Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Vitellius AV Aureus. Rome, late April - 20 December AD 69. A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P, laureate head right / L VITELLIVS COS III CENSOR, L. Vitellius the Elder, togate, seated to left on curule chair, with feet on stool, holding branch in outstretched right hand, and eagle-tipped sceptre in left. RIC 96; C. 54; Calicó 565. 7.26g, 20mm, 5h.
Good Extremely Fine; magnificent deep red 'Boscoreale' tone.
From the G.T. Collection of the Twelve Caesars;
Ex Jean Vinchon Numismatique, 20 November 1992, lot 99;
Almost certainly from the Boscoreale hoard of 1894.
Emperor for only eight months, Vitellius was the third to take the purple during the Year of the Four Emperors in AD 69. Consul in 48 and Proconsul of Africa in 60/61, Vitellius commanded the army of Germania Inferior in 68, where he made himself extremely popular with the officers and soldiery through lavish extravagance and lax discipline. It was because of two of his legion commanders on the Rhine that he was acclaimed emperor by the legions in Germania, and they were soon joined by the armies of Britannia, Gaul and Raetia. With Otho's suicide, Vitellius gained the throne without the need for excessive bloodshed. His short lived reign was characterised by excessive feasting, gambling and indolence. Suetonius records some of the greater outrages which led to his being deserted in favour of Vespasian: 'Acting more and more in open violation of all laws, both divine and human, he assumed the office of Pontifex Maximus, upon the day of the defeat at the Allia; ordered the magistrates to be elected for ten years of office; and made himself consul for life.' Fortunately a direct military confrontation between Vespasian and Vitellius proved unnecessary - supporters of Vespasian assassinated Vitellius after a reign of just eight months, and according to Suetonius he was dragged through the streets and tortured, before his body was unceremoniously dumped into the Tiber.
The reverse of this coin depicts Vitellius' father, Lucius Vitellius the Elder (died AD 51) who was consul three times, a highly unusual distinction in the time of the principate for anyone not a member of the Imperial family. Under Tiberius he served as governor of Syria in AD 35/6, and removed Pontius Pilate from office following complaints from the people of Samaria. He supported Caligula and was a favourite of the emperor Claudius's wife Valeria Messalina, serving twice as Claudius' as co-consul. Indeed it was Lucius Vitellius to whom Claudius entrusted the government of Rome when he embarked on his conquest of Britannia. As a statesman of considerable influence and outstanding character, on his death he received a state funeral and had a statue erected on the rostra in his honour.
Good Extremely Fine; magnificent deep red 'Boscoreale' tone.
From the G.T. Collection of the Twelve Caesars;
Ex Jean Vinchon Numismatique, 20 November 1992, lot 99;
Almost certainly from the Boscoreale hoard of 1894.
Emperor for only eight months, Vitellius was the third to take the purple during the Year of the Four Emperors in AD 69. Consul in 48 and Proconsul of Africa in 60/61, Vitellius commanded the army of Germania Inferior in 68, where he made himself extremely popular with the officers and soldiery through lavish extravagance and lax discipline. It was because of two of his legion commanders on the Rhine that he was acclaimed emperor by the legions in Germania, and they were soon joined by the armies of Britannia, Gaul and Raetia. With Otho's suicide, Vitellius gained the throne without the need for excessive bloodshed. His short lived reign was characterised by excessive feasting, gambling and indolence. Suetonius records some of the greater outrages which led to his being deserted in favour of Vespasian: 'Acting more and more in open violation of all laws, both divine and human, he assumed the office of Pontifex Maximus, upon the day of the defeat at the Allia; ordered the magistrates to be elected for ten years of office; and made himself consul for life.' Fortunately a direct military confrontation between Vespasian and Vitellius proved unnecessary - supporters of Vespasian assassinated Vitellius after a reign of just eight months, and according to Suetonius he was dragged through the streets and tortured, before his body was unceremoniously dumped into the Tiber.
The reverse of this coin depicts Vitellius' father, Lucius Vitellius the Elder (died AD 51) who was consul three times, a highly unusual distinction in the time of the principate for anyone not a member of the Imperial family. Under Tiberius he served as governor of Syria in AD 35/6, and removed Pontius Pilate from office following complaints from the people of Samaria. He supported Caligula and was a favourite of the emperor Claudius's wife Valeria Messalina, serving twice as Claudius' as co-consul. Indeed it was Lucius Vitellius to whom Claudius entrusted the government of Rome when he embarked on his conquest of Britannia. As a statesman of considerable influence and outstanding character, on his death he received a state funeral and had a statue erected on the rostra in his honour.