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Sestertius - Nero CONG I DAT POP S C, Minerva and Liberalitas
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 62-68 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Reverse description | A complex multi-figure congiarium scene rendered across the reverse field. Nero, bare-headed and togate, is seated right upon a raised tribunal platform at left; before him, a togate official seated on a second, lower platform extends the congiarium to a citizen, accompanied by a small boy standing behind. The personification of Liberalitas stands at right, holding a tessera and cornucopia, while Minerva, helmeted and draped, stands further right with head turned left, bearing an owl and spear. The abbreviated legend appears in the exergue and field. |
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| Reverse lettering | CONG I DAT POP S C (Translation: Congiarium Primum Datum Populo, Senatus Consultum. The first congiarium (distribution of money to the civilians) given to the people. Decree of the senate.) |
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| Additional information |
The legend CONG I DAT POP — "first congiarium given to the people" — records Nero's initial cash distribution to the Roman populace, a calculated act of public generosity that accompanied his early reign when Seneca and Burrus still moderated his excesses. These distributions were not charity; they were political tools, binding the urban plebs to the emperor through direct payment. Nero's first congiarium is recorded at 400 sesterces per recipient.
Orichalcum sestertii of Nero are frequently found with surface corrosion from burial, as large bronze denominations were hoarded in uncertain times and rarely recovered cleanly.