Prieure de Sion

Agrippina, the Younger

Today I acquired a denarius coin, issued under Nero, but also with the head of Agrippina the Younger. Probably one of the most dazzling and controversial (female) figures in Roman history, also known as the kingmaker. The family-relatives of Agrippina the Younger read like a who's who of the imperial Roman aristocracy.

• She was the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder
• She was the great-granddaughter of Augustus
• According to Roman law, Tiberius was her grandfather
• She was the sister of Gaius, known as Caligula
• Equally famous siblings were Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar
• She was the wife and perhaps poisoner of Emperor Claudius
• She was Emperor Nero's supermother

Agrippina the Younger did not have a good reputation even during her lifetime and in ancient obituaries. She seduced, poisoned and murdered for power. She married her uncle and is even said to have become involved with her son Nero. Even the great Roman historian Tacitus described her as "inflamed with a complete desire for a reign of terror". And his colleague Suetonius called her a "domineering and domineering woman". She has gone down in history as the emperor's murderess and the monstrous shadow of her son Nero. When he finally had her killed, contemporaries considered it a logical consequence of her family background.

Iulia Agrippina was born on November 6, 15 or 16 BC in Oppidum Ubiorum (today Cologne) and died on Nero's orders in Campania in 59 AD. Agrippina was the seventh of at least nine children of Germanicus Iulius Caesar and Vipsania Agrippina, also known as Agrippina the Elder. She was the great-granddaughter of Augustus and thus belonged to the closest circle of the imperial family. On Augustus' instructions, Agrippina's great-uncle Tiberius adopted her father Germanicus. Tiberius thus legally became her grandfather. Her siblings included Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar, who were adopted by Tiberius in 20 AD as potential heirs to the throne but were executed in 30 and 33 AD respectively, the later emperor Caligula as well as Drusilla and Iulia Livilla.

Her first marriage was to Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus from 28 AD, with whom she had her only son, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, the future emperor Nero, in the year AD. After her brother Caligula had her worshipped as goddesses together with her two sisters Drusilla and Iulia Livilla at the beginning of his reign, he suspected the other two sisters of having conspired against him together with their brother-in-law Marcus Aemilius Lepidus after Drusilla's death and sent Agrippina into exile on the rocky island of Pontia in 39 AD, from which she was only able to return after his murder in 41 AD. Her first husband died in 40 AD as a result of illness. After her return, she married Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus, a wealthy and influential senator, who probably died in 47 AD; according to Suetonius, he was killed by Agrippina's treachery. In 49 AD, Agrippina then married her uncle Claudius as his fourth wife, for which a law had to be changed that forbade marriage between uncle and niece. She then succeeded in strengthening her position at court and weakening that of her opponents. Claudius hoped to gain additional dynastic legitimacy through his union with Agrippina, who, unlike him, was descended from Emperor Augustus. The marriage therefore also strengthened Agrippina's influence and reputation in the public eye, which is why she was honored with statues and inscriptions.

Although Agrippina's new position did not give her a legal or institutional position, it did give her de facto political power, which she claimed and exercised for herself. It is clear from pictorial evidence and historiography, which is predominantly hostile to her, that she did not conform to the traditional image of women. She sought to secure the succession to the throne for her son, although Claudius himself had a son, Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus, also known as Britannicus, from his marriage to Valeria Messalina. In February 50 AD, Claudius adopted the 12-year-old Lucius, who now succeeded his younger stepbrother Britannicus as Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus to the throne, thus displacing him as his immediate successor and strengthening Agrippina's future bad reputation. In addition, Claudius now gave his wife the title Augusta. She was thus the first Roman emperor's wife to be awarded this title during her husband's lifetime and also had full minting rights. Agrippina could therefore be depicted on coins minted throughout the empire without naming or portraying the princeps. Her power is also reflected in the foundation of the Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium named after her in 50 AD, which elevated the settlement at her birthplace from an oppidum to a colonia civium Romanorum, whose inhabitants, initially mostly veterans, had Roman citizenship.

