Marcus Salvius Otho Caesar Augustus
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Roman Empire
Otho
(Reign as 7th Emperor Jan. 15-April 16, 69)
(b. 32, d. 69)
Obverse: IMP M OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P, Bare head of Otho facing right
Reverse: Inverse of obverse design due to brockage error
Silver Denarius
Minted in Rome Jan.-April 69
17mm, 3.3g
Translations:
IMP M OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P=Imperator(Commander-in-Chief) Marcus Otho Caesar, Emperor, Tribune of the Plebs
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This coin I have posted before in SmEagle1795's Otho thread, but the images were crappy cellphone shots so I decided now was time to take some good images with a proper camera. I also felt this special coin deserved a special presentation.
What we know of Otho is brief, and comes to us from Suetonius, Tacitus, Plutarch, and Cassius Dio so if you've read about this period you've probably heard all this before, but I learned a couple things in putting this together and maybe you will too. I think the history behind the coins is part of the fun, when I bought my first ancient coin, a Constantine I follis, I didn't even know much about Julius Caesar beyond his name, something about the julian calendar, and he crossed something called the rubicon and that was a big deal for some reason
, Otho was a name I hadn't even heard of, I pronounced it wrong intially...-
"Otho" as we refer to him today was born in 32 to a noble family as his grandfather had been promoted from equestrian status to senator by Augustus and even held a consulship, and Otho's father attained patrician status from Claudius.
He was a good friend of Nero and possibly even his lover, but that all ended when Nero decided to take Otho's wife Poppaea Sabina as his mistress and forced a divorce and then sent poor Otho off to the far flung province of Lusitania as governor.
It is said that for 10 years he ruled the province well, and given this and the fact that he didn't seem to be terrible when he donned the purple in January of 69 and with the reasoning of his suicide I don't think he would've been a bad Emperor, but this is conjecture and I'm getting ahead of myself.
Then in 68 old man Galba who governed neighboring province Hispania Tarraconensis decided enough of this Nero guy it was time to follow in Caesar's footsteps and march on Rome. At the prospect of becoming the childless old man's heir to the throne, an idea put in his head by astrologers and Galba's favorite general Titus Vinius, Otho decided to follow right along.
Galba had other plans though and as he was now wearing the purple, and heard Vitellius was leading a revolt his way with the Rhine legions he decided to adopt Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus and name him as heir in his will.
This understandably infuriated Otho who shortly thereafter initiated a coup by bribing the praetorians who were quite happy to put Galba and Piso's heads on pikes after Galba's disasterous rule and hand the reins to Otho.
Shortly afterward Otho tried to make peace with Vitellius, but it wasn't to be and the Battle of Bedriacum took place between the Vitellians and Othonians.
Vitellius had the best legions at his disposal, men who had served with distinction in the Germanic Wars, Otho had no chance of winning this civil war.
Cassius Dio says 40,000 men lost their lives in the battle, and after many of Otho's surviving troops pledged allegiance to Vitellius he decided enough blood had been shed in yet another civil war and he took his life the next day.
It is said that Otho was a very vain man who plucked all the hair off his body, rubbed himself with moist bread every day and to cover his bald head he had an impressive wig fashioned that sculptors were quick to point out on his statues and coins.
=Recipient of the coveted "You Suck" award 4/28/2014=
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<< <i>Great coin and awesome photographs, but very, very bad hair! Otho was the Donald Trump of his era! >>
Peter Paul Rubens agrees with you:
If you think about it, it is sort of like the castings made exactly a decade after this coin was struck, when Vesuvius buried Pompeii and sealed those people in ash. The recesses their bodies left in the ash were sort of a more poignant, human version of what we see on this coin in the brockage.
I like your purple drapery touch.
My only otho but as cheap as I got it I cant complain.
The People Who Own More Than One Otho Coin Club (PWOMTOOCC).
He just bought mine to add to that lovely brockage of his.
Not very many people have a single Otho, let alone two.
I have never been a member of PWOMTOOCC. The coin I just sold him is the only one I've ever had.
<< <i>Love those types of errors & that otho is pretty much beyond special.
My only otho but as cheap as I got it I cant complain.
a full portrait with facial features and partial wig detail, what's not to love?
<< <i>If you think about it, it is sort of like the castings made exactly a decade after this coin was struck, when Vesuvius buried Pompeii and sealed those people in ash. The recesses their bodies left in the ash were sort of a more poignant, human version of what we see on this coin in the brockage. >>
I totally get what you're saying
I think his hair on the brockage side looks like a pissed off snake