The Nursery

Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was one of the Five Good Emperors in the Nerva–Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii.

He acquired the name Pius after his accession to the throne, either because he compelled the Senate to deify his adoptive father Hadrian, or because he had saved senators sentenced to death by Hadrian in his later years.

He died of illness in 161 and was succeeded by his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as co-emperors.

My Coins

I have a couple of coins of Antoninus Pius and his dependents:

#	Reference	Obverse	Reverse	Notes
1	RIC 303		ROMA COS IIII
2	Sear 4123		TR POT XIX COS IIII

Faustina I – his wife

#	Reference	Obverse	Reverse	Notes
1	Sear 4587		AVGUSTA

Publius Aelius Hadrianus Augustus was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. His predecessor, Trajan, was a maternal cousin of Hadrian's father.

Trajan did not designate an heir officially, but according to his wife Pompeia Plotina, he named Hadrian emperor immediately before his death.

Hadrian is regarded as the third of the Five Good Emperors, and is known for constructing Hadrian's Wall, rebuilding the Pantheon, and constructing the Temple of Venus and Roma.

Hadrian died in the year 138 on the 10th of July, in his villa at Baiae at the age of 62. The cause of death is believed to have been heart failure.

My Coins

I have a couple of Hadrian coins:

#	Reference	Obverse	Reverse	Notes
1	RIC II 160		COS II

Marcus Ulpius Trajanus was Roman emperor from 98 to 117 AD.

Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history, leading the empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death. He is also known for his philanthropic rule, overseeing extensive public building programs and implementing social welfare policies, which earned him his enduring reputation as the second of the Five Good Emperors who presided over an era of peace and prosperity in the Mediterranean world.

In late 117, while sailing back to Rome, Trajan fell ill and died of a stroke in the city of Selinus. He was deified by the Senate and his ashes were laid to rest under Trajan's Column. He was succeeded by his adopted son Hadrian.

My Coins

I have a couple of coins of Trajan:

#	Reference	Obverse	Reverse	Notes
1	RIC 9		PONT MAX TR POT COS II
2	RIC 252		DIVVS PATER TRAIAN

Marcus Cocceius Nerva Caesar Augustus was Roman Emperor from 96 to 98. He became emperor after his predecessor Domitian was assassinated following a conspiracy involving members of the Praetorian Guard and several freedmen.

Nerva was 66 when he was made emperor, and he inherited a troubled empire. He was old, childless, and was a career administrator with almost no public profile. It is likely that he was chosen as a “safe” temporary choice so that the Senate and other interested parties had time to bring a successor into the public eye.

And indeed, within a year a palace revolt by the guard forced him to choose a young and popular general – Trajan – as his successor. Three months later Nerva died of natural causes and Trajan ascended to the imperial throne.

My Coins

I have a single coin of Nerva.

#	Reference	Obverse	Reverse	Notes
1	RIC 1		AEQVITAS AVGVST

This coin is an antoninianus struck in Rome between 245 and 247 CE. It weighs 4.21g and measures 23.3mm.

Obverse: IMP M IVL PHILIPVS AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right

Reverse: AEQVITAS AVGG, Aequitas standing left with scales and cornucopia.

Reference: Sear 8918

I bought this coin on march 9th 2024 at the MDC Monaco E-Sale #8.

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An old but beautiful silver coin showing the Roman emperor Philip I on the obverse wearing a radiate crown. He has short hair and a beard and is clearly a military man. Around his portrait, in a circle, is the legend IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, for Imperator Marcus Iulius Philippus Augustus:

The reverse of this coin features Aequitas – a Roman concept or virtue which emcompasses justice, equity, symmetry, and fairness. The legend AEQVITAS AVGG – Aequitas Augusti – therefore alludes to the (self-procaimed) fairness and honesty of the two emperors, namely Philip I and his son Philip II.

This reverse was pretty popular for a while and was used by Vitellius, Titus, Domitian, Antoninus Pius, Pertinax, Septimius Severus, Macrinus, Maximinus, Gordian, Volusian, Macrianus and Quietus.

The coin is well struck, with good detail and clean fields showing some yellowing from the 1800 years that has passed since it was made. It is struck on a broad flan which is typical of early issues from this emperor, and has a very recognizable 3rd century style.

Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. He succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, becoming the first Emperor to come to the throne after his own biological father.

As emperor, he is best known for completing the Colosseum and for his generosity in relieving the suffering caused by two disasters, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 and a fire in Rome in 80.

After barely two years in office, Titus died of a fever on 13 September 81. He was deified by the Roman Senate and succeeded by his younger brother Domitian.