Nero was declared of age at the age of 13 and appointed senator and proconsul. In 53 AD, at the age of 16, he was married to his 13-year-old stepsister Claudia Octavia, the daughter of Claudius and Valeria Messalina. By adopting Nero, he had officially become her brother, whom she was not allowed to marry under Roman law, which is why Claudia had previously been made an Octavian pro forma by adoption. Agrippina took various steps to make her son the next ruler. She summoned Lucius Annaeus Seneca back to appoint him as his tutor. The senator and accomplice of Livilla had previously been sent into exile to Corsica by Messalina. Agrippina also set herself the goal of winning the loyalty and allegiance of the military. She appointed the soldier Afranius Burrus as commander of the Praetorian Guard and gradually replaced the old soldiers with new ones loyal to her father Germanicus. At events, she wore a chlamys and is also said to have sat next to her husband, putting her on an equal footing with him. The ancient sources paint a picture of a passive Claudius. Meanwhile, he bestowed on her the title of Augusta, which he had previously denied Messalina, and advertised coins bearing her image. Britannicus negated his adoptive brother and is said to have once called him by his birth name, Domitius. When Agrippina found out about this, she reported it to Claudius and accused Britannicus of treason. Claudius allowed her to dismiss Britannicus' tutors and hire new ones.

In late 54 AD, Britannicus was about to celebrate his 13th birthday. At this point, Claudius fell ill and died shortly afterwards on the night of October 13, 54 AD as a result of poisoning, which is why his adopted son Nero was appointed ruler of the Roman Empire at the age of 16. Rumor has it that Agrippina poisoned her husband Claudius in order to deny his biological son Britannicus the right to rule. According to Tacitus, Agrippina had her husband Claudius poisoned with the help of the poisoner Lucusta in order to help her son Nero to power. 

Agrippina spent a total of six years trying to secure the title of ruler for her son. Now she expected something in return, which promised a not inconsiderable share of power. After Claudius' death, she had perhaps initially hoped to seize de facto power herself, as a coin with the inscription "Agrippina Augusta, wife of the deified Claudius, mother of Nero Caesar" suggests. Agrippina also had herself portrayed as the goddess of fortune (Fortuna). In the early years, she still exerted a strong influence on Nero's government. From then on, she moved around Rome accompanied by two lictors and gave orders to the praetorians. At first, Nero was not bothered by the fact that his mother held so much power. Coins depicted her together with her son Nero as equals on the obverse of the coins.

And now I would like to introduce you to my latest acquisition.

This denarius, struck early in Nero's reign, strikingly shows his mother Agrippina Junior, widow of the newly deceased and deified Claudius, as the dominant force in the imperial government. Not only is her portrait depicted on an equal basis with that of her son, her name and titles are placed on the obverse, while Nero's are relegated to the reverse. Within a few months of the regime change, Agrippina's power had been eclipsed by Nero's advisors Seneca and Burrus. For the following coin type, the titles changed places, Nero's now occupying the obverse, and the portraits became jugate, with Agrippina behind Nero. Thereafter, Agrippina was entirely excluded from the coinage. 

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, with Iulia Agrippina (the Younger); Reign: Nero; Mint: Rome; Date: c. October - December 54 AD; Nominal: Denarius; Material: Silver; Diameter: 18.4mm; Weight: 3.51g; Reference: BMC 3; Reference: Cohen 7; Reference: RIC I (second edition) Nero 2; Obverse: Bust of Nero, bare-headed, right, bust of Agrippina the Younger, draped, hair in long plait, left, facing one another; Inscription: AGRIPP AVG DIVI CL AVD NERONIS CAES MATER; Translation: Agrippina Augusta, Divi Claudii Neronis Caesares Mater; Translation: Augusta Agrippina, mother of the divine Caesar, Claudius Nero; Reverse: Legend surrounding oak-wreath enclosing EX S C; Inscription: NERONI CLAVD DIVI F CAES AVG GERM IMP TR P; Translation: Nero Claudius Divi Filius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator Tribunicia Potestas; Translation: Nero Claudius, son of the divine, Caesar, Augustus, victor over the Germans, Imperator, tribunician power.

