Scheduled to close on May 1, the CSNS World and Ancient Coins Platinum Session and Signature Auction from Heritage Auctions highlights some of the finest coinage from the ancient world. They display prominent moments in history, including a gold aureus that marks Emperor Augustus’ struggle to secure an heir.
In 23 BCE, Augustus fell ill. After years of legitimizing his position as heir to the late Julius Caesar, Augustus had to turn his focus on his own future succession. Unfortunately, his favorite nephew, Marcellus, whom Augustus hoped to become his heir, would fatally contract the same illness that very year. Augustus had to act quickly. He would look to Marcus Agrippa, a childhood friend who had not only remained a Julius Caesar loyalist after the assassination but also helped solidify Augustus’ right to rule by defeating Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BCE. He was a successful politician, acting as consul three times before Augustus rose to power. Agrippa was a strong choice for Augustus to secure an heir and would offer his signet ring as a contractual agreement in 23 BCE.
In 21 BCE, Agrippa would marry Augustus’ daughter Julia, who was formerly married to Marcellus. They would have five children – all of whom were viable options as Augustus’ heir. The two oldest boys, Gaius (20 BCE) and Lucius (19 BCE), quickly caught Augustus’ eye, featuring on the gold aureus in this auction. He would formally adopt them both and raise them to be his successors. The same year, Augustus hosted the fifth-ever Secular Games where he announced his Pax Romana due to his secured succession. While Gaius and Lucius were sent to provinces to train as consul-elects, Augustus’ stepson Tiberius (43 BCE) was creating problems.
Son of Livia, Tiberius’ mother left his father to marry Augustus in 38 BCE. After Caesar’s assassination, the elder Tiberius would offer loyalty to Mark Antony, and after Antony’s demise, would flee Rome with his family. A few years later he would be pardoned, only to have Augustus marry Livia while she was pregnant with their second child. Tiberius would be raised by Livia and Augustus by the time he was nine but showed little ambition despite later serving as praetor in 16 BCE and consul in 13 BCE.
His relationship with Augustus turned sour when, after the death of Agrippa, Tiberius was forced to divorce Agrippa’s daughter, Vipsania, and marry the widowed Julia. Tiberius’ political career would take a dive, going as far as being exiled to Rhodes in 6 BCE due to tensions with Gaius, while Tiberius saw it as a retirement away from his failing marriage and political responsibilities. By 2 BCE, Julia would herself be exiled for adultery, though scholars speculate if the reason was more politically motivated. Tiberius was free to divorce Julia and would return to his political duties.
In AD 1, Gaius was sent to the eastern front to help alleviate the Parthian conflict, while Lucius was sent the following year to aid the Spanish Campaign. However, Lucius would die on his way near Marseille. Two years later, Gaius would die in Lycia of his wounds from battle in Armenia. Augustus was devastated and marked this as the lowest period of his life. He turned to his last resort and adopted Tiberius as his heir, who had been successful in his military campaigns since his return from Rhodes. Tiberius would be granted imperium maius (“supreme command”) and tribunicia potestas (“tribunician power”) until Augustus died in August of AD 14 – Tiberius accepting the principate quickly after.
The aureus of Augustus in the May 1 auction, minted sometime between 2 BC and AD 4, marks the moment immediately before or after the deaths of Lucius and Gaius. It memorializes Augustus’ grandchildren, the dreams of his succession, and subsequently, the future of the Roman Empire.
View all the lots in the May 1 – 2 CSNS World & Ancient Coins Platinum Session and Signature Auction.
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