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RARE
ANCIENT ROMAN BRONZE NERO COIN PENDANT
IN 14K YELLOW GOLD
54 - 68 A.D.
This
exceptional bronze coin of the infamous Roman emperor Nero makes for both
an attractive piece of genuine ancient coin jewelry as well as quite an
interesting conversation-starter! The life of Nero is nothing
short of bizarre and perverse, recorded as one of Rome's most memorable
and notorious rulers in the entire history of the Empire.
Nero, first named Lucius
Domitius Ahenobarbus, was born at Antium (Anzio) on December 15 in 37
A.D.. He was the son of Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, a
distinguished nobleman of the Roman republic and Agrippina the younger,
who was the daughter of Germanicus. When Nero was two years old,
his mother was banished by Caligula to the Pontian Islands and his
inheritance was then seized when his father died one year later.
With Caligula killed and a milder emperor on the throne, Agrippina (who
was emperor Claudius' niece) was recalled from exile and her son Nero,
was given a good education. In 49 A.D., Agrippina married Claudius
and young Nero was educated by the eminent philosopher Lucius Annaeus
Seneca. To establish stability in future politics, Nero was
betrothed to Claudius' daughter Octavia. In 50 A.D., Agrippina
persuaded Claudius to adopt Nero as his own son which meant that Nero
now took precedence over Claudius' own younger child Britannicus to
succeed the throne. It was at his adoption that he assumed the
name Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus. In 51 A.D., Nero was named
heir-apparent by Claudius. In 54 A.D., Claudius died, most likely
poisoned by his wife Agrippina which cleared the way for Nero to become
emperor. Since Nero was not yet seventeen years old, Agrippina
first acted as regent but Agrippina's dominant position did not last for
long. Soon thereafter, she was brushed aside by Nero, who sought
not to share power with anyone. Agrippina was moved to a separate
residence, away from the imperial palace and from power. On
February 11, 55 A.D., Britannicus died at a dinner party in the palace,
most likely poisoned by Nero. Agrippina was alarmed because she had
sought to keep Britannicus in reserve, in case she should lose control
of Nero which is exactly what happened.
Nero was fair-haired, with weak blue eyes, a fat neck, a pot belly and a
body which smelled and was covered with spots. He usually appeared
in public in a sort of dressing gown without a belt, a scarf around his
neck and no shoes. In character he was a strange mix of paradoxes;
artistic, sporting, brutal, weak, sensual, erratic, extravagant,
sadistic, bisexual - and later in life almost certainly deranged but
Nero's early days as emperor brought stability and seemingly sound rule.
Nero announced he sought to follow the example of Augustus' reign and
the senate was treated respectfully with greater freedom. Sensible
legislation was introduced to improve public order.
Gradually,
Nero's desire for administrative duties dwindled and he became more
withdrawn, devoting himself to such interests as horse-racing, singing,
acting, dancing, poetry and sexual exploits. Agrippina meanwhile
was outraged at Nero's behavior. She deplored her son's 'Greek'
tastes for the arts and her gossip of Nero brought upon her a now
enraged and hostile son. The turning point came largely through
Nero's inherent lust and lack of self-control. He took, as his
mistress the beautiful Poppaea Sabina who was the wife of his partner in
frequent exploits, Marcus Salvius Otho. In 58 A.D., Otho was
dispatched to be governor of Lusitania, no doubt to move him out of the
way. Agrippina opposed her son's affair with Poppaea Sabina which
caused Nero to angrily respond with various attempts on his mother's
life, three of which were by poison and one by rigging the ceiling over
her bed to collapse while she would lay in bed. All such attempts
failed. Not long after, a secret collapsible boat was built, which
was meant to sink in the Bay of Naples and kill her but the plot only
succeeded in sinking the boat, as Agrippina managed to swim ashore.
Exasperated, Nero sent an assassin who clubbed and stabbed her to death.
Nero reported to the senate that his mother had plotted to have him
killed, forcing him to act first.
Nero celebrated by staging yet wilder orgies and by creating two new
festivals of chariot-racing and athletics. He also staged musical
contests, which gave him further chance to demonstrate in public his
talent for singing while accompanying himself on the lyre. In an
age when actors and performers were seen as something unsavoury, it was
a moral outrage to have an emperor performing on stage. Worse
still, Nero being the emperor, no one was allowed to leave the
auditorium while he was performing, for whatever reason. The
historian Suetonius writes of women giving birth during a Nero recital,
and of men who pretended to die and were carried out just so they could
leave the performance. Nero's life turned into little else but a
series of excesses in sport, music, orgies and murder. In 62 A.D.,
he divorced Octavia and then had her executed on a trumped-up charge of
adultery. All this to make way for Poppaea Sabina whom he married.
Later while Poppaea was pregnant with Nero's child, she too was killed
by Nero as he kicked her to death when she complained at his coming home
late from the races.
Then, in July 64 A.D., the Great Fire ravaged Rome for six days.
This is when Nero was famously to have 'fiddled while Rome burned'.
The historian Suetonius describes him singing from the tower of Maecenas,
watching as the fire consumed Rome. Dio Cassius tells us how he
'climbed on to the palace roof, from which there was the best overall
view of the greater part of the fire and sang 'The capture of Troy''.
Rumor has it that Nero orchestrated the destruction. After the
fire, he used a vast area which had been utterly destroyed by the fire
to build his 'Golden Palace' ('Domus Aurea'). This was a huge area,
ranging from the Portico of Livia to the Circus Maximus (close to where
the fire was said to have started), which now was turned into pleasure
gardens for the emperor, even an artificial lake being created in its
center. The temple of the deified Claudius was not yet completed
and being in the way of Nero's plans, it was shockingly demolished.
Judging by the sheer scale of this complex, it was obvious it could
never have been built, were it not have been for the fire and so quite
naturally, Romans had their suspicions about who had actually started
it. Nero looked for scapegoats on whom the fire could be blamed.
He found it in an obscure new religious sect, the Christians. Many
Christians were arrested and thrown to the wild beasts in the circus,
crucified or burned to death at night, serving as 'lighting' in Nero's
gardens, while Nero mingled among the watching crowds. It is this
brutal persecution which immortalized Nero as the first Antichrist in
the eyes of the Christian church. (The second Antichrist being the
reformist Luther by edict of the Catholic Church.)
Eventually, the continuance of Nero's debauchery and cruelty caught up
with him and the praetorian prefect persuaded his troops to abandon
their allegiance to Nero. This was followed by an act of the
senate which condemned the emperor to be flogged to death. As Nero
heard of this he chose rather to commit suicide, which he did with the
assistance of a secretary June 9, 68 A.D.. Ever the narcissist,
Nero's final words were, "Qualis artifex pereo." which translates
to "What an artist the world loses in me".
This
stunning piece is a wonderful and important artifact from the Roman
Empire. The coin is perfectly centered and of exceptional detail and
patina.
Overall
diameter is 21 mm.
CPR108
SOLD
COMES WITH A
CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY / HISTORY SHEET
***
shown with optional CHAIN
C, not included
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