As already described, however, Agrippina quickly lost her power to Nero's court. On coins - as can be seen here - she first appeared on an equal footing, then behind Nero, before finally disappearing from the coinage altogether. The issue of the coin motifs in particular clearly shows how Nero freed himself from his mother's grip.

Gradually, Nero's displeasure at having to share power with his mother became unmistakable. Her influence waned at the beginning of 55 AD. Nero's love affairs were a major trigger for this. His marriage to Octavia was orchestrated by Agrippina in order to secure her son's claim to power. However, Nero was unable to accept the union and instead entered into an affair with the freed Claudia Acte. According to the historian Tacitus, she consequently ordered the praetorians to oust Nero and have him replaced by Britannicus. A few weeks later, shortly before reaching the age of 14, Britannicus was poisoned during a state banquet on Nero's orders. Officially, he succumbed to epilepsy. With the murder of his adoptive brother, Nero declared his independence from Agrippina. Her portrait on the coins now appeared behind that of her son and later disappeared completely. Nero also demonstrated his superiority by removing his mother's bodyguards, assigning her a residence outside the imperial palace and declaring her persona non grata.

A few years later, he fell in love with Poppaea Sabina, eight years his senior. She was the former wife of the praetorian prefect Rufrius Crispinus, whom Agrippina had previously ousted from his leadership position, and now wanted to become his wife, which was legally forbidden for a freedwoman. Poppaea gave Nero an ultimatum: she would leave him for her former husband if he did not put a definitive stop to his mother. In the spring of 59 AD, he decided to kill his mother. After a failed attempt in Baiae, a resort in Naples, in which he tried to sink his mother in a rigged boat, he sent a troop of three soldiers who ultimately killed her. Agrippina was murdered, cremated and buried without ceremony or monument. Her servant Mnester then killed himself. The murder of Agrippina made Nero the only Roman emperor to commit matricide. The matricide was later regarded as the main motive of the conspirators who had previously attempted to overthrow Nero in 65 AD and of the rebellious legions who ousted him three years later and forced him to commit suicide.

Agrippina was murdered and buried in Campania. Nero was skeptical of the reactions of the inhabitants of Campania, as some of them rushed to her after Agrippina's death, unknowingly turning against their princeps. They eventually agreed publicly to Nero's official interpretation of events - Agrippina's suicide - and thus revealed themselves as accomplices, if not to the murder, then to its aftermath. Agrippina's murder forced the inhabitants of Campania to confess their allegiance to her or to Nero, something that many contemporaries shied away from in the midst of political unrest. The same problem can be found in the archaeological memory of the region: in Puteoli, Agrippina's name was removed from a monument commemorating local games, while in Herculaneum a large group of statues depicting her name and likeness, as well as many other inscriptions in and around the Gulf of Naples, were preserved until after her death. The inhabitants of Campania thus commemorated their Augusta, but were divided on the direction of this commemoration.

It should be noted that Agrippina Minor gained access to imperial power three times in her 30 years of political existence: the first time as Caligula's sister, the second time as Claudius' wife and finally as Nero's mother. She was the only woman in Rome to publicly exercise the power of an emperor.

Feel free to write your comments and show more examples of coins here.

• Coins with Claudius and Agrippina
• Coins of Agrippina the Younger herself
• Coins of Nero and Agrippina
• Coins of other emperors who were under the influence of strong mothers
• Or whatever you think is in relation

18 minutes ago, kirispupis said:

Worth adding to the watch list, but I'm note hopeful.

Personally, I can't stand these "mixed action" docuseries where they get you involved in the plot and then pull away to some scholar. Seriously, have they not learned "show don't tell"?

I'm also highly doubtful that a true portrayal can be done today. So many of Alexander's actions and behavior would be difficult for today's audiences to accept.

I'm very skeptical - I hope I'm wrong.

