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Sestertius - Galba HONOS ET VIRTVS S C, Honos and Virtus
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 68-69 |
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| Currency | Denarius, Reform of Augustus (27 BC – AD 215) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Two standing figures face one another in the field: at left, Honos, bare to the waist, stands facing right, holding a sceptre in his right hand and a cornucopiae in his left; at right, Virtus, helmeted and clad in military dress, stands facing left, holding a parazonium in her right hand and a spear in her left, her right foot resting upon a boar's head at her feet. The paired allegorical personifications evoke traditional Roman civic and martial virtues, a propagandistic type favoured during the brief reign of Galba. The legend HONOS ET VIRTVS appears in the upper field, with the large senatorial mark S C (Senatus Consultum) disposed in the lower field on either side of the figures. |
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| Additional information |
Galba's reign lasted just seven months, from June 68 to January 69 AD, making his bronze coinage among the most chronologically compressed of any emperor who died of political violence rather than battlefield defeat. The HONOS ET VIRTVS type was a deliberate propaganda choice — Galba had built his reputation as a disciplinarian commander in Spain and Germany, and the pairing of Honor and Virtue directly addressed accusations that Nero's court had corrupted Roman public life. It was image rehabilitation as much as political philosophy.
RIC I 475 is struck at Rome. The brevity of the reign means die wear varies considerably across surviving examples.