for Virgil, in revealing futurity on the magic shield of Eneas, sings thus "Parte aliâ ventis, et diis Agrippa secundis Arduus agmen agens, cui belli insigne superbum, Tempora navali fulgent Rostrata Corona.” Reverse. IMP. T. VESP. AVG. REST. (Imperator Titus Vespasianus Augustus restituit.) In the field S. C. although Agrippa was neither an Augustus, nor a Cæsar. Between the letters stands a colossal and muscular figure of Agrippa, in the character of Admiral Neptune-as he is styled by the immortal Newton. He is standing and looking towards the right; the left arm supports a trident, as the sceptre of the Mediterranean seas, and on the right extended hand is a dolphin, the swiftest of fishes. The figure is naked, if we except a scarf which extends gracefully from one arm to the other, behind the back, and the body is altogether one of great boldness. This medal appears to have been struck about 26 years B. C. is in the highest possible preservation, and was procured in Sardinia, in June, 1824. Of the Dii Magni, none appears so seldom upon Roman coins as Neptune and Augustus, in a splenetic fit, on losing some vessels at sea, excluded his statue from the Ludi Circenses. See No. CLV. XVI. Obverse. IMP. D. F. P. P. (Imperator Divi filius, Pater Patriæ.) The heads of Augustus and Agrippa adversa, or facing each other, the first crowned with laurel, and the second with the corona rostrata. This beautiful medal is largely spread, in the highest possible perfection, and coated with a brilliant green patina; it was obtained at Marseille, in 1823. Reverse. COL. NEM. (Colonia Nemausus.) A palm tree rises in the centre of the field, to which is chained a crocodile." This interesting and significant reverse was struck by the citizens of Nemausus, a town of Gallia Narbonensis, in honour of a victory gained in Egypt; and the symbol was lately borrowed by the French, to commemorate the successes of Napoleon, in the same country. JULIA. Julia, the daughter of Augustus and Scribonia, was born B. C. 39. At the early age of 14 she was married to Marcellus-the ceremonial being managed with unexampled splendour, by Agrippa. After the premature death of her husband she was married to Agrippa himself and, on her losing him, to Tiberius, B. C. 11. A continuation of abandoned and adulterous intrigues occasioned her being banished to Pandataria, B. C. 2; and she perished of hunger, a miserable exile, at Rhegium A. D. 14, at the age of 53 years. This unfortunate princess was as beautiful and pleasing as she was abandoned; but with all her lamentable madness of lust, she possessed, according to Macrobius, a regard for letters, and a large share of humanity. Augustus is said to have taken uncommon pains with her education, and was therefore inexorable, when he was obliged to punish her monstrous depravity; insomuch that he resisted all the entreaties which the people of Rome, touched with compassion, clamorously made in her behalf; only permitting a slight mitigation in changing the place of her exile: a fact which neutralizes certain suspicions upon his own conduct, as connected with the banishment of Ovid. One of the intercessions made by the public of the “Eternal City," was sufficiently ludicrous. Having watched for what was considered a favourable opportunity, they preferred their request, and were answered by Augustus that, fire and water should agree before he would consent to his daughter's return on this, in order to absolve the Emperor from his oath, they threw a prodigious quantity of lighted torches into the Tiber, but without any effect upon the obstinate father. Nor was his successor the man to alleviate her afflictions. After she became the wife of Tiberius, the haughty arrogance of her behaviour had made him feel that she held him beneath her in rank; for this he took a terrible vengeance:-" At his accession to the empire," says Tacitus, "when he was master of the Roman world, he saw her in a state of destitution, banished, covered with infamy, and, after the murder of Agrippa Posthumus, without a ray of hope to comfort her. Yet this could not appease the malice of Tiberius. He ordered her to be starved to death; concluding that, after a tedious exile in a remote place, a lingering death in want and misery would pass unnoticed." There are no Latin medals in honour of Julia, though a portrait on a monetary one of C. Marius Trogus, has been ascribed to her and her sons, Caius and Lucius. But, as