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Message:: [QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 2955614, member: 75937"]One fun, popular, and easily-obtained set in the Roman series is of the so-called <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-five-good-emperors.306373/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-five-good-emperors.306373/">five good emperors</a>. I recently came across Emanuelle Degli Esposti's <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8438454/Romes-most-controversial-emperors.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8438454/Romes-most-controversial-emperors.html" rel="nofollow">article for The Telegraph</a>, "Rome's Most Controversial Emperors" and realized the emperors mentioned were five in number and serve as a contrast to the aforementioned good ones. The text is from the Telegraph article; the coins are from my collection. As always, feel free to post whatever you feel is relevant! Caligula (full name Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) – Emperor from 37-41AD. The young Gaius earned the nickname Caligula, meaning "little boot", from his father's soldiers when accompanying him during his military campaign in Germania. Caligula was known for his cruelty, extravagance and sexual perversity. During his reign he strove to increase the authority of the emperor, earning him the reputation of a tyrant. Some sources suggest that he once ordered his guards to throw an entire section of the crowd into the arena to be eaten by deadly animals at some games he was presiding over because there were no criminals to be prosecuted and he was bored. He is also said to have proclaimed himself God and wanted pilgrims to worship a statue of him in the Temple of Jerusalem. [ATTACH=full]722556[/ATTACH] Caligula, AD 37-41 Roman provincial Æ 20 mm, 6.74 g Peloponnese, Corinthia, Corinth, Ae. P. Vipsanius Agrippa and M. Bellius Proculus, duoviri, AD 37-38 Obv: C CAESAR AVGVSTV, bare head right Rev: M BELLIO PROCVLO IIVIR / COR, Pegasus flying rightRefs: RPC I 1173; Amandry (1988) XVII; BCD Corinth 405-6. Nero (full name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) – Emperor from 54-68AD and the last of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero's rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance. He is known for a number of executions, including those of his mother, Agrippa, and the probable murder by poison of his stepbrother, Britannicus. He is also infamously known as the emperor who "fiddled while Rome burned", and as an early persecutor of Christians. He was known for having captured Christians burned in his garden at night for a source of light. This view is based upon the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio, the main surviving sources for Nero's reign. [ATTACH=full]722558[/ATTACH] Nero and Poppaea Sabina Roman provincial billon Tetradrachm; 23.1 mm, 11.55 g Egypt, Alexandria, AD 64/65 Obv: ΝΕΡΩ ΚΛΑV ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ ΓΕΡ ΑV, radiate head of Nero, right Rev: ΠΟΠΠΑΙΑ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΗ, draped bust of Poppaea, right, LIA (year 11) before Refs: RCV 2002; SGI 664; RPC 5280; Köln 168; BMCG 124; Milne 223; Curtis 138; Cohen 315, 3; Emmett 128. Commodus (full name Lucius Aurelius Commodus Antonius) – Emperor from 180-192AD and also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. He was known for his depraved lifestyle, and reportedly had over 300 concubines. He once ridiculed a fat man by cutting open his stomach so that his intestines spilt on the floor. Commodus put to death the most illustrious men of the time, encouraged informers and false accusations and filled Rome with absolute terror. In the midst of these cruelties Commodus often sang, danced, or played the buffoon in public, as well as actually fighting as a gladiator in the circus (as immortalised by Joaquin Phoenix in the film Gladiator). [ATTACH=full]722559[/ATTACH] Commodus, AD 177-192 Roman AR denarius, 3.42 g, 18 mm Rome, AD 180 Obv: M COMMODVS ANTONINVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right Rev: LIB AVG TR P V IMP IIII COS II P P, Liberalitas standing left, holding counting-board and cornucopiae Refs: RIC 10; RSC 302; BMC 3; Szaivert 496/4. Caracalla (full name Lucious Septimus Bassianus) – Emperor from 209-217AD, he jointly ruled with his younger brother Geta until he murdered him, and reportedly 20,000 of his friends and supporters, in 211. Caracalla is remembered as one of the most notorious emperors due to the numerous massacres and persecutions he authorised throughout the empire. He was assassinated while urinating at a roadside near Carrhae on April 8, 217, by Julius Martialis, an officer of his personal bodyguard. [ATTACH=full]722564[/ATTACH] Caracalla AD 198-217 Roman AR Denarius 3.37 g; 19.7 mm Rome mint, AD 211 Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate head, right Rev: INDVLG FECVNDAE, Julia Domna as Indulgentia, wearing polos, seated left on cerule chair, extending right hand and holding scepter Refs: RIC 214; BMCRE 73; RCV 6805. Elagabalus (full name Varius Avitus Bassianus) – Syrian-born emperor who reigned from 218-222AD. During his rule, Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos. He replaced the traditional head of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter, with a lesser god and forced leading members of the government to participate in religious rites he personally lead. He reportedly married up to five times, enraging Roman society by taking one of the Vestal Virgins as his wife, and was rumoured to have homosexual affairs with some of his courtiers. He had the hairs plucked from his body in order to appear more female and appeared in public wearing make-up and women's clothing. [ATTACH=full]722565[/ATTACH] Elagabalus, AD 218-222 Roman AR Antoninianus; 5.17 g, 21.3 mm Rome, AD 219 Obv: IMP ANTONINVS AVG, radiate and draped bust, right Rev: P M TR PII COSII P P, Fortuna enthroned left, holding rudder on globe and cornucopiae; wheel below seat Refs: RIC 18; BMCRE 94; Cohen 148; RCV 7495.[/QUOTE]

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