Thread by @DocCrom

Ancient Coins of the Day: A momentous day for Rome: 9 June marking the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the beginning of a long year of Civil War.

So here's the first of the Four Emperors, Servius Sulpicius Galba, on a cracking aureus. #ACOTD #Galba

Image: RIC Galba 87

The lack of formal imperial titles on this coin suggests that it was minted early in Galba's ambitions for the purple. The Obverse stresses his military nature, with the Legend SERV GALBA IMP, showing Galba riding on a horse with a raised javelin.

But it is the Reverse of the coin that is most striking: a helmeted Roma, in military dress, advancing right, holds Victory on globe in her right hand, with the Legend ROMA RENASCENS - 'Rome Reborn'.

Indeed much of Galba's coinage celebrates military might and endeavour, in a deliberate stress of not only his own qualities, but also the background to his power. The example below is ROMA VICTRIX - 'Rome the Conqueror'.

Image: Reverse of RIC Galba 59

However, Galba's coins also moved to communicate the cohesion that he felt he would bring to the Roman world. The Legend on this coin CONCORDIA PROVINCIARVM - 'The Harmony of the Provinces - being a good example.

Image: RIC Galba 119

Having arrived in Rome, Galba's coinage undergoes rather a change in form, with this example stressing OB C[ives] S[ervatos] - 'For saving the lives of citizens', building on an Augustan precendent.

Image: RIC Galba 164

This however is something of a lie, as Tacitus (Histories 1.6) tells us that "his march from Spain was slow and stained with bloodshed", and when he arrived in the city he butchered the marines who had been levied by Nero in his final months.

I love Galba's coinage, as indeed did the Flavians who re-used many of his Reverse designs, but it is fair to say that he "had the qualifications to be a ruler - if only he had not ruled" (Tacitus, Histories 1.49).

#ACOTD #Galba