Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVI 26 Sep 2018
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Caligula AV Aureus. Rome, AD 40. C CAESAR AVG PON M TR POT III COS III, laureate head of Gaius 'Caligula' right / GERMANICVS CAES P C CAES AVG GERM, bare head of Germanicus right. RIC 25; C. 6; BMCRE 26; BN -; Calicó 324. 7.70g, 19mm, 7h.
Good Very Fine. Very Rare.
Ex Monsieur Note (1910-1982) Collection, France.
Much attention has been given over the years to the seemingly base character of Gaius, known to history as Caligula (meaning 'little soldier's boot) after the nickname he acquired as a child from his father Germanicus' soldiers during their campaign in Germania. Though there are few surviving sources concerning his reign, he is generally described as noble and moderate in the first six months of his rule, after which time the sources focus upon his cruelty, sadism, extravagance and sexual perversion. All surviving sources, except Pliny the Elder, characterise Caligula as insane, but given his extreme unpopularity it is difficult to separate fact from fiction in the historical record. Recent studies have attempted to ascribe a medical reason for his unusual behaviour, citing encephalitis, epilepsy or meningitis as possibilities, however the question remains unanswered. Philo of Alexandria, Josephus and Seneca state that Caligula was insane, but describe this madness as a personality trait that came through experience. Certainly the experiences in the early years of his life would have been sufficient to leave an individual severely traumatised at the very least; born in AD 12 into the perilously dysfunctional Julio-Claudian family, his father Germanicus was allegedly poisoned by an agent of Tiberius (Germanicus' uncle) when Caligula was only seven, and his mother Agrippina and eldest brother Nero were banished by the emperor on charges of treason in 29. His other older brother Drusus was imprisoned on similar charges in AD 30, and in the same year Nero was killed or committed suicide. His mother was mistreated in exile, losing an eye during a beating from a centurion, and died in AD 33. Tacitus (Annals, 6.25) speculates that she was starved to death as was Drusus, who died after having been reduced to chewing the stuffing of his bed. Meanwhile, Caligula and his sisters were "nothing more than prisoners of Tiberius, under the close watch of soldiers" according to Suetonius (Lives of the Caesars, III.64). All the while, Caligula was forced to act as though he bore Tiberius no ill-will, whom Caligula claimed to have planned to kill with a dagger in order to avenge his mother and brother (Lives of the Caesars, IV.12). The grief felt by Caligula at the loss of his murdered parents, Germanicus and Agrippina, and his murdered brothers, Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar, is evident in his efforts to commemorate their memories, of which his coinage provides numerous examples including the present aureus.
Struck at the beginning of Caligula's reign, as part of a series honouring his dead father, mother and brothers, this particular coin pays homage to his father Germanicus. A talented military commander, Germanicus famously led eight legions in three campaigns against the Germanic tribes (AD 14-16), in the course of which he avenged the humiliating defeat suffered by Varus in the Teutoberg Forest and reclaimed two of the lost legionary eagles. He was awarded a Triumph upon his return to Rome in AD 17, and was subsequently dispatched to Asia to restructure the provinces and kingdoms of Asia, which were in such disarray that the direct attention of a senior member of the imperial family was considered necessary. In AD 19, in the midst of a feud with the governor of Syria Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, Germanicus was suddenly taken ill with suspected poisoning, and soon died. Piso was implicated in his death, with suspicions falling on the emperor's chief advisor Sejanus, and even on Tiberius himself. Several historians of the time including Tacitus and Suetonius discuss how beloved Germanicus was by the people and how they regarded him as a model Roman. They took it upon themselves to commemorate Germanicus by honouring him with a Justitium (a suspension of public and private business) and the mourning was felt throughout the empire; "When the news of his death finally broke, neither edicts nor official expressions of sympathy could console the commons..." (Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, p. 153). Caligula's decision to include his fathers portrait on this coinage would no doubt have gone over well with the people of the Rome who remembered his father, and would certainly have helped endear him to them as he began his reign as emperor.
Good Very Fine. Very Rare.
Ex Monsieur Note (1910-1982) Collection, France.
Much attention has been given over the years to the seemingly base character of Gaius, known to history as Caligula (meaning 'little soldier's boot) after the nickname he acquired as a child from his father Germanicus' soldiers during their campaign in Germania. Though there are few surviving sources concerning his reign, he is generally described as noble and moderate in the first six months of his rule, after which time the sources focus upon his cruelty, sadism, extravagance and sexual perversion. All surviving sources, except Pliny the Elder, characterise Caligula as insane, but given his extreme unpopularity it is difficult to separate fact from fiction in the historical record. Recent studies have attempted to ascribe a medical reason for his unusual behaviour, citing encephalitis, epilepsy or meningitis as possibilities, however the question remains unanswered. Philo of Alexandria, Josephus and Seneca state that Caligula was insane, but describe this madness as a personality trait that came through experience. Certainly the experiences in the early years of his life would have been sufficient to leave an individual severely traumatised at the very least; born in AD 12 into the perilously dysfunctional Julio-Claudian family, his father Germanicus was allegedly poisoned by an agent of Tiberius (Germanicus' uncle) when Caligula was only seven, and his mother Agrippina and eldest brother Nero were banished by the emperor on charges of treason in 29. His other older brother Drusus was imprisoned on similar charges in AD 30, and in the same year Nero was killed or committed suicide. His mother was mistreated in exile, losing an eye during a beating from a centurion, and died in AD 33. Tacitus (Annals, 6.25) speculates that she was starved to death as was Drusus, who died after having been reduced to chewing the stuffing of his bed. Meanwhile, Caligula and his sisters were "nothing more than prisoners of Tiberius, under the close watch of soldiers" according to Suetonius (Lives of the Caesars, III.64). All the while, Caligula was forced to act as though he bore Tiberius no ill-will, whom Caligula claimed to have planned to kill with a dagger in order to avenge his mother and brother (Lives of the Caesars, IV.12). The grief felt by Caligula at the loss of his murdered parents, Germanicus and Agrippina, and his murdered brothers, Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar, is evident in his efforts to commemorate their memories, of which his coinage provides numerous examples including the present aureus.
Struck at the beginning of Caligula's reign, as part of a series honouring his dead father, mother and brothers, this particular coin pays homage to his father Germanicus. A talented military commander, Germanicus famously led eight legions in three campaigns against the Germanic tribes (AD 14-16), in the course of which he avenged the humiliating defeat suffered by Varus in the Teutoberg Forest and reclaimed two of the lost legionary eagles. He was awarded a Triumph upon his return to Rome in AD 17, and was subsequently dispatched to Asia to restructure the provinces and kingdoms of Asia, which were in such disarray that the direct attention of a senior member of the imperial family was considered necessary. In AD 19, in the midst of a feud with the governor of Syria Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, Germanicus was suddenly taken ill with suspected poisoning, and soon died. Piso was implicated in his death, with suspicions falling on the emperor's chief advisor Sejanus, and even on Tiberius himself. Several historians of the time including Tacitus and Suetonius discuss how beloved Germanicus was by the people and how they regarded him as a model Roman. They took it upon themselves to commemorate Germanicus by honouring him with a Justitium (a suspension of public and private business) and the mourning was felt throughout the empire; "When the news of his death finally broke, neither edicts nor official expressions of sympathy could console the commons..." (Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, p. 153). Caligula's decision to include his fathers portrait on this coinage would no doubt have gone over well with the people of the Rome who remembered his father, and would certainly have helped endear him to them as he began his reign as emperor.