usual with those members of the Imperial family not found in the regular series, her likeness is preserved on some Greek and colonial coins-and one which fell into my possession in Greece, bears the heads of Agrippa and Julia facing each other, with the Diana of Ephesus, supported by two tridents, on the reverse. XVII. Obverse. The profile of Julia, with her hair tressed into a knot behind, and drapery on the shoulders. In front of the neck is a peacock, and at the back an ear of wheat, symbols of Juno and Ceres, added, no doubt, as complimentary to the princess. The features are those of a dignified and sensible woman, without any apparent evidence of the vices with which she was infected. This medal, entirely covered with a dense green patina, and in the very highest degree of preservation, was procured at Dernah, in 1821. Reverse. The bust of Minerva galeata, looking to the left: and in front of the face are four characters, supposed to be Phoenician. This coin is generally assigned to Jol, or Cæsarea, in Mauretania, the residence of Juba, but I am not aware that any satisfactory reason justifies the assertion. I have myself found, in various parts of North Africa, medals of Tiberius, having an eagle holding a laurel branch, with reverse Appollo laureated, and a lyre: bearing, besides the Roman legend, the same four letters to before the deity. TIBERIUS. Tiberius Claudius Nero, the son of T. C. Nero and Livia Drusilla, was descended from the Patrician branch of the Claudii, a family which boasted 32 consuls, 5 dictators, and 7 censors,—and which had been honoured with 7 triumphs, and 2 ovations. It is not known whether he was born at Rome, or Fundi, but the event happened B. C. 42 ; he assumed the toga virilis B. C. 27, and was successively honoured with commands and dignities, as he advanced in years. He served in the armies with great credit, and gained important victories over the Rhætians, Pannonians, and other barbarian nations. Indeed, his character stood fair, until, by an unwarrantable act of tyranny, he was compelled to repudiate Vipsania Agrippina, daughter of the great admiral-a pregnant * When Augustus heard that Phoebe, one of his daughter's confidants, had hanged herself, he protested that he had ́ rather have been Phoebe's father, than Julia's:-" Maluisse se," ait," Phœbes patrem fuisse." wife to whom he was greatly attached-to marry Julia, the same admiral's widow-a woman of whose flagitious irregularity he was personally aware. This occurred B. C. 11; and was followed by a nomination to the tribunitian power. After several years residence at Rhodes, or rather voluntary banishment, owing to disgust of his wife's profligacy, he was permitted to return to Rome, on condition that he should hold no public office. But the deaths of Lucius and Caius accelerated his elevation, he was formally adopted by Augustus A. D. 4,-succeeded to the throne A. D. 14,—and was smothered in his bed by Macro, at Misenum, A. D. 37, in the 78th year of his age. Tiberius united a considerable mixture of admirable, with an overpowering share of detestable qualities; while the former were insufficient to rank him amongst the great princes, the besotted brutality of some of his successors has prevented the latter from stamping him the worst. He opened his career as a brave and skilful leader, an affectionate husband, and a lover of the liberal arts-being well versed in Greek and Roman literature; and moreover, although very jealous of his authority, he was moderate in the exercise of it, and paid deference to the senate and the laws: but the arrogant, gloomy, and envious disposition occasionally evinced, so far betrayed the latent sparks that Gadareus, his Rhodian tutor, described him as "a composition of mud mixed with blood." Equivocation, fraud, and cunning, were so deeply ingrafted into his very nature, that he always chose to perform by stratagem what he might easily have effected by open force, of which a memorable instance is exhibited in his artful management of the fall of Sejanus-the favourite whose brazen statues were worshipped one day, and broken for the furnace the next. Thus Juvenal, in shewing that had fortune then been adverse to the Emperor the mob would have hailed the minister as "Master of Mankind," says, 66 Sejanus, once so honour'd, so ador'd, And only second to the world's great lord, Runs glittering from the mould, in cups and cans, Tiberius was a jarring mass of