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Aureus - Vitellius, Aulus Vitellius Germanicus, and Vitellia LIBERI IMP GERMAN
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 69 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse depicts two confronted or juxtaposed juvenile busts, representing the children of Vitellius — his son Petronianus and daughter Vitellia — as proclaimed heirs and successors of the emperor, an unusually dynastic statement for a reign of only eight months. The figures are rendered in a facing or near-facing arrangement typical of dynastic reverse types of the Julio-Claudian and Year of the Four Emperors coinage. The legend LIBERI IMP GERMAN encircles the central device, emphasizing the imperial dynastic claim. The reverse field, though heavily worn, preserves sufficient detail to confirm the type as catalogued under RIC I 102. The composition reflects Vitellius's ambition to project legitimacy through a dynastic succession programme. |
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| Additional information |
Vitellius held power for less than eight months in 69 AD — the Year of the Four Emperors — before being dragged through Rome and executed by Vespasian's forces in December. This aureus was struck during that window, likely at the Cologne or Lugdunum mint, and features his children as a deliberate act of dynastic signaling: by depicting Aulus Vitellius Germanicus and Vitellia as LIBERI, he was advertising a hereditary succession he never lived to establish.
RIC I #102 is among the scarcer Vitellian gold types precisely because the regime's collapse was swift and complete.