I was very disappointed with the Cleopatra series/documentary. It felt like every second they switched back and forth between the film series and the documentary with experts. As soon as I wanted to get involved in the film part and enjoy it, boom, an expert suddenly sat there and explained for a long time. This switching back and forth was driving me crazy. I could never really commit to anything. In the end it was too much for me and I gave up on the series/documentary.

Somehow I had the impression that they couldn't agree whether it should be more of a series or more of a documentary.

But of course it is always a subjective matter of taste.

10 hours ago, kirispupis said:

or coins where you didn't read the full description!

I didn't read the description correctly for this coin from a ROMA auction. I read the text far too quickly because I thought the coin was so pretty - and when I read it quickly my brain wanted to read "Electron", but in reality it was a modern Electrotype.

The greed was too high to quickly press the buy button. Because this coin was available for around 35 GBP in the after-sale. What, 35 GBP for a Hieron II coin? Fast! Fast! Press buy quickly!

Later I saw that it was a modern Electrotype and not Electron. But it was too late. Of course it was my own mistake.

https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?lot=1286&p=lot&sid=5293

19 minutes ago, panzerman said:

Erfurt --> Treveri

Link: 

1 hour ago, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

Ptolemy

33 minutes ago, Qcumbor said:

Lyon --> Nicopolis ad Istrum

I would say, next one can use a "S", "D" or "M" .... 🙂 

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, Vergil already knew something similar.

Pamphylia, was a small region on the southern coast of Anatolia, extending about 120 km (75 miles) between Lycia and Cilicia, and north from the Mediterranean only about 50 km (30 miles) to mountainous Pisidia. The Pamphylians were a mixture of aboriginal inhabitants, immigrant Cilicians and Greeks who migrated there from Arcadia and Peloponnese in the 12th century B.C. The region first enters history in a treaty between the Hittite Great King Tudhaliya IV and his vassal, where the city "Parha" (Perge) is mentioned. Pamphylia was subdued by the Mermnad kings of Lydia and afterward passed in succession under the dominion of Persian and Hellenistic monarchs. After the defeat of Antiochus III in 190 B.C. they were annexed by the Romans to the dominions of Eumenes of Pergamum; but somewhat later they joined with the Pisidians and Cilicians in piracy, and Side became the chief center and slave mart of these freebooters. Pamphylia was for a short time included in the dominions of Amyntas, king of Galatia, but after his death was absorbed into a Roman province. The Pamphylians became largely Hellenized in Roman times, and have left magnificent memorials of their civilization at Perga, Aspendos, and Side.

Link: 

15 hours ago, expat said:

Drachm

11 hours ago, Ryro said:

Next: satyr 

Imperator Caesar Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus
Reign: Marcus Aurelius
Mint: Tripolis ad Maeandrum, Lydia
Date: 177/180 AD
Nominal: Bronze Medallion
Material: AE
Diameter: 37mm
Weight: 23.53g

Reference: RPC IV.2 17452 (this coin)
RPC Online: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/17452
Rare: Specimens 1 (0 in the core collections)

Obverse: Bare-headed bust of Commodus (youthful) wearing cuirass and paludamentum, right, seen from centre
Inscription: ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ Λ ΑΥΡ ΚοΜΟΔΟϹ
Translation: Autokrator Kaisaros Lucios Aurelios Komodos
Translation: Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Commodus

Reverse: Dionysus (youthful) standing, facing, head, right, placing hand on top of his head, being supported by Satyr; to left, panther jumping, left
Inscription: ΤΡΙΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ
Translation: Tripoleiton
Translation: City and People of Tripolis (ad Maeandrum)

Next: big ancient provincial bronze coin, more than 37mm diameter... 

8 hours ago, panzerman said:

Nürnberg --> Gaul

The Sequans were one of the most important peoples in eastern Gaul. They were the enemies of the Eduens, their neighbours. Their territory was very large and stretched between the Saône, the Rhône, the Jura and the Vosges. The Jura lakes separated them from the Helvets. They had been very powerful in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, but had lost their splendour after the Germanic tribes occupied part of their territory around 70 BC. They had the Leuques, the Lingons, the Eduens and the Helvetii as neighbours. Their main toppidum was Vesontio (Besançon). Cited several times by Caesar in the campaign of 52 BC, they supplied a contingent of 12,000 men for the rescue army.

