Portrait Coins of the Julio-Claudians: Part 1

By Dr. Steve Benner for CoinWeek…

Introduction

The Julio-Claudian family was one of the most dysfunctional in ancient history (the Ptolemies were a close second). Being a member of this infamous inner circle would have been exciting, lucrative, and deadly. Relatives, associates, accidents, or suspicious illnesses frequently claimed its members’ lives. The “Julio” portion of the family name derives from Julius Caesar, the dynasty’s founding father. Most of the Julian line descended through the female side, as Julius had only a daughter—who died without issue—and a sister. The “Claudian” element stems from Livia Drusilla, daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus; it entered the dynasty through Livia’s two sons, Tiberius and Drusus. The family’s history fascinates me, and I wanted to showcase as many portraits of its members as possible. The nomenclature can be confusing, as elite Roman families recycled names across generations, often distinguishing siblings with qualifiers like Elder/Younger or Major/Minor.

Julius Caesar (100–44 BCE)

It all began with Rome’s most famous son: Gaius Julius Caesar. His life has been chronicled ad nauseam by historians, so a brief summary will suffice. His political ascent started with the conquest of Gaul (58–50 BCE), which made him immensely wealthy. In 60 BCE, he formed the First Triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus; the former had married Caesar’s daughter Julia. By the time Caesar returned from Gaul, however, Crassus had been killed by the Parthians, Julia was dead, and Pompey was demanding Caesar’s head. Civil war ensued, lasting until 46 BCE and culminating in Pompey’s death along with many supporters. Caesar now controlled Rome and enjoyed popular support, but the Senate chafed under his clemency toward its members. To further irk them, he declared himself dictator for life and—breaking Roman tradition—began issuing portrait coins. Eastern rulers had long done so, but Romans equated it with kingship, which the senatorial class despised (especially if they were not the kings in question). In “gratitude” for his mercy, some 60 senators ambushed him at a Senate meeting on the Ides of March and stabbed him repeatedly. They claimed their motive was to restore the Republic—with, one imagines, straight faces.

Figure 2 illustrates two denarii from early 44 BCE bearing lifetime portraits of Caesar. He did not depict female relatives on coins, so none exist for Julia (despite her marriage to Pompey) or others. Caesar issued no Roman gold coins with his portrait—perhaps too egotistical, or simply too elitist—limiting it to silver denarii. The obverses show a wreathed head right, with consistent features suggesting reasonable accuracy. The first (2a) bears the legend DICT. ITER. PERP., referencing his perpetual dictatorship (by custom, dictatorships were limited to six months during emergencies).

Caesar had named his great-nephew Gaius Octavius (63 BCE–14 CE) as heir; Octavius promptly adopted “Caesar” as part of his name. He allied with Caesar’s right-hand man, Mark Antony (83–30 BCE), and together with Lepidus they formed the Second Triumvirate in 43 BCE. To seal the pact, Antony married Octavius’s sister, Octavia. Caesar’s assassins fled to Greece, raised an army, and confronted the triumvirs—who had sworn vengeance—at Philippi in 42 BCE. Brutus and Cassius were defeated and died by suicide. Back in Rome, Antony and Octavian proscribed and executed perceived enemies. They then partitioned the empire, with Octavian taking the west and Antony the east (Lepidus was soon sidelined). Antony lingered in Rome long enough to father two daughters—both named Antonia—with Octavia, but then decamped to Egypt and took up with Caesar’s former lover, Cleopatra VII. For over a decade, the arrangement held, but Octavian—ever unwilling to share—stirred Roman outrage against Antony. War followed, and their fleets clashed at Actium in 31 BCE. Antony’s navy crumbled before Octavian’s, ably commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (a figure who will recur). Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt and took their own lives. Octavian emerged as sole ruler.In 39 BCE, Octavian wed the pregnant (with her second son, Drusus) and recently divorced Livia Drusilla (58 BCE–29 CE) (Figure 4b); their union lasted until his death and infused the dynasty with its Claudian strain.

Octavian and Antony issued numerous coins in this era. Figure 3a shows an aureus of Octavian from 30/29 BCE; at age 33, he appears strikingly youthful. Figure 3b depicts an aureus from ca. 39 BCE with Antony obverse and his wife (Octavian’s sister) Octavia the Younger reverse—one of the finest portraits of her, struck when she was about 31. Antony and Octavia’s daughters were Antonia Major (b. 39 BCE) and Antonia Minor (b. 36 BCE, d. 37 CE). Antonia Major wed L. Domitius Ahenobarbus and bore Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus (father of Emperor Nero, 37–68 CE). Antonia Minor married Nero Claudius Drusus and produced Germanicus (15 BCE–19 CE) and Claudius (10 BCE–54 CE). She appears in Figure 3c on a dupondius issued by her son Claudius decades after her death.

