NERON Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus October 13, 54 - June 9, 6 - Lot 229

NERON Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus October 13, 54 - June 9, 68 NERO CAESAR AVG IMP. His young head, nude to the right. R/. PONTIF MAX TR P VIIII COS IIII P P. Mars standing left, foot resting on a cuirass, holding a haste and a dagger. On either side EX-SC. ♦ Cohen 229/40 frs or; RIC 33 and RIC 36; Calicó 435 Aureus struck in Rome in 62 - 63. (7.68 g) Beautiful Bosco Real patina. A very fine example. Nero was born on December 15, 37 in Antium "at sunrise", as Suetonius states, and died on June 9, 68 in Rome. He was the son of Cneus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, daughter of Germanicus and granddaughter of Agrippa. He was the 5th and last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero is the most monstrous and cruel character in Roman history. Tacitus and Suetonius describe his perversity, madness and bloodthirsty instincts. He ordered the execution of anyone who might cast a shadow over him, including his own mother Agrippina. In 64, the great fire of Rome was used as a pretext to persecute Christians, blaming them for the catastrophe.