This quinar belongs to the large group of the East, inspired by the denarius with the legend KALETEDOY. The assignment to the Sequans is probable, although the distribution map of the finds is very large and scattered. Brigitte Fischer has shown in an article in Numismatische Hefte 75 (1983), pp.232-233 that the legend Q(uintus) DOCI SAM F(ilius) cannot begin before 57-56 BC. The type is present in the trenches of Alesia, but continued to circulate after the Gallic War.

4 hours ago, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

Next: coin of another Mesopotamian city

Urfa is believed to be identical to the Hurrian Urshu, which is mentioned around 2000 BC in Sumerian, Akkadian and later in Hittite cuneiform texts. Ephräm the Syrian preserves the legend that King Nimrod founded the city. The city was conquered by Alexander. For reasons of power politics, Seleucus I refounded the city under the Macedonian name of Edessa. The date of foundation is usually given as 303 BC. After the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire, the independent petty kingdom of Osrhoene arose around Edessa. Under Roman dominance, the city initially retained its independence. Pompey confirmed Abgar II of Edessa in office after 67 BC. The latter then seems, according to Plutarch, to have played an important role in the defeat of Crassus in 53 BC. Thereafter, Edessa, together with the Osrhoene, became a dependent Parthian client kingdom under its own princes. In 49 AD, Abgar V is mentioned by Tacitus (Annals XI,12) as “King of the Arabs”. When Emperor Trajan stayed in Antioch in 114 AD, the king of Edessa, also named Abgar, brought him gifts, including over 200 horses. But already in 116 AD Abgar fell away from the Romans and the city was destroyed. Trajan’s successor Hadrian had to vacate the area again and installed a Parthian prince as ruler of Edessa in 117 AD. A short time later, the Osrhoene was once again firmly part of the Parthian sphere of influence. Then in 123 AD a native dynasty under Manu VII came to rule. Until 160 AD, there were no coins by which a “Kingdom of Edessa” could be proven. The oldest coins survive from King Wael bar Sahru (163-165 AD), who was installed by the Parthians. From King Manu VIII (139-163 AD, 165-176/9 AD) a coin is preserved showing him with the tiara. In 165 AD, during another Roman-Parthian war, the city rebelled against the Parthians and opened the gates to Roman troops, the ruler became a Roman client king; but still the emperors refrained from annexation. In 194 AD, Edessa rebelled against the Romans and was subsequently subjugated by Emperor Septimius Severus. Abgar IX (212-214 AD) briefly succeeded his predecessor on the throne. However, the new emperor Caracalla had him deposed and killed, ending the rule of the Edessian kings and making the city a Roman colonia and the capital of the Roman province of Osrhoene in 214 AD. However, local princes seem to have continued to exist; for example, an Edessian phylarch named Abgar moved to Rome with his family in 243 AD. Abgar X minted the last coins with the Greek circumscription Abgaros Basileus (“King Abgar”) under Emperor Gordian. In 260 AD, the Romans under Valerian were defeated by the Persian Sassanids under Shapur I near Edessa, and the emperor fell into captivity. Edessa had long competed with the cult of the moon god Sin in nearby Harran. The worship of the goddess Taratha was significant. On the other hand, under the tolerant King Abgar VIII (176/9-212 AD), of whom a large number of coins have survived, the first Christian churches were allegedly built.

