Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 131 30 May 2022
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Nerva augustus, 97 – 98
Sestertius 97, Æ 23.32 g. IMP NERVA CAES AVG – P M TR P COS III P P Laureate head r. Rev. PLEBEI VRBANAE FRVMENTO CONSTITVTO S – C Modius with ears of barley. C 127. BMC 115. RIC 89. CBN 103.
Very rare and in exceptional condition for this very difficult and interesting issue.
Lovely light green patina and extremely fine
Ex NAC sale 78, 2014, 914.
In an effort to shore up his popularity in the face of growing opposition from the army, Nerva embarked upon a wide variety of reforms to benefit the Roman people and the Senate. While the army still cherished the memory of Domitian, his murdered Flavian predecessor, he had been hated by the Senate. Thus, Nerva made much of attempts to end abuses that had taken place under Domitian (but did not necessarily originate with that emperor) and improve the lives of Roman citizens. It was hoped that such actions would give Nerva credibility as a "Good Emperor" that might counteract the military grumblings against him. The present rare sestertius belongs to Nerva's extensive reform program and advertises his concern for the food supply of the poorest class of Roman citizens-the urban plebs. As the population of Rome is thought to have exceeded a million people, many of whom were poor citizens, it was critical for maintaining peace in the city to ensure that they had adequate access to grain. Grain shortages could quickly lead to social unrest and rioting damaging to the imperial capital. The importance of feeding the plebs was already recognized in the Republican period, when Gaius Gracchus introduced a grain law in 123 BC that subsidized the monthly purchase of wheat for poor adult male Roman citizens. In the mid-first century BC, the subsidy became a free grain dole (frumentatio). Under Augustus some 200,000 plebs were eligible to receive the frumentatio. It is unclear what precisely Nerva's arrangement (constitutum) of the frumentatio entailed, but presumably it rectified some previous abuse of or flaw in its distribution. Perhaps the regularity, quantity, or quality of wheat distributed had been erratic under Domitian, or individuals who were not entitled to the dole were somehow managing to collect the frumentatio. Whatever the problem, it was definitely in Nerva's interest, and that of the entirety of Rome, to fix it.
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Sestertius 97, Æ 23.32 g. IMP NERVA CAES AVG – P M TR P COS III P P Laureate head r. Rev. PLEBEI VRBANAE FRVMENTO CONSTITVTO S – C Modius with ears of barley. C 127. BMC 115. RIC 89. CBN 103.
Very rare and in exceptional condition for this very difficult and interesting issue.
Lovely light green patina and extremely fine
Ex NAC sale 78, 2014, 914.
In an effort to shore up his popularity in the face of growing opposition from the army, Nerva embarked upon a wide variety of reforms to benefit the Roman people and the Senate. While the army still cherished the memory of Domitian, his murdered Flavian predecessor, he had been hated by the Senate. Thus, Nerva made much of attempts to end abuses that had taken place under Domitian (but did not necessarily originate with that emperor) and improve the lives of Roman citizens. It was hoped that such actions would give Nerva credibility as a "Good Emperor" that might counteract the military grumblings against him. The present rare sestertius belongs to Nerva's extensive reform program and advertises his concern for the food supply of the poorest class of Roman citizens-the urban plebs. As the population of Rome is thought to have exceeded a million people, many of whom were poor citizens, it was critical for maintaining peace in the city to ensure that they had adequate access to grain. Grain shortages could quickly lead to social unrest and rioting damaging to the imperial capital. The importance of feeding the plebs was already recognized in the Republican period, when Gaius Gracchus introduced a grain law in 123 BC that subsidized the monthly purchase of wheat for poor adult male Roman citizens. In the mid-first century BC, the subsidy became a free grain dole (frumentatio). Under Augustus some 200,000 plebs were eligible to receive the frumentatio. It is unclear what precisely Nerva's arrangement (constitutum) of the frumentatio entailed, but presumably it rectified some previous abuse of or flaw in its distribution. Perhaps the regularity, quantity, or quality of wheat distributed had been erratic under Domitian, or individuals who were not entitled to the dole were somehow managing to collect the frumentatio. Whatever the problem, it was definitely in Nerva's interest, and that of the entirety of Rome, to fix it.
View a video of this lot