Emperors of Rome - A (Chronological) Portrait Gallery

[shanxi]

The grandsons:

Mysia, Pergamon
grammateus Kephalion
Æ 19, struck 1 AD
Obv.: ΓAION KEΦAΛIΩN, Bare head of Gaius
Rev.: ΛЄYKION, Bare head of Lucius
Æ, 19mm, 2.84g
Ref.: RPC 2363

[idesofmarch01]

For me, the slightly older-looking Augustus is my favorite:

AUGUSTUS
AV Aureus (7.90 g.)  Lugdunum circa 11 - 10 B.C.  RIC 196
AVGVSTVS - DIVI-f Laureate head right.  Rev. IMP - XII Diana, wearing polos and long drapery, advancing r., holding bow and taking arrow from quiver.  In exergue, SICIL
From the Biaggi collection, ex Gilhofer & Ranschburg and Hess 22 May 1935

Somewhat reminiscent of the actor Brian Blessed who played Augustus in the great BBC series I, Claudius.  Plus, I love the Diana-as-huntress action figure reverse.

[Qcumbor]

That's some carpet bombing !

Exceptional portrait @idesofmarch01 thanks for showing it

Q

[mc9]

Here is an As from moneyer M.MAECILIUS TVLLVS for Augustus

CAESAR AVGUST PONT MAX TRIBVNIC POT    bare head left

M.MAECILIVS TULLUS III VIR A A A F F   SIC     SC in text

ca.7 B.C., RIC I 436, AS , ROME mint, 9.38 gr

I bought this coin for the item on the lower back of his head. I still don't know what this is.

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by mc9

[CPK]

@idesofmarch01 That is a beautiful coin, both obverse and reverse! Thanks for posting!

 

 

[Spaniard]

Bought this coin as I didn't even know his grandsons had coins minted in their names!....It has a decent portrait reminiscent of his grandfather..

Phrygia, Laodikeia. Gaius Caesar, grandson of Augustus. AE 15mm (3.53 gm). Struck circa 5 AD under the magistrate Antonius Polemon Philopatris.
Obv.: ΓΑΙΟΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡ (GAIOS KAISAR), bare head right.
Rev.: Eagle with spread wings between two monograms ΠΟΛΕ (left),ΦΙΛΟΠΑΤ (right),("Polemon" and "Philopatris"). ΛΑΟΔΙΚΕΩΝ (LAODIKEON) below. RPC I 2900; BMC 154. VF

[Julius Germanicus]

A slightly unusual portrait of young Octavian, the future Augustus, but probably rather realistic as it was

a) created before the official "ageless" Princeps type was introduced, and

b) the Imperator could have even stood model for the die engraver in person, as this emission of prototype Sestertii was likely struck at Tarentum in the presence of Octavian himself when during his activity in the south of the Italian peninsula in 38 b.C. he used that city as base port for his campaign against the renegade Sextus Pompeius

CAESAR DIVI F - bare head of Octavian right
DIVOS IVLIVS - wreathed head of Julius Caesar right
Sestertius (?), southern Italy, 38 b.C.
30,21 mm / 19,73 gr
RPC 620; Crawford 535/1; Sear (Roman Imperators) 308; FITA, pp. 49-50 and pl. i, 14; Sydenham 1335; BMCRR Gaul 106; Babelon Julia 98-9; Cohen I, p. 22, 3
Ex Roma Numismatics E-Sale 69, 16.04.2020, Lot 877

[CPK]

About 24 hours to go! We've had a good showing. Lots of great portraits of Augustus so far! 👍

I can't resist posting another one of my best Augustus portraits (and my favorite coin overall) -

 

Also here is a portrait of Augustus' best friend, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. It's doubtful whether Octavian would have ever become Augustus without the aid and support of his every-loyal boyhood friend:

 

Have yet to hear from @Octavius - I'm sure he's got one or two portrait coins of Augustus to contribute. 😉 

[Roman Collector]

Livia, under Augustus, 27 BC - AD 13.
Roman Æ diobol, 7.41 g, 24.2 mm, 1 h.
Egypt, Alexandria, 6th series, AD 10-11.
Obv: Bare head right with Nodus hairstyle.
Rev: Date (LM=40) within oak wreath.
Refs: BMC 16.4, 31; SGI 209; Emmett 57; RPC 5054.
Notes: Lindgren sale 38, lot 110.

