Agrippina Senior (died AD 33). AE sestertius (37mm, 29.40 gm, 7h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 2/5....
(click for full-size image)
|
|
|
|
|
Agrippina Senior (died AD 33). AE sestertius (37mm, 29.40 gm, 7h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 2/5. Rome, ca. AD 50-54. AGRIPPINA•M•F GERMANICI CAESARIS, draped bust of Agrippina Senior right, seen from front, hair in long plait / TI•CLAVDIVS•CAESAR•AVG•GERM P M TR P IMP P P, legend around S•C. RIC I (Claudius I) 102. Vipsania Agrippina was born in 14 BC to Julia the Elder, daughter of Caesar Augustus, and to his right-hand-man Marcus Agrippa. Though her Julio-Claudian family was the most powerful in the Empire, it was also shot through with intrigue, tension, and untimely death. Her father died when she was only two. A few years later Augustus exiled her mother for serial adultery, effectively orphaning her and her three brothers, who were taken into the imperial household and raised by the emperor and his wife, the arch-manipulator Livia Drusilla. In the drama-filled last decade of Augustus' reign, all three of her brothers died young, or were murdered, clearing the path for the succession of Livia's son Tiberius. Agrippina was also married during this span, between 1 BC and AD 5, to Germanicus, the charismatic nephew of Tiberius and her own second maternal cousin. Though supremely political, the union was also very happy and the couple eventually had nine children, including the future emperor Gaius 'Caligula' and empress Agrippina the Younger. All ancient historians agree Agrippina was a model of rectitude and matronly virtue; she also went beyond the traditional role of a Roman wife and mother in accompanying Germanicus on risky military campaigns and foreign postings. The Roman people admired her courage; however she also had an imperious nature and longed for the day when her husband would inherit supreme power. The mysterious death of Germanicus while on a diplomatic mission in the East in AD 19 dashed these hopes. Agrippina believed Tiberius and/or Livia had a hand in his demise and made no secret of her suspicions. This put her squarely in the crosshairs of ...
|
Enter the message you would like to email to this Dealer
(click for full-size image)
(click for full-size image)
(click for full-size image)
(click for full-size image)
|
|