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Auction: 24005 - The Official Coinex Auction of Ancient, British and World Coins
Lot: 113

NGC Ch VF | Roman Empire, Nero (AD 54-69), AE Sestertius, struck c. 62-68, NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM TR P IMP P P, laureate head left, rev. Nero, in military attire and on horseback, prancing right, holding a spear, behind him, a soldier on horseback, prancing right, holding [vexillum], DECVRSIO in exergue, 25.54g (RIC 168; BMC 142) lovely golden toning, a fine portrait boasting great depth, some wear to details on reverse but otherwise bold example, very fine to good very fine, in an NGC 'Ancients' holder, graded Choice Very Fine (Strike: 4/5 Surface: 3/5) [NGC Cert. #8221849-018]

Provenance

The Major Hamish and Mrs Ann Orr-Ewing Collection of Roman Coins


… The column split apart
As files in the three squadrons all in line
Turned away, cantering left and right; recalled
They wheeled and dipped their lances for a charge.
They entered then on parades and counter-parades,
The two detachments, matched in the arena,
Winding in and out of one another,
And whipped into sham cavalry skirmishes
By baring backs in flight, then whirling round
With leveled points, then patching up a truce
And riding side by side. So intricate
In ancient times on mountainous Crete they say
The Labyrinth, between walls in the dark,
Ran criss-cross a bewildering thousand ways
Devised by guile, a maze insoluble,
Breaking down every clue to the way out.
So intricate the drill of Trojan boys
Who wove the patterns of their prancing horses,
Figured, in sport, retreats and skirmishes …
Nero's coinage was rarely militaristic by Roman standards, and often sought to emphasise representations of peace, concord, stability and the artistic grandeur of his public works. Ostensibly, the 'Decursio' type would appear to be a divergence from this policy to a more martial motif on the reverse. The emperor, in military attire, is galloping alongside his fellow soldier, in an apparent display of military vigour.

Nero was cautious to underplay the martial aspects of his regime and especially the Praetorian Guard, which was feared and disliked by conservative Romans, who considered its stationing within the city to be something of a disgrace, being an ominous limitation on a free state. As such, while Nero paraded with the Praetorians upon his accession, he carried only a shield with no weapons, and in doing so, emphasised their defensive capacity. Nero did employ certain military stylings on his coins, however, even explicitly portraying members of the imperial guard. Tacitus tells us that following the Pisonian Conspiracy in AD 65, Nero relied heavily on his group of Germanic guards, the Germani Corporis Custodes, strongly associated with the Praetorians, for protection. When he revived Caligula's ADLOCVT COH coinage (see lot 109), he amended the figures in the audience to portray typically 'Germanic' traits.

The DECVRSIO issue, however, while apparently a brazen display of military bravado, does not appear to have been struck with such an idea in mind. Though some scholars have pointed to the coincidence of the issue with the erection of Corbulo's column, the DECVRSIO appears to be a ritualistic reference to Nero's great love of the arts. The 'Decursio' can refer to general cavalry manoeuvres, however it is doubtful that this ingenious issue, described by Sydenham as one of the finest products of the Roman mint, would be intended to celebrate such a perfunctory exercise. Instead, Derek Smith has suggested that the Decursio depicted on the reverse refers to the other meaning of the word, which relates to a series of choreographed manoeuvres on horseback. This refers to The Aeneid, with which Nero was obsessed, and in which three troops of horsemen would execute intricate and interlinked equestrian drills, almost like a dance.
This process was named the Lusus Troiae, or Trojan Game, and would be performed at imperial funerals and other festivals. Smith describes the heavy programme of celebrations initiated by Nero, as told to us by Tacitus, following the birth of his daughter Claudia, and her elevation to 'Augusta' in January 63. Her death only a few months later, and the deep significance in which Nero held this, suggests that the DECVRSIO coinage were a part of commemorating her passing, with reference to what he felt was a profoundly important ritual.


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Sold for
£1,500

Starting price
£800