Nemausus, today Nîmes, was a Roman city. Nemausus was made by Augustus a Roman colony to settle veterans of the Actium war. This is why it minted those famous asses (or dupondii?) with the chained crocodile, symbol of conquered Egypt. Of course on the obverse there was a portrait of Agrippa, who was the actual commander of the Roman fleet at Actium. He wears the rostral crown, the reward of victory at sea. Nemausus (Nîmes), as or dupondius. AE 27 mm, 13.20 g, 2 h. Obv.: IMP DIVI F P P, inscription above and below heads of Agrippa laureate wearing rostral crown to left, and Augustus laureate to right, back to back. Rev.: COL NEM, inscription to left and right of a palm to which a crocodile, opening mouth and raising tail, is chained; above palm, wreath with long ties. RPC I, 525 These coins were minted in Nîmes but widely circulated in Gaul alongside SC coins from the Rome mint. This worn and much-circulated specimen has nothing special, it's the only one I got (maybe some day I would try to get a better preserved one). The city of Nîmes has something special. I was there last summer, that's an opportunity for me to add some pics to this post about a Nemausus crocodile as or dupondius. The Amphitheatre. Very well preserved. It was turned into a fortress in the early middle ages, a village was built inside it, removed under Louis XVI and Napoleon to restore the arena to its first purpose, shows. Today we can attend concerts there, sporting events and bullfights which are not prohibited yet. The famous crocodile on the Roman coins reverse has become the coat of arms of the city since the 16th c. Here is a mid-18th c. interpretation, on the gates of a large public garden created in 1750. The "Maison Carrée", the best preserved Roman temple in the world. It dates back to Augustus, and was a temple of the deified Caius and Lucius Caesares, Agrippa's sons and Augustus' grandsons. This temple was never extensively restored, it has always stood in Nîmes in roughly the same condition we can see today.
Augustus, with Agrippa (27. B.C. 14 A.D.) GAUL, Nemausus Æ As O: Heads of Agrippa left, wearing rostral crown and laurel wreath, and Augustus right, wearing oak wreath, back to back. IMP above, DIVI F below. R: Crocodile right chained to palm branch with long vertical fronds; above, wreath with long ties, palms below; COL NEM flanking vertical palm. Nemausus mint, 9-3 B.C 10.26g 27mm RPC I 524; RIC 1 158