Augustus and the Roman Empire (27 BCE–14 CE)

Historians mark the empire’s birth in 27 BCE, when the Senate bestowed on Octavian the title Augustus (“the revered”). He incorporated it into his name but styled himself princeps civitatis (“first citizen”) to maintain republican pretensions. The Senate granted him lifetime powers as imperator, tribune, and censor, allowing him to manipulate the facade of senatorial, magisterial, and assembly governance. The system endured through much of his dynasty.

Augustus remained devoted to Livia, both portrayed in Figure 4. Like his great-uncle, he rarely featured women on coins; only one from his reign depicts a female—his daughter Julia the Elder (Figure 5a; 39 BCE–14 CE). Figure 4a shows Augustus on an aureus struck ca. 2 BCE–4 CE; note how, 30 years after Figure 3a, he appears unchanged—vampiric, or the product of a standardized statue model disseminated to celators empire-wide for consistency. (More lifelike portraits emerged only under Nero.) The reverse features his grandsons Gaius and Lucius Caesar (discussed below). Figure 4b offers a superb likeness of Livia as Justitia, issued under Tiberius.

Dynastic continuity obsessed Augustus, but Livia bore no further children, leaving him with only Julia the Elder and—via sister Octavia—nieces Antonia Major and Minor. His hopes rested on that sole daughter. He first groomed M. Claudius Marcellus (Octavia’s son) as heir, wedding him to Julia despite the familial ties (Roman incest taboos apparently bent for the princeps). Marcellus died of illness in 23 BCE. Augustus then betrothed the 18-year-old Julia to his loyal lieutenant M. Vipsanius Agrippa (ca. 63–12 BCE) in 21 BCE. She bore five children who reached adulthood: Gaius (20 BCE–4 CE), Lucius (17 BCE–2 CE), Julia the Younger (19 BCE–28 CE), Agrippina the Elder (14 BCE–33 CE), and Agrippa Postumus (12 BCE–14 CE). The last, born after Agrippa’s death (perhaps from exhaustion at age ~51), earned his epithet. Augustus adopted Gaius and Lucius as sons, preparing them for rule—until Julio-Claudian misfortune struck: Lucius fell ill in Spain and died in 2 CE; Gaius succumbed to wounds from Armenia in 4 CE.

Figure 5 captures elements of this doomed lineage. Figure 5a: Augustus obverse; reverse, Julia as Diana the huntress, quiver over shoulder. Figure 5b: Augustus obverse; reverse, Agrippa as paterfamilias. Figure 5c: Putative portrait of young Gaius Caesar obverse; reverse, candelabrum. Figure 5d: Augustus obverse; reverse, heads of Lucius, Julia, and Gaius, wreath above Julia.

Out of options, Augustus adopted Livia’s son Tiberius (42 BCE–37 CE) as heir in 4 CE, forcing him to divorce his beloved Vipsania Agrippina (Agrippa’s daughter) and wed the widowed Julia—an unhappy, childless match. With Vipsania, Tiberius had fathered Drusus Julius Caesar the Younger (13 BCE–23 CE; Figure 6c), named for his uncle Nero Claudius Drusus the Elder (38–9 BCE; Figure 6b), Augustus’s successful general. Drusus the Younger sired Tiberius Gemellus (19–ca. 37/38 CE). A Tiberius sestertius features crossed cornucopiae with facing boys’ heads—likely Gaius and Lucius, not Gemellus.

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References

• Acsearch.info (auction database).
• Classical Numismatic Group (CNG) (auction database).
• Wildwinds (auction database).
• Boardman, John, Jasper Griffin, and Oswyn Murray. The Oxford History of the Classical
• World. Oxford University Press, New York & London, 1993.
• Hornblower, Simon, and Antony Spawforth, eds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996.
• Madden, F. W., C. R. Smith, and S. W. Stevenson. A Dictionary of Roman Coins. George Bell and Sons, London, 1889.
• Sutherland, C. H. V., and R. A. G. Carson. The Roman Imperial Coinage. Rev. ed. Spink and Son, London, 1984.

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