Obverse: GERMANICVS CAESAR TI
AVGVST F DIVI AVG N; Bust of
Germanicus Facing Left
Reverse: C CAESAR AVG
GERMANICVS PON M TR POT;
Legend Surrounding SC
Germanicus was the very popular
nephew of Emperor Tiberius and
grandson of Livia by her first
marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero.
Germanicus gained popularity
through his excellence as a leader
in the Roman army on the
frontiers. The Roman social and
political system had a way of
blending family relationships and
political relationships in a way we
would find very confusing today.
Tiberius and Nero Claudius Drusus
were both sons of Livia and
Tiberius Claudius Nero. Livia
divorced T. Claudius Nero and
married Octavian (later Augustus)
in 38 B. C. This was done not
because of her loss of love for one
man and finding it with another,
but because of political
convenience. Again, for political
reasons (mainly to ensure a
smooth succession), Augustus
compelled his adopted son to adopt
his own nephew Germanicus to be
his son and heir. Tiberius was not
happy about this requirement at
all, and rumors perpetuated by
writers such as Tacitus and
Suetonius would have us believe
that Tiberius was somehow
responsible for Germanicus' death
in A. D. 19; but there is no real
evidence to support these
accusations. Later, Germanicus'
widow Agrippina Senior began
publicly accusing Tiberius of
Germanicus' murder, and she was
subsequently tried for treason. In
truth, Germanicus was a popular
and competent military leader who
would probably have caused
trouble for Tiberius in the event
that he had lived, whether or not
he intended to. He pushed back
the German tribes beyond the
Rhine as far as the Elbe and was
later transferred to an Eastern
post where he died of a mysterious
illness.
How many hands have touched a
coin in your pocket or purse? What
eras and lands have the coin
traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our
pockets to pull out some change,
we rarely hesitate to think of who
might have touched the coin
before us, or where the coin will
venture to after it leaves our
hands. More than money, coins
are a symbol of the state that
struck them, of a specific time and
location, whether contemporary
currencies or artifacts of a long
forgotten empire. This magnificent
coin, minted during the reign of his
son Caligula, is a magnificent
memorial to Germanicus passed
down from the hands of civilization
to civilization, from generation to
generation.
