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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ryro, post: 8307172, member: 91461&quot;]My latest rarity showing Britannicus and his killer:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470245[/ATTACH]</p><p><b><u>Britannicus and Nero</u></b></p><p>as Caesars, Æ17 of Pergamum, Mysia. Struck under Claudius I, AD 50-54.</p><p>BPЄTANNIKOC KAICAP, bare-headed and draped bust of Britannicus right / [NЄPΩN KAICAP], bare-headed and draped bust of Nero right. 2.9g 16.3mm</p><p>Purchased from N&amp;N London April 2022</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131130090709/althistory/images/e/e6/Britannicus_Bust.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>(Due to Britannicus youth many coins &amp; busts are debated as of being his or a young Nero)</p><p><br /></p><p>Britannicus was born in 41 CE just under a month after his father, Claudius, reign began. His mother was Messalina. Yeah, that Messalina. The messy Messalina that left such a mess living a debauched double life and marrying an actor (ew, gross!) behind Claudius back that the emperor would say to the Praetorian Guard if he ever married again to please stab him to death. As we would find out later, for the sake of his son&#039;s life, it&#039;s a shame the Guard didn&#039;t listen.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470244[/ATTACH]</p><p><b><u>Claudius</u></b></p><p>Plated Wreath Denarius. 46-47 AD. Lugdunum mint. Obv: TI CLAVD CAESAR AVG P M TR P VI IMP XI legend with laureate bust righ. Rev: S P Q R / P P / OB C S in three lines within wreath. RIC 41; BMC 45; RSC 87; Sear 1848.2.03 grams.Property of a Middlesex gentleman.[No Reserve]</p><p>Very fine; large fragment. Ex Timeline</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470247[/ATTACH]</p><p>(The Julio/Claudian line was a group of powerful and ugly men...poor Claudius, described by his own mother as a monster, may have been outwardly the hardest to look at)</p><p><br /></p><p>Born with the agnomen Germanicus (conqueror of the Germans) from his grandfather, much like his older half brother, Lucius Domitius, the boy wouldn&#039;t be known to posterity by the name he was born with. When they Britannicus was just two his father would <i>conquer </i>Britannia. Much like when nearly 100 years before Julius Caesar would <i>conquer </i>the island. And rather than take the name for himself, Claudius lavished his son with the honorific title.</p><p>Britannicus had a childhood free of want growing up as part of the Julio-Claudian line. He had the finest tutors and was even friends and school mates with Titus Vesapsianus, future hero and short lived emperor of Rome.</p><p>However, the boy was just 7 when his mother&#039;s attempted coup was found out. The Praetorian Guards were in a hurry to get rid of her out of fear that Claudius would change his mind and forgive her. Claudius<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie30" alt=":bucktooth:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> truly was always a push-over when it came to women. She was given a knife to kill herself with. When she couldn&#039;t/wouldn&#039;t one of the Praetorian Guardsmen put it through her neck for her.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470258[/ATTACH] (Britannicus grandmother trying to protect his hot mess of a mom before the inevitable)</p><p><br /></p><p>Despite all of that, or because of it, within a year Claudius (who was never adopted into the Julii) would marry his niece<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie103" alt=":yack:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> and create a direct connection for himself and the revered house who&#039;s lineage could get traced all the way back to Venus herself! And in doing so unleashed one of the most diabolical and controlling women ever in power on Rome and sowed the seeds for Britannicus demise<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie10" alt=":oops:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p>In short order Agrippina the younger would user her allies...and assets<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie60" alt=":kiss:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> to get Claudius to adopt her son from a previous marriage Lucius Domitius, who would from then on be known as fiddling, dancing, prancing, 666, mother loving/killing Nero<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie67" alt=":nailbiting:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p>And just like Britannicus had a co-heir to the empire<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie87" alt=":sorry:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470230[/ATTACH]</p><p>(Nero as Caesar)</p><p><br /></p><p>As Nero was fast tracked Britannicus was sidelined. Agrippina would replace all of Britannicus tutors and even a few members of the Guard with men that were loyal to her. She made sure that Nero was seen as a young man while Britannicus was still just a boy in public.