 3026 (for type) and 3028 (for magistrate); SNG Copenhagen -; BMC -.

Julius Caesar. February-March 44 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.80 g, 2h). Rome mint; P. Sepullius Macer, moneyer.

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Julius Caesar. February-March 44 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.80 g, 2h). Rome mint; P. Sepullius Macer, moneyer. Wreathed head right; CAESAR DICT PERPETVO around / Venus Victrix standing left, holding crowning Victory and scepter; to lower right, round shield set on ground; [P · SEPVLLIVS] MACER around. Crawford 480/10; Alföldi Type VIII, 24-6 (A12/R3); CRI 107a; Sydenham 1073; Kestner -; BMCRR Rome 4169-71; RSC 38.

Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ Sestertius (34mm, 26.06 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38.

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Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ Sestertius (34mm, 26.06 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38. Laureate head left / Gaius standing left on daïs, addressing five soldiers standing right, holding parazonia and shields; four aquilae behind. RIC I 32.

Nero. As Caesar, AD 50-54. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.12 g, 5h). Rome mint.

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Nero. As Caesar, AD 50-54. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.12 g, 5h). Rome mint. Bare-headed and draped bust right / Legend in four lines on shield, behind which stands a spear. RIC I 79 (Claudius); RSC 97.

Nero. AD 54-68. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.39 g, 4h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 66-67.

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Nero. AD 54-68. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.39 g, 4h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 66-67. Laureate head right / Salus seated left on throne with high back, holding patera. RIC I 67; RSC 318.

Sextus Pompey. 42-40 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.32 g, 2h).

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Sextus Pompey. 42-40 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.32 g, 2h). Uncertain Sicilian mint, possibly Catana. Bare head of Pompey the Great right; capis behind, lituus before / Neptune standing left, holding aplustre and resting foot on prow between the Catanaean brothers Anapias and Amphinomus running in opposite directions, bearing their parents on their shoulders. Crawford 511/3a; CRI 334; Sydenham 1344; RSC 17 (Pompey the Great).

Nero. AD 54-68. Æ Sestertius (40mm, 25.81 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 64.

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Nero. AD 54-68. Æ Sestertius (40mm, 25.81 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 64. Laureate head left / Annona standing right, holding cornucopia, facing Ceres seated left, holding grain ears and torch; modius on garlanded altar between them, stern of ship in background. RIC I 142; WCN 92.

Tiberius. AD 14-37. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.67 g, 5h). “Tribute Penny” type. Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Group 4,

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Tiberius. AD 14-37. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.67 g, 5h). “Tribute Penny” type. Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Group 4, struck AD 18-35. Laureate head right / Livia (as Pax) seated right, holding scepter and olive branch; ornate chair legs, with footstool. RIC I 30; Lyon 150; RSC 16a.

Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm (25mm, 11.20 g, 1h). Ephesus mint. Struck 25-20 BC.

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Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm (25mm, 11.20 g, 1h). Ephesus mint. Struck 25-20 BC. Bare head right / Capricorn right, head reverted, holding cornucopia; all within laurel wreath. RIC I 480; Sutherland Group VI; RPC I 2213; RSC 16.