Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Keystone Auction 11 3 Mar 2023
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Claudius. AD 41-54. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.43 g, 7h). Rome mint. Struck AD 50-51. Laureate head right / Pax-Nemesis advancing right, holding out fold of drapery below chin, and holding winged caduceus, pointing down at snake erect, gliding right. RIC I 52; von Kaenel Type 40; RSC 65. Lightly toned, graffiti in obverse field. Good Fine. Ex Pegasi BBS 132 (25 January 2005), lot 274.
Nemesis is the goddess who enacts divine retribution on those who display hubris, or arrogance before the gods. By Roman times she is usually depicted as a winged woman holding out a fold of her garment before her, expressing aversion by spitting upon her bosom (supposedly humans could avoid her anger by making the same gesture). From early in his reign, Claudius employed on his coins a version of Nemesis sharing some features with Pax (Peace) along with the legend PACI AVGVSTAE ("the Emperor's peace"). Claudius's Nemisis coinage starts in AD 43 and probably refers to his invasion and subsequent conquest of Britain, with Rome meting out "divine retribution" on the arrogant British tribes. "The Emperor's peace" presumably refers to Britannia being brought within the Pax Romana, albeit by force of arms. Nine decades later Hadrian would employ a similar reverse as a reference to the Bar Kochba conflict.
Nemesis is the goddess who enacts divine retribution on those who display hubris, or arrogance before the gods. By Roman times she is usually depicted as a winged woman holding out a fold of her garment before her, expressing aversion by spitting upon her bosom (supposedly humans could avoid her anger by making the same gesture). From early in his reign, Claudius employed on his coins a version of Nemesis sharing some features with Pax (Peace) along with the legend PACI AVGVSTAE ("the Emperor's peace"). Claudius's Nemisis coinage starts in AD 43 and probably refers to his invasion and subsequent conquest of Britain, with Rome meting out "divine retribution" on the arrogant British tribes. "The Emperor's peace" presumably refers to Britannia being brought within the Pax Romana, albeit by force of arms. Nine decades later Hadrian would employ a similar reverse as a reference to the Bar Kochba conflict.