This issue from Sardes honors Germanicus and Drusus during a politically charged moment: Tiberius had designated both as his likely successors, and cities across the Greek East competed to demonstrate loyalty through coinage pairing the two brothers. Germanicus died at Antioch in 19 AD under circumstances suspicious enough that the governor Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso was tried for poisoning him — making coins struck before that death part of a dynastic program that collapsed almost immediately after minting began.
This issue from Sardes honors Germanicus and Drusus during a politically charged moment: Tiberius had designated both as his likely successors, and cities across the Greek East competed to demonstrate loyalty through coinage pairing the two brothers. Germanicus died at Antioch in 19 AD under circumstances suspicious enough that the governor Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso was tried for poisoning him — making coins struck before that death part of a dynastic program that collapsed almost immediately after minting began.