Abgar VIII (Lucius Aelius Septimius Abgar VIII, the Great) was a son of Manu VIII and king of Edessa from about AD 176/9. He took the name Lucius Aelius in 191/192 AD in honour of the Roman Emperor Commodus. After Commodus’ assassination, he supported the counter-emperor Pescennius Niger. In 194 AD, he was defeated by the emperor Septimius Severus, then submitted to him the following year, took the additional name Septimius in his honour and handed over his sons as hostages. From then on, he loyally stood by the Roman emperor and therefore did not support the Parthians. Septimius Severus recognised him for this as a client king and “king of kings” in 198 AD. Abgar had coins minted with the portrait of Septimius Severus on one side and his portrait on the other. Abgar’s palace fell victim to a flood in 201, according to the Chronicle of Edessa. Later, Abgar VIII is said to have paid a visit to the city of Rome. His son Abgar IX succeeded him on the throne in 212 AD. Among Abgar VIII’s childhood friends was the Syrian Christian Gnostic Bardesanes. It is possible that Abgar VIII converted to Christianity, but the church father Eusebius of Caesarea reports nothing of a conversion of Abgar in his church history. Bardesanes, on the other hand, relates in his Book of the Laws of the Lands that Abgar VIII, after his conversion, pronounced a prohibition against future emasculations in honour of the Semitic deity Atargatis; perhaps, however, this news is a subsequent orthodox revision of the original text. The early Christian chronicler Sextus Iulius Africanus paid his respects to Abgar VIII around 195 AD and classified him as a “holy man”, but whether he meant that the king was a Christian is not certain. At any rate, Christians lived in Edessa at the time of the king and Abgar VIII himself was at least open to Christianity. Abgar VIII probably had Roman citizenship.

Lucius Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus
Reign: Abgar VIII; under Marcus Aurelius or Commodus
Mint: Edessa, Mesopotamia
Date: 177/192 AD
Nominal: Bronze
Material: AE
Diameter: 16mm
Weight: 2.10g

Reference: RPC IV.3 6491
Reference: BMC 11–13
Reference: SNG Copenhagen 193 and 195
RPC Online: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/6491

Obverse: Laureate head of Commodus, right
Inscription: [AVT ΚΑΙϹΑΡ] ΚΟΜΟΔΟϹ
Translation: Autokrator Kaisaros Komodos
Translation: Imperator Caesar Commodus

Reverse: Draped bust of Abgar VIII (bearded) wearing diademed tiara, right
Inscription: ΑΒΓΑΡΟϹ [ΒΑϹΙΛЄVϹ]
Translation: Abgaros Basileus
Translation: King Abgar [VIII]

Next: a ancient Bosporus / Bosporos coin... 

Link: 

4 hours ago, expat said:

Cappadocia

Mount Argaeus (modern Erciyes) is a dormant volcano about 3917 m high in Turkey. It is located 25 km south of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The mountain was and is a landmark of Caesarea. In his description of the surroundings of Caesarea, the geographer Strabon reported plains littered with fire pits where flames burst from the ground at night. According to Strabo, there were still sulphurous hot water vapours at Mount Argaeus in his time (54 BC to AD 19). The mountain was still occasionally depicted on the backs of coins for the Greek-minted provinces in Roman times - as on this coin presented here.

A neocorate was a rank or dignity granted by the Roman Senate and the Roman Emperor to certain cities which had built temples to the Emperor or had established cults of members of the Imperial family. The city itself was referred to as neokoros (pl. neokoroi). A temple dedicated to the emperor was also called neocorate. These titles came from the Greek word νεωκόρος, literally a temple-sweeper (νεώς, temple, κορεῖν, to sweep), and was also used for a temple attendant and for a priestly holder of high rank who was in charge of a temple. Starting in the 2nd century A.D., the title appeared on many coins. The term was first used as a title for a city for Ephesus and its Temple of the Sebastoi. There were approximately 37 cities holding the neocorate, concentrated in the province of Asia, but also in neighboring provinces. A city could be granted more than one neokoros, and the number of neokoroi was often indicated in the reverse legend of coins (B = 2, Γ = 3, ∆ = 4). Source: Numiswiki.

15 hours ago, panzerman said:

Santiago --> Olbia

This news hits me hard.

Even though I didn't know him personally, I always enjoyed reading his posts in the forum. He was very pleasant to deal with. He will leave a big gap here and I will miss him very much.

Not to forget his family, of course, where he will certainly leave a big gap as well. My regrets and condolences to the family and bereaved.

