Roman Empire – Claudius (r. 41-54 AD) Bronze Dupondius, Ceres Reverse – NGC XF 5/5 – 4/5

Description Roman Empire. Twelve Caesars. Claudius (r. 41-54 AD) AE (Bronze) dupondius. Mint of Rome; struck 41-42 AD. Graded XF 5/5 - 4/5 by NGC; sharp, lifelike portrait with well-defined features.   Design: Laureate head of Claudius right; star to right / Ceres seated left on throne, holding burning torch and group of corn ears Reference: RIC I 94. Cohen 1. BMC 136. Dimensions: 28 mm / 14.00 gm Condition: NGC XF 5/5 - 4/5, edge marks. Sharp example of an emperor whose coins have been in demand recently.   Claudius Claudius was born right in the heart of the Augustan imperial family. His father was Nero Claudius Drusus, the brother of the emperor Tiberius and a successful commander in Germania – his armies were the first Roman force to reach the river Elbe in eastern Germany. His mother was Antonia Minor, the daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia, sister of the first emperor Augustus. The Roman chronicler Suetonius in his Lives of the Twelve Caesars recounts that Claudius was a frail and sickly man since childhood, suffering from a limp and was slightly deaf. Despite his physical ailments, Claudius proved to be of sound mind, studying history under Livy and philosophy under Athenodorus, the Stoic philosopher. Both men were apparently impressed with the young Claudius’ intellect. His mentally unstable and violent cousin, the emperor Caligula, was murdered by the Praetorian Guards in January of 41 AD. The Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus tells of how the Praetorians then found the frail Claudius hiding behind a curtain, fearing he would be killed next. Instead, the Praetorians hailed him as emperor. After four years of chaos and disfunction under Caligula, Claudius impressed everyone with thirteen years of steady-handed and determined government. He expanded the empire on all frontiers, formally annexing client kingdoms (like Judaea and Thrace) and launching a military conquest of Britain. Unlike the conquests under Augustus, Claudius himself led the Roman army into Britain, becoming the first sitting emperor to lead a conquest of a new region. He granted the main British general Caractacus amnesty upon his surrender, a move that earned him the praise of historians and likely helped the empire consolidate its holdings in Britain, which under Claudius were largely confined to southern England and Wales. The last two emperors, Tiberius and Caligula, had quarreled with the Senate constantly, but Claudius restored the Augustan norm of good relations between emperor and the aristocratic chamber. Gaining favor with the senators was an important achievement, but perhaps more so was his popularity with the populace; Claudius was keen on circuses and games and sometimes even participated. Pliny the Elder recounts: “a killer whale was actually seen in the harbor of Ostia in battle with the Emperor Claudius,” and the emperor was victorious over this unfortunate orca. Perhaps Claudius’ only fault was his choices in women: he married four times, with his third wife executed for adultery and his fourth sidelining Claudius’ own son Britannicus in favor of her son Nero following Claudius’ death in 54 AD. Claudius’ reputation has remained quite strong – second among the Julio-Claudians only to Augustus, and certainly amongst the best of the Twelve Caesars. He enjoyed a resurgence in popularity following the release of 1976 British TV series “I, Claudius,” an adaptation of Robert Graves’ earlier book.