DI-293 | RIC I (SE) Gaius/Caligula 14
Caligula
Gaius

Dynasty: Julio-Claudian
Emperor: Caligula
Authority: Caligula
Date and mint: AD 37/AD 38 - Rome


Obverse: Head of Caligula, laureate, right.
Legend: C CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR POT

Reverse: Bust of Agrippina, draped, right; her hair is waved from the front downwards and tied in a long braid at the back; a lock of hair falls loose at the neck
Legend: AGRIPPINA MAT C CAES AVG GERM

Comment: The Julio-Claudian dynasty was the first dynasty of the Roman Empire, ruling from Augustus to Nero. Its members joined the houses of Julius Caesar and Augustus on one side and those of Livia and Claudius on the other. Through marriages, adoptions and political inheritance, they consolidated imperial power in Rome during the first century AD. Tiberius, Augustus' adopted son, was the second emperor and governed between AD 14 and 37. His reign was marked by administrative continuity, fiscal restraint and a more distant relationship with the Senate and Roman people. Around AD 14-16, Rome was adapting to Augustus' death and to the consolidation of the Principate as a hereditary institution. The coinage of this period helped legitimize Tiberius by presenting him as the direct continuation of Augustus' authority. On the obverse, the laureate head of Tiberius emphasizes imperial dignity. On the reverse, Livia or Pax seated with scepter and branch evokes peace, stability and dynastic continuity, central ideas in the political message of the new reign.

Provenance: Freeman & Sear (2012)
Price: 9,193 €