Dear Terence Cheesman (kapphnwn), I hope you are in a nicer place with all the gods of Olympus and can now talk shop with them about the beautiful world of coins!

Active Bids: 14

Win Bids: 0

Lost : 14

😂

Are any winners here who wants show us the coins you get? I won nothing 😕 ... ?!

But i am hopeful, i have 19 active bids on Session 5 and 17 active bids on Session 6.

39 minutes ago, Tejas said:

I don't particularly like the attribution to "unkonwn Germanic tribes", however. Clearly...

I just wanted to point out that this period is not my “area of expertise” at all and I therefore always enjoy reading your comments and explanations. Always very exciting to find out the details from you here. Please continue...

1 hour ago, panzerman said:

Adan --> Netherlands

1 hour ago, Tejas said:

To the question of economic growth. There are many misconceptions regarding economic growth. Indeed, socialist and ecological ideologies are largely built on a false idea about growth. Economic growth is indeed infinite and this has nothing to do with the finite resources of our planet. The ultimate resource is not oil, metals or arable land, but human ingenuity (Julian Simon). Also growth is not a zero-sum game, where the gains of one group have to be the losses of others. We desperately need more growth to combat illnesses, improve health, living quality and to clean the environment. The poorer people are the more they will pollute the planet. Indeed, economic growth is the only way to solve climate change and all other environmental problems. Any idea or policy which advocates less growth and less wealth is highly dangerous.

An interesting perspective, really.

Unfortunately - from my point of view - pure utopia, as you describe it. Wishful thinking.

Unfortunately, it is a fact that our planet is being overexploited at the expense of the environment. And if somewhere it's worth digging and just making a little profit - a lot of environmental regulations are suddenly pushed aside.

I remember a report about fracking. It was forbidden in this region because the area was farmed with cattle. But then they found out that fracking was possible and financially worthwhile. So the environmental laws were repealed “for the good of the community.”

The consequence was. The chemicals used in fracking leaked into the groundwater. One day the fields were full of bloated dead cattle. Nobody can live there anymore - because the groundwater is now contaminated.

All for growth, all for science and progress (fracking).

And unfortunately you are forgetting the human factor. It's a great idea that growth is used to ensure that fewer and fewer people have to suffer. But we humans are not like that.

I see the gap between rich and poor getting wider and wider. There are more and more super rich - but I don't see how the growth is distributed fairly - on the contrary. Africa used to be a continent where production was cheap. Today, in Europe too, workers (temporary workers) are exploited cheaply - so that the shareholders have even more returns every year.

No, sorry, I don't see it that way. Simply because people don't like sharing their wealth. And you would think that super-rich people would eventually have enough money and start sharing it - but they don't.

The same also applies to health. I have the privilege of being privately insured here in Germany. My parents and my sisters have state insurance. I see how I'm getting more and more and faster benefits, while people with state insurance are getting fewer and fewer benefits.

(A new) Galba incomming...! I love these character faces 😍

Lucius Livius Ocella Servius Sulpicius Galba (born 24 December 3 BC near Tarracina; died 15 January 69 AD in Rome) was Roman Emperor from 8 June 68 AD to 15 January 69 AD. In the year of his death, three more emperors were appointed, which is why it has gone down in history as the Four Emperors' Year. Galba was the first emperor who did not come from the Julio-Claudian imperial house. Already after the assassination of Caligula by the Praetorians on 24 January 41 AD, Galba is said to have been urged for the first time by his friends to reach for power, but he refused. In the winter of 67/68 AD, under the initiative of Gaius Iulius Vindex, governor of the unarmed province of Gallia Lugdunensis, an insurrectionary movement began against Nero. Galba initially remained neutral in response to the latter's request for support, neither joining nor sending news of the rebellion to Rome, as other commanders did. This seems to have been because Galba did not trust the letters. It was not until the beginning of April 68 AD that Galba joined the rebellion and was proclaimed emperor on 3 April in Carthago Nova by soldiers and provincials. However, he initially called himself legatus Senatus Populique Romani, as the final decision on Nero's successor was to be left to the Senate. Galba also sent letters to the other provincial governors asking for their support. These requests were met by Aulus Caecina Alienus, the quaestor of Baetica, and Marcus Salvius Otho, the governor of Lusitania, who joined him. It was precisely Otho's financial support that Galba needed to pay his troops. News of his confirmation as emperor probably reached Galba on 16 or 18 June, when his freedman Icelus arrived in Clunia. This was followed two days later by a message containing the exact text of the Senate's decision, delivered by the senator Titus Vinius. Galba now assumed the name Servius Galba Imperator Caesar Augustus and the tribunicia potestas.

