Much like Bing, I took a bit of a hiatus from buying coins this fall. But I'm still working on the 12 Caesars collection I started earlier last year. I was at a local coin show today and came across this Caligula that I just had to have. So I bought it! History has painted Caligula as a bit of a monster, because of course...he was. Shortly after his assumption of Power Rome witnessed a series of unsettling events. The commander of the Preatorian guard was murdered within a year of Caligula taking power, removing an authority figure that might have checked his excesses. Caligula had some rather deviant flaws such as sexually assaulting women at orgies he threw, and he enjoyed watching people be tortured to death. By the time Caligula announced his intention to have his pampered pet horse Incitatus made a member of the Senate, there were already several plots afoot to assassinate this madman. In January AD 41 while he was watching a gladiatorial show, a tribune of the imperial guard stabbed him to death. "Never before had this loyal body of men shown itself willing to betray the emperor, but Caligula had made the mistake of alienating them by surrounding himself with an exotic entourage of German troops. The plot against Caligula taught future conspirators an important lesson: first ensure the complicity of the Praetorian Guard." (Emperors of Rome; D Potter) Feel free to post your Caligula Caligula: AD 37-41 AE As; 30mm/10.9g Obv: C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT, bare head left Rev: VESTA above, S C across field, Vesta seated left, holding patera and sceptre. (RIC I 38, Cohen 27)
Nice, glad to see you are still working on it. How many more do you need still? I have a vitellius on layaway and otho is gonna be a long save just to get. My Caligula: Caligula (37 - 41 A.D.) AE30 AS SEGOBRIGA, SPAIN O: C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS IMP, laureate head left. R: SEGO BRIGA in wreath. Segobriga Mint 30.5mm 10.1g Burgos 1724
Hey Mat! Glad to see you're also still working on yours. Yes still need the usual suspects. Otho, Galba, Titus and of course I like to follow the old adage of "buy your key dates last" so I need Julius Caesar.
Nice coin Race and glad you fell off that darn wagon too. I just posted my most expensive coin in my collection which just happens to be a Caligula Denarius, but here is another from my collection that just happens to be a like coin to yours (just not as nice): CALIGULA AE As OBVERSE: C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TRP O T - Bare head Left. REVERSE: VESTA - Vesta seated left, holding patera and scepter Struck at Rome, 37/8AD 9.6g, 28mm RIC38, BMC46, C27
Nice one! Yes I was surprised at how pricey even these common Vesta reverse coins were. I got a decent deal on mine but there are people asking upwards of $600 for these if the legends are nice and legible and the surfaces are good.
For whatever reason, my catalogue does not indicate what I paid for mine or even the date I acquired it. I guess I was careless.
Howdy brother Bannon => Happy New Year!! (we've missed ya) ... I also have a good ol' Caligula offering ... => cheers!!
Good to be back stevex6! As always yours in a fine example. Excellent surfaces and lots of detail left on the portrait...I would expect nothing less from the man with the most "likes" on CoinTalk.
Nice Caligulas. Has anyone seen "I, Claudius"? The BBC made a series based on the book in the 70s. I just got done watching the whole thing on YouTube. Not sure how accurate it is, but fun to watch.
In its day, I Claudius was considered a great work of historical-autobiography and faithful to history. Anything that was on TV in 1970 was cleaned up to a point that it might miss the flavor of the era but at least they covered the murders if not dwelling on every vice known to man. That would have to wait for later gross-epics. I, Claudius was early in the genre of TV mini-series and might seem a little dated rather like Kirk Douglas was in Sparticus (not the recent STARZ bloodbath version). I have to think the gross as we can get 2000's versions of Roman culture might be more accurate but that doesn't make them worth watching. I'm not sure how one would make a better PG rated version of the material covered. What people did to people, and still do, is not always easy to turn into entertaining family TV programming.
I was turned on to watching I, Claudius on Youtube after reading an article about the recent purge in North Korea. The author said, "Don't listen to what Washington-based 'Think Tanks' think is happening in the DPRK, just watch I, Claudius and you'll get a better idea." So I did. Wow, it's really good! And I don't think it's DATED at all! Scads of superb British actors... Every 50-minute episode flies by like it's only 10 minutes. What would I rather watch: Yet another reality-show POS on TV, or I, Claudius?
It's my opinion that I Claudius is one of the greatest serial shows ever produced. Not only is the acting without equal (really, can there ever be a better portrayal of Livia than Sian Phillips, who was once married to Peter O'Toole?) but the historical accuracy is about as good as you'll get, allowing for the inevitable interpretation and fill-in-the-gaps nature of a historical series. John Hurt, as Caligula, and Patrick Stewart, as Sejanus, practically steal every scene in which they appear. Plus, Doug is exactly right in his observation that increasing the violence level (Claudius apparently had a sadistic and voyeuristic streak that isn't explored in this series) would not have made the series more watchable or accurate - just more sensational. The insights into the nature of the Roman Empire during the first century are truly eye-opening, and make the watcher realize that being the emperor was probably the most dangerous position in the empire. I own this series and, other than the quality of the video when played on today's high-definition screens, find that it is still as current and watchable as the time it was first telecast. Any ancient coin collector who hasn't seen this series should find a way to view it. As with many BBC series, it seems to begin a little slowly with a lot of characters and relationships to remember and understand, but once past the first few episodes, it's more riveting than almost any series I've ever seen. You'll want to watch it more than once.
