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Sat 04 May

Ancient coins - Antoninus Pius (138-161) Aureus A.D. 154-155 issue of the Rome mint - Calico 1531a; RIC.241 AU (g 6.92) R When Antoninus Pius was chosen by Hadrian as his successor in 138 it was because of his maturity, experience, and excellent personal qualities. The author of the biography of Pius XII in the Historia Augusta paints a picture of a model citizen and idyllic leader, universally praised for his devotion, clemency, intelligence, and purity. These were precisely the qualities that Hadrian sought in someone who would act as administrator not only of the nation, but also of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, Hadrian's chosen heirs who at the time of Hadrian's death were too young to take on the burdens of office. With this "dynastic" arrangement in place, the birth of twins - a boy and a girl - in 149 to the eldest of the heirs, Marcus Aurelius, and his wife Faustina Junior, was an important event. Reconstructing the history of the dozen or more children born to Faustina-more than half of whom died in infancy or childhood-is a difficult task. With this well-known type of coinage from the twelfth tribune of Pius, however, the twins are usually identified with Aurelius Antoninus and the future Empress Lucilla. Aurelius Antoninus was either the eldest son of the imperial couple or the second, since it is possible that T. Aelius Aurelius was born earlier, only to die in infancy. The design is neat: the bunches of grapes, ears of wheat, and busts of children emerging from cornucopias celebrate the fecundity of the imperial line. So when news came that the boy had died within his first year of life, it was a terrible blow to the imperial family and to a nation that had invested so much hope in a boy who might one day become emperor. Photographic report by Moruzzi Umberto. M.di BB

Estim. 5 000 EUR
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