 

 

[Octavius]

 The first example is a dupondius; although struck by Caligula, has a nice expressive portrait of Augustus.

Here are also three denarii of Octavian with nice portraiture.

[Octavius]

 I think we should continue this thread to where we can all post our best portraits of Sponsianus.

[Severus Alexander]

Glad to see @Octavius swoop in with his superb portraits! 👍

Adding my best of Gaius Caesar, a provincial from Hierapolis in Phrygia:

And here is a rather interesting provincial portrait of Augustus, ex my collection, now an RPC plate coin (vol. 1, # 2436 from Phokaia in Ionia):

Edited January 6, 2023 by Severus Alexander

[CPK]

8 hours ago, Octavius said:

 The first example is a dupondius; although struck by Caligula, has a nice expressive portrait of Augustus.

Here are also three denarii of Octavian with nice portraiture.

 

That dupondius portrait is impressive! It looks more "mature" than a lot of Augustus' portraits - I wonder if that's because it was struck long enough after his death that the youthful idealism became less imperative?

I love the AEGYPTO CAPTA coin, both portrait and (especially) the reverse!

Thanks for posting! 👏

[Etcherdude]

 

Here are my Augustus denarius and cistophorus.

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

I guess we are just a few hours before T-man. Superb coins all. If they were aggregated surely it would be the top collection of Augustus coins in the world!

[Finn235]

I hope someday to get some early (Imperatorial) issues of Octavian, but this cistophorus is my "main" Augustus - the perfect balance between price, size, and condition

Also a posthumous issue by Tiberius with a lovely portrait as well.

And the rest of the family

Livia (this is my only sole portrait that is certainly attributable to Augustus' reign)

Gaius 

Lucius (an incredibly rare figure to find solo)

Livia with Julia the Elder

Agrippa

QUINCTILIUS VARUS, WHERE ARE MY EAGLES?!?

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

 

[Severus Alexander]

Time for Tiberius!!  I was excited to get this one last year:

And here's my Tiberius with Livia (Thessalonica, RPC I 1568):

I was glad to see you in the thread, @Finn235!  I look forward to your many contributions. 🙂

[Severus Alexander]

I suppose now is the time for Drusus as well:

[Qcumbor]

I still need à decent Drusus....

Tiberius :

Q

[Octavius]

 For some reason, Tiberius seems to get overlooked often. I don't exactly know why. He had a sufficiently prurient lifestyle according to Suetonius and was a rather successful military leader. His coins , however, were rather monotonous. Here is a selection.

Ironically, the most interesting one - the Constantiae dupondius, is a crappy photo!

[Octavius]

 His son, Drusus and another As variety with caduceus reverse...

[CPK]

Yep, on to Tiberius!

We had a great showing with Augustus and there have already been several amazing portraits of his successor. I would love to have a nice bronze portrait of Tiberius, but for now all I have to contribute is the well-known "Tribute Penny":

[John Conduitt]

There might be a few of these.

Tiberius Denarius, 14-37

Lugdunum. Silver, 19x18mm, 3.64g. Head of Tiberius, laureate, right; TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS. Female figure (Livia as Pax), draped, right, seated, right on chair with plain legs, holding branch and long sceptre; below chair, a double line; PONTIF MAXIM (RIC I.2, 26). From the South Norfolk Hoard 2014 (image 44).

[CPK]

58 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

There might be a few of these.

Tiberius Denarius, 14-37

Lugdunum. Silver, 19x18mm, 3.64g. Head of Tiberius, laureate, right; TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS. Female figure (Livia as Pax), draped, right, seated, right on chair with plain legs, holding branch and long sceptre; below chair, a double line; PONTIF MAXIM (RIC I.2, 26). From the South Norfolk Hoard 2014 (image 44).

That is a particularly fine portrait of great style!