LEGIONARY COINS IN THE YEAR OF THE FOUR EMPERORS

Abstract

Every imperial claimant in the 68-69 CE civil wars minted coins showing on their reverse a legionary eagle between standards. Their iconography is usually read as an allusion to Mark Antony’s legionary coins. While accurate, that reading only scratches the surface. By situating the iconography in the broader coinage of the minting emperor and his contemporary rivals, this article shows how that iconography reemerged in the Year of the Four Emperors as the lynchpin of various claimants’ messages to their army and as a way for those claimants to frame the relationship between themselves and their rivals or predecessors. For Nero, the iconography stressed his military might and descent from Antony. For Galba, it connected his army to liberty, the Roman people, and the provinces. Macer used the same iconography to claim that he rather than Galba would be Rome’s liberator. Vitellius and Vespasian used the iconography to position themselves as Galba’s rightful successors. Vitellius also minted a small, hitherto unrecognized series of legionary coins when paying his legions a donative.

Keywords

• legions, year of the four emperors, nero, galba, clodius macer