Mattingly, H., E.A. Sydenham, C.H. Sutherland, R.A. Carson, The Roman Imperial Coinage 13 vols (London,  Spink, 1923-1994) I Gaius 58; Sear, D.R., Roman Coins and their Values 5 vols (London, Spink, 2000-2014) 1812; Mattingly, H.,Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, 6 vols (London, 1965) Tiberius 161; Giard, J.-P., Catalogue des Monnaies de l’Empire Romain 3 vols (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, 1988-1998) 77. C Agrippa 3. [Rome, AD 37-41].

M. Reinhold, Marcus Agrippa (New York 1933, repr. Rome 1965) esp. 99, 131-132, 136; Syme, R., The Roman Revolution (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1939) 342-348.

1968.15

As honouring Agrippa, reign of Gaius

10.882 g. AD 37-41

Obv.: Head of Agrippa I., wearing ‘rostral crown’. M(arcus) AGRIPPA L(uci) F(ilius) CO(n)S(ul) III.

Rev.: Neptune standing l., bearded, nude with draped cloak, holding trident in left hand and dolphin in right. S(enatus) C(onsulto).

Agrippa had appeared on Augustus’ coins, alone and with Augustus, firstly in the period 13-12 BC between the renewal of Agrippa’s tribunician power, marking him as the most likely heir, and Agrippa’s death and then in AD 11-12, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Agrippa’s birth. His portrait never appeared on the obverse of coins issued at Rome until after his death. Tiberius reissued Agrippa asses on the 85th and 100th anniversaries of Agrippa’s birth. Agrippa had been Tiberius’ father-in-law and was in many ways Tiberius’ predecessor, e.g. as chief military commander under Augustus and as prospective heir.

The ‘rostral crown’ (corona rostrata) was a crown ornamented with small figures of ships’ beaks (rostra) and was awarded for naval successes (e.g. to the man who first boarded the enemy’s ship).  Agrippa had been responsible for most of Augustus’ naval victories, most notably at Naulochus against Sextus Pompeius (36 BC) and at Actium against Cleopatra and Antony (31 BC). Vergil refers to this crown in Aeneid 8.684 (describing the battle of Actium): ‘Agrippa, with the aid alike of winds and gods, led his towering line, and his forehead shone with war’s haughty distinction, the ship-rams of the Naval Crown’ (trans. W.F. Jackson Knight). Neptune and his attributes, on the reverse, continue the naval imagery.

Ronald Syme says of Agrippa’s portraits that they ‘reveal an authentic individual with hard, heavy features — angry, imperious and resolute’ (Roman Revolution 344). Agrippa had held his third consulship in 27 BC (with Augustus his colleague, as in 28 BC), hence ‘COS III’.

This coin was revived under Titus (AD 80-81, RIC II, 470) and under Domitian (AD 82, RIC II, Part 1, 825).

Mattingly, H., E.A. Sydenham, C.H. Sutherland, R.A. Carson, The Roman Imperial Coinage 13 vols (London, Spink, 1923-1994) I Gaius 58; Sear, D.R., Roman Coins and their Values 5 vols (London, Spink, 2000-2014) 1812; Mattingly, H.,Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, 6 vols (London, 1965) Tiberius 161; Giard, J.-P., Catalogue des Monnaies de l’Empire Romain 3 vols (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, 1988-1998) 77. C Agrippa 3. [Rome, AD 37-41].

M. Reinhold, Marcus Agrippa (New York 1933, repr. Rome 1965) esp. 99, 131-132, 136; Syme, R., The Roman Revolution (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1939) 342-348.