Ancients: Nero (AD 54-68). AV aureus (20mm, 7.67 gm, 7h). ...

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The Youthful Nero

Nero (AD 54-68). AV aureus (20mm, 7.67 gm, 7h). Rome, AD 58-59. NERO · CAESAR · AVG · IMP ·, bare head of Nero right / PONTIF · MAX · TR · P · V · P · P ·, EX · SC in wreath. RIC 15. Calicó 424. Scarce/ With an outstanding portrait of the young, relatively slim Nero. NGC XF 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style.

Nero's name has become synonymous with decadent, depraved tyranny. It is surprising, then, that the first five years of his reign were looked upon as a golden age of wise, moderate government. Nero began life in AD 37 as the doted-upon son of Agrippina Junior, sister of the emperor Caligula, by her first husband, Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus. In AD 49, Agrippina married her uncle, the emperor Claudius, and she immediately began pushing Nero to the fore in the succession. Having made the necessary arrangements, Agippina poisoned Claudius and Nero duly became emperor at the tender age of 17. Within a few months Nero's able advisors, the philosopher Seneca and the praetorian prefect Burrus, had pushed Agrippina aside and seized the reigns of government. They proved excellent rulers, allowing the Senate a large consulting role, keeping finances in check and managing provincial affairs with restraint. The regime's scrupulous attention to republican precedent during this era is reflected in the legend EX S C (Senatus Consulto, or "by decree of the Senate") on the reverse of this aureus, a formula rarely seen on gold coins.

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