Sesterius of Emperor Caligula

Dublin Core

Title

Sesterius of Emperor Caligula

Subject

money, coins (money)

Description

The coin’s obverse illustrates a profiled bust of Agrippina Senior (14 BCE-33 CE), granddaughter of Emperor Augustus and mother of Emperor Caligula. Agrippina and her husband, General Germanicus, conspired to regain control over the Roman Empire from his adoptive father, Emperor Tiberius, through their shared Julio-Claudian bloodlines and political leverage. The coin likens Agrippina to a male Emperor, implying the magnitude of her socio-political influence. The coin’s reverse illustrates a pushcart helmed by mules, presumably in a funerary procession, as the coin was manufactured under her son’s sovereignty less than ten years after her death.

Creator

Caligula, Emperor of Rome

Source

Sear: 1827

Publisher

ARTH250 (Professor V. Rousseau, fall 2019)

Date

39 CE

Contributor

JS

Rights

University Art Collection, University of St. Thomas (St. Paul)

Relation

[no text]

Format

Brass (metal)

Language

Latin

Type

Physical Object

Identifier

2012.02.192

Coverage

Roman Empire