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Sestertius - Nero DECVRSIO S C
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 62-68 |
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| Currency | Denarius, Reform of Augustus (27 BC – AD 215) |
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| Obverse description | Laureate bust of Nero facing right, with an aegis secured at the neck, rendered in bold high relief characteristic of Neronian portraiture. The emperor's effigy displays his characteristic fleshy features, with a laurel wreath encircling the head. A small gorgoneion or serpent figure is visible on the aegis at the shoulder. The encircling legend is incuse in crisp Latin capitals along the coin's periphery. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P P (Translation: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestas, Imperator, Pater Patriae. Nero Claudius, Caesar, emperor (Augustus), victor over the Germans, high priest, tribunician power, supreme commander (Imperator), father of the country.) |
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| Additional information |
The DECVRSIO type commemorates the military exercises Nero staged near Rome — elaborate cavalry maneuvers performed largely for show, a calculated bid for martial credibility from an emperor who had none by experience. Ancient sources, Suetonius among them, are withering on the gap between the spectacle and any genuine military engagement on Nero's part. The reverse type was almost certainly issued by the mint on imperial instruction, making it unusual as a piece of deliberate self-mythologizing in bronze rather than the silver denominations typically reserved for imperial image-making.