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470232[/ATTACH]</p><p>PHRYGIA, Apamea. Agrippina II and Nero. (54-68). Ae.</p><p>Obv : ΝΕΡΩΝ ΚΑΙΣΑΡ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ ΑΓΡΙΠΠΙΝΑ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΗ.</p><p>Draped bust of Agrippina and bareheaded and cuirassed bust of Nero facing one another.</p><p>Rev : ΕΠΙ ΜΑΡΙΟΥ ΚΟΡΔΟΥ ΚΟΙΝΟΝ ΦΡΥΓΙΑΣ ΑΠΑΜΕΙΣ.</p><p>Eagle standing on wreath, left, head right, with wings spread.</p><p>RPC I online 3136; BMC 143-145.</p><p>Condition : Very fine.</p><p>Weight : 9.3 gr</p><p>Diameter : 25 mm</p><p><br /></p><p>It is reported that towards the end Claudius was encouraging his son to &quot;grow up quickly&quot; so that he could wear the toga of manhood and put the talk of Nero being the heir apparent behind. It is even said , by Suetonius mind you, that he was thinking about divorcing Agrippina shortly before his untimely demise/poisoning(?).</p><p>Even if the poisoning of Claudius is up for debate, all of our sources agree that Britannicus was poisoned on the insistence of Nero.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470253[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>And so, just 4 months after the death of his father and only a few days away from his 14th birthday, when in Roman terms he would have become a man and rival for the throne, Britannicus was dead.</p><p><br /></p><p>A few more coins of those involved :</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470233[/ATTACH]</p><p><b><u>Britannicus, with Octavia and Antonia</u></b></p><p>Mysia, Kyzikos, AD.41-55. AE (12mm, 1.29g). NЄOC ΓЄPMANIKOC / K - Y. Bare head of Britannicus right. / AN OKTA. Confronted and draped busts of Antonia and Octavia. RPC 2248. Rare! Former Kairos Numismatik</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470219[/ATTACH]</p><p>Koinon of Macedon. Claudius. A.D. 41-54. Æ. 9.43 gm. 23 mm. Beroea mint. His bare head left; TI KΛΑYΔΙΟC KAICAP / Macedonian shield; MAKEΔΟΝΩΝ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ. RPC I 1612. SNG Copenhagen 1334. Varbanov 3005. Very Fine; pleasing dark green patina. Purchased from Savoca May 2021</p><p>&quot;The Koinon of the Macedonians was a confederation of Macedonian cities under a central government or king (or, under Roman rule, the Roman emperor). Rooted in the Hellenistic period, this central administration handled diplomatic issues both between member city-states and with foreign bodies. Coins issued in the name of the &#039;Macedonians&#039; first appear during the reigns of Philip V and Perseus, and continued to appear under Roman rule. The Romans reorganized the Koinon around the imperial cult and put members of the local elite in charge. They organized and financed festivals and games, and were awarded Roman citizenship in return. The iconography of the Koinon issues (Alexander the Great, the Macedonian shield, and so on) reflect a powerful ethnic and civic identity that, as it was no longer a threat to Roman control, was allowed to flourish. (Howgego, Christopher; Heuchert, Volker; Burnett, Andrew, Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces. 2005.)&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470220[/ATTACH]</p><p>Macedon. Koinon of Macedon. Beroea mint. Nero AD 54-68.</p><p>Bronze Æ, 30 mm, 15,68 g</p><p>Obv: Nero facing left. ΝΕΡΩΝ ΚΑΙΣΑΡ</p><p>Rev: Mars standing, l., holding wreath and spear; to r., Macedonian shield. ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ</p><p>Axis: 1, 12</p><p>Reference: AMNG 240–1, BMC 147. RIC I, 1613</p><p>nearly very fine</p><p>11 known specimens</p><p>Savoca listed as Unpublished variety. Purchased Savoca March 2021</p><p><br /></p><p>A sad song for a sad life...</p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]YyknBTm_YyM[/MEDIA]</p><p><br /></p><p>So please, help me celebrate the sad life of this would be emperor by posting coins of his, his family, thoughts or anything[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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