(75) Nero - AE sestertius, A.D. 64-66, 25.35 g. (inv.
91.137).
Obverse: Laureate head of Nero l.; NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR
AVG(VSTVS) GER(MANICVS) P(ONTIFEX) M(AXIMVS) TR(IBVNICIA) P(OTESTATE) IMP(ERATOR)
P(ATER) P(ATRIAE): Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, pontifex
maximus, with tribunician power, imperator, father of the country.
Reverse: On r., veiled and draped Ceres seated l., holding
grain in r. and torch in l.; on l., draped Annona standing r., r. resting
on hip, l. holding cornucopia; between them, modius on garlanded
altar; behind, ship's stern; ANNONA AVGVSTI CERES: Annona and Ceres of the
Augustus; in exergue, S(ENATVS) C(ONSVLTO): by decree of the Senate.
Provenance: Ex Platt Hall collection; ex du Chastel collection;
Malter, 1975.
Bibliography: C.H.V. Sutherland, The Roman Imperial
Coinage I: from 31 BC to AD 69, rev. ed. (London 1984) 140.
By Nero's time the city of Rome had long ceased to be self-sufficient in
its food supplies, especially grain, which had to be imported from all over
the empire. Nero took great pains on his coins to refer to the adequacy
of the grain supply in his reign. His sestertius depicting his improvements
in the Port of Ostia (see no. 78), the main point of entry for the imported
grain, alluded to its improved transport, and the reverse of this sestertius
conveys the same message in another way. On either side of an altar are
Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, and Annona, the personification
of the grain harvest.
Ceres holds her usual attributes, grain and the torch with which she searches
for her daughter, Proserpina, held captive in the Underworld for the winter
months. Annona holds a cornucopia, symbol of agricultural abundance; this
is her first appearance on a coin. On the altar is a modius, a grain
measure, and in the background a ship's stern, references to the transport
of the grain.
The portrait on the obverse portrays Nero with curls rather than a shelf
of waves over his forehead and with a beard (compare no. 74).
S.G.B.
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Lawrence University
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