Bronze As of Nero, Rome - Latium
Title
Bronze As of Nero, Rome - Latium
Subject
Coinage--Rome
Description
Obv. bust of Nero laureate r.; around IMP NERO CAESAR AVG GERM; border of dots
Rev. Victory winged holding shield; on either side S/C
Weight: 10.5g
Diameter: 28.6mm
Nero was raised by his mother, Agrippina, who was involved in many poisonings and murders. She poisoned her second husband and married her uncle, Claudius, after Nero was born and convinced him to favor Nero as his heir instead of his own son, Britannicus. Eventually she poisoned Claudius in 54 CE and Britannicus in 55 CE, and thus Nero was proclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard (where Agrippina held power) at age 16. His tutors, Seneca and Burrus, helped him ruler until 62 when Burrus died and Seneca retired after losing control of Nero. Until 59, Nero was generous toward the Roman people towards acts such as reducing taxation. His brutality began between his orders to kill his mother in 59 and his wife Octavia in 62. Receiving no pushback to this, this gave him the green light to do what he liked. He began pursuing delusions of theatrical and poetic grandeur. In 64, there was a great fire in Rome while Nero was at Antium. He took the opportunity to rebuild Rome in a Greek style, and the Golden House, which would have covered a third of Rome if it have been completed. After he returned from Greece in 68, the Senate condemned him to die on a cross while being whipped, but he escaped Rome and eventually died.
Rev. Victory winged holding shield; on either side S/C
Weight: 10.5g
Diameter: 28.6mm
Nero was raised by his mother, Agrippina, who was involved in many poisonings and murders. She poisoned her second husband and married her uncle, Claudius, after Nero was born and convinced him to favor Nero as his heir instead of his own son, Britannicus. Eventually she poisoned Claudius in 54 CE and Britannicus in 55 CE, and thus Nero was proclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard (where Agrippina held power) at age 16. His tutors, Seneca and Burrus, helped him ruler until 62 when Burrus died and Seneca retired after losing control of Nero. Until 59, Nero was generous toward the Roman people towards acts such as reducing taxation. His brutality began between his orders to kill his mother in 59 and his wife Octavia in 62. Receiving no pushback to this, this gave him the green light to do what he liked. He began pursuing delusions of theatrical and poetic grandeur. In 64, there was a great fire in Rome while Nero was at Antium. He took the opportunity to rebuild Rome in a Greek style, and the Golden House, which would have covered a third of Rome if it have been completed. After he returned from Greece in 68, the Senate condemned him to die on a cross while being whipped, but he escaped Rome and eventually died.
Date
62-68 CE
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