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Aureus - Vitellius and Lucius Vitellius Pater L VITELLIVS COS III CENSOR
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 69 |
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| Currency | Denarius, Reform of Augustus (27 BC – AD 215) |
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| Obverse lettering | A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P (Translation: Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Imperator Augustus, Tribunicia Potestas Aulus Vitellius Germanicus, supreme commander (Imperator), emperor (Augustus), tribunician power.) |
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| Edge | Plain |
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Vitellius struck this aureus honoring his father Lucius, who had served three consulships and two terms as censor under Claudius — a man so politically adept he survived Caligula's reign through calculated flattery, reportedly prostrating himself before Caligula's shoes. The reverse honors him posthumously; Lucius died in 51 AD, nearly two decades before his son seized the purple. Using a dead father's prestige to legitimize a regime held together with little more than the Rhine legions' loyalty was a transparent maneuver, but brevity rendered it moot. Vitellius himself was dead before the year was out, dragged through Rome and executed in December 69.