28 minutes ago, ela126 said:

Acetone is by no means harmless, but having worked with it for 15 years on a daily basis, there are much stronger solvents you can use, which would warrant greater concern. (toluene or hexanes, heck even gasoline).

IPA (isopropanol) is fine to attempt, it should have some effect on the wax and none on the coin, but acetone is the standard and is what is used by NGC's conservation service (among other things) to remove  PVC and other surface issues.

26 minutes ago, AETHER said:

I have used acetone of bronze and copper to clean fake patina or any other residue, while sometimes the residue did not come off, I didn't notice any damage on the coin at all.

OK, seriously. I have alcohol here - I'll try that later and then, if it's not enough, I'll use acetone. Then I feel reassured when I can use acetone safely.

I'll let you know if I was successful.

OH NO! What did you advise me? Look what happened with acetone and a 36mm sesterce...

😂 😂 😂

4 minutes ago, AETHER said:

Even Nero looks angry at the wax tomb he was placed it! 

Now it's clear why he looks like that!

41 minutes ago, ela126 said:

i would suggest an Acetone soak

4 minutes ago, AETHER said:

I would suggest acetone as ela did.

Answers I didn't want to hear 😄 

No seriously, first of all, thank you! But I always associate acetone with a smelly, corrosive liquid. If I remember correctly, my brushes always dissolved in the acetone bath. I'm a little afraid of acetone.

But I'm a layman when it comes to removing wax. It's probably an unfounded fear (of acetone)?!

17 hours ago, panzerman said:

Edo --> Oea

Oea was an ancient city in present-day Tripoli, Libya. It was founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC and later became a Roman–Berber colony. As part of the Roman Africa Nova province, Oea and surrounding Tripolitania were prosperous. It reached its height in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, when the city experienced a golden age under the Severan dynasty in nearby Leptis Magna. By the later half of the 2nd century BC, Oea was conquered by the Romans, who included it in their province of Africa, and gave it the name of Regio Syrtica. Around the beginning of the 3rd century AD, it became known as the Regio Tripolitana, meaning "region of the three cities" (namely Oea (modern Tripoli of Libya), Sabratha and Leptis Magna). It was probably raised to the rank of a separate province by Septimius Severus, who was a native of Leptis Magna. In spite of centuries of Roman habitation, the only visible Roman remains, apart from scattered columns and capitals (usually integrated in later buildings), is the Arch of Marcus Aurelius from the 2nd century AD. There are also remains of a little temple called Genius Coloniae, conserved in Tripoli Museum.

4 hours ago, lordmarcovan said:

Next, another Octavian/Augustus

This example is shown in Friedhelm Prayon "Projected buildings on Roman coins" and Dietrich Mannsperger "Annos undeviginti natus" (Hausmann-Festschrift 1982, p. 322, 332) on plate 71.6

Octavian is here firmly cementing his connection to the now 'divine' Julius Caesar, thinly disguised as the more traditional fulfilment of pietas, in the minds of the Roman people. The bearded portrait on the obverse, the typical attitude of mourning for the male Roman citizen, recalls the assassination of his patron and adoptive father eight years before, but it is with the reverse type that the message is made clear. Depicting a structure that had not yet been built was a calculated move from Octavian that in part renewed his commitment to the project, which had been agreed six years earlier. Finally dedicated in 29 BC, construction having started only after the Battle of Actium, the Temple of Divus Julius was built on the site in the forum where Caesar's body had been cremated fifteen years previously.