My Coins

Titus is not an exceptionally expensive or rare ruler to collect, as even though he was only emperor for barely two years he was heir – caesar – for a long time and plenty of coins were struck for him.

I have a single coin of Titus – this is not really my collection area, and there's usually plenty of competition for early emperors.

#	Reference	Obverse	Reverse	Notes
1	RIC 316		TRP IX IMP XV COS VIII

Titus Flavius Vespasianus was Roman emperor from AD 69 to AD 79.

Vespasian was an accomplished general, and subjugated Judea during the Jewish rebellion of 66. While Vespasian was besieging Jerusalem, emperor Nero committed suicide and plunged Rome into a year of civil war. After Galba and Otho perished in quick succession, Vitellius became the third emperor in April 69. The legions of Roman Egypt and Judaea reacted by declaring Vespasian, their commander, emperor on 1 July 69. Vitellius was defeated, and Vespasian was declared Emperor by the Senate.

Little information survives about the government during Vespasian's ten-year rule. He built the Colosseum, and seemed to have ruled effectively which helped stabilize the empire.

After his death he was succeeded by his eldest son Titus, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to be directly succeeded by his own natural son.

My Coins

Vespasian – like all the first 12 emperors – is a pretty popular emperor to collect, which translates into a pretty expensive emperor to collect. I have a single coin of him.

#	Reference	Obverse	Reverse	Notes
1	Sear 2299		PON MAX TRP COS V

Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Augustus was Roman Emperor from 16 April to 22 December 69 CE in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors.

Vitellius was proclaimed emperor by the armies of Germania Inferior and Germania Superior, which he commanded, following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho. He defeated Otho at Bedriacum, and was recognized as emperor by the Senate.

However, the legions stationed in the eastern provinces proclaimed their commander, Vespasian, emperor instead. Vespasian, who was an accomplished general leading veterans, handily defeated Vespasian at the second battle of Bedriacum. Sensing defeat, Vitellius offered to abdicate but was prevented from doing so by the Praetorians. When Vitellius' soldiers reached Rome, the citizens organized resistance but were defeated. Vitellius was executed on the 22nd of December 69.

My Coins

With such a short rule, Vitellius' coins are not as common as the coins of other emperors. I have a single coin of Vitellius

#	Reference	Obverse	Reverse	Notes
1	RIC 90		Concordia PR

Ok – I figured out why I could not find this blog on #mastodon, and why my posts didn't seem to federate.

It was simply because I'd put off generating an SSL-certificate for this blog, since, you know, I am new to most #selfHosting stuff including #nginx.

I used this guide to get started, but truth be told certbot did most of it.

Anyway, now that's sorted I can focus more my writing, which will be fun.

Edit

Although I can now find the account for this blog on mastodon, I still can't find any posts and new posts like this one don't show up on the account when I check from my main mstdn.dk-account.

Not entirely sure how federation works :D

Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus Augustus, also known as Maximinus Thrax – the Thracian – was Roman Emperor from 235 to 238 CE. He rose to power when his legion – Legio IV 'Italica' – killed Emperor Alexander Severus and his mother in 235 and elected the stern general Emperor. They didn't really have the authority to do so, but they had a lot of swords.

Maximinus was a provincial of low birth, and was seen by the Senate as a barbarian, not even a true Roman, despite Caracalla’s edict granting citizenship to all freeborn inhabitants of the Empire. Maximinus in turn hated the nobility and was ruthless towards those he suspected of plotting against him.

When the province of Africa revolted in 238, the Senate quickly turned on Maximinus and proclaimed the governor of Africa and his son – Gordian I and Gordian II – as emperors. They were killed within weeks by loyalist troops, and the desperate Senate now proclaimed two Senators emperor – Pupienus and Balbinus – but facing a revolt from the common people in Rome at this news they also reluctantly proclaimed the grandson & nephew of the Gordians co-emperor as Gordian III, which appeased the mob.

Meanwhile Maximinus marched on Rome, but faced resistance when Aquileia closed it's gates to him. Not prepared to deal with this forced siege, his troops starved and within a few months assassinated him and accepted the three Senatorial emperors.

My coins

I have a couple of coins of Maximinus – who I find to be a fascinating character. He was described as being much much larger in size than his contemporaries, and is thought to have suffered from acromegaly. He is said to have been 2.40m tall.

#	Reference	Obverse	Reverse	Notes
1	Sear 8310		Pax Avgusti
2	Sear 8315		Providentia Avg	Limes