contradictory elements, cemented by fiendlike passions : he rivetted the fetters of Rome, and yet despised those who passively submitted; he bore himself as an imperious tyrant, yet refused the title of Sovereign Lord; he was courageous in Germany, and timid at Capreæ ; he punished vice with ferocious severity, and yet persecuted virtue; he affected to slight riches, yet slaughtered men for their wealth; before he obtained power he displayed magnanimity, but when possessed of the sceptre, he became a mean and subtle hypocrite; at one time he defended the raillery of those who taunted his drunkenness,* and at another, enraged at the same satirical * Suetonius says:-"Propter nimiam vini aviditatem, pro Tiberio Biberius, pro Claudio Caldius, pro Nerone Mero vocabatur." The wags of Rome, however, delighted in puns, and though the Emperor died at a distance from the city, no sooner was the event announced, than the air pealed with cries of "Tiberium in Tiberim." Nor was the Despot himself wanting in wit: when the ambassadors from Ilium, paid their tardy condolence on the death of Drusus, he scoffingly lamented their loss of Hector-"Se quoque." respondit, "vicem eorum dclere, quod egregium civem Hectorem amississent.” verses, he revived the dreadful law of majesty; he renewed the ancient severities against adultery, and yet associated with the infamous Claudius Gallus. The promiscuous butcheries of a reign of 23 years, filled Rome and the provinces with terror, and suicide was the only refuge from the executioner; but they were insufficient to arouse virtuous resentment-servile adulation being, as Tacitus remarks, the reigning vice of the times. From this general supineness, it has been summed up that Julius Cæsar subdued his country; Augustus cherished the conquered; and Tiberius made them crouch in bondage. He corrupted all that was good, and introduced all that was bad in the empire. An adage says "he must needs fear many, whom many fear," and its force operated by making the dark dissembler seek to hide himself and his vices amongst the crags of Capreæ. This solitary rock, however, was made the theatre of such incredible abominations and cruelty, that it became infamous, and, was branded as the isle of vicious lusts, while the odious and execrable despot was designated Capreneus. And it must be added, that researches which I have made, in that romantic spot, fully bear out the disgusting recitals transmitted to us. The Latin medals of Tiberius are numerous, in all sizes and metals; but those of large-brass bearing the portrait, are rare and expensive-insomuch that the second size, though of inferior fabric, is frequently substituted. The Colonies, Greece, and Egypt, also minted to his honour; and the Spintriati seem to have been especially struck, to record his vicious propensities. A singular coin of the first series is preserved in the Pembroke cabinet-it has the head of Tiberius, with reverse Agrippina Senior : these mutual enemies were, perhaps, placed together, as a tribute of respect, by Caligula, for his obligations to both ;-or, to drown the recollection of the brutal cruelty with which his mother had been treated by the tyrant. XVIII. Obverse. TI. CAESAR AGVSTI F. IMPERATOR V. (Tiberius Cæsar, Augusti filius, Imperator quintum,) This legend reads outwards, and surrounds the unlaureated head of the Emperor. He is looking towards the left, and is depicted under the flattering trace of a likeness to Augustusthe medal having been struck A. D. 81, after Tiberius had been elevated into the Julian family. The title of Imperator does not appear as a prænomen, in this reign. 66 Reverse. ROM. ET. AVG. (Romæ et Augusto.) An altar decorated with á laurel crown, and some wreaths, between two cippi surmounted by winged victories, as in No. VI. The reverse is usually called the altar of Lyons" by collectors-but it merely marks the homage paid in the provinces to Augustus. Occo thought it related to the dedication of the temple of Concord, which was erected out of the spoils of the German campaigns: but Tiberius did not officiate at that ceremony till three years after the medal was struck. It is in excellent preservation, and was obtained at the sale of Mr. Henderson's collection, in 1830. XIX. Obverse. TI CAESAR AVGVSTI F. IMPERATOR VII. (Tiberius Cæsar, Augusti filius Imperator septimum.) The laurelled head of Tiberius, regarding the right, with marked features, bare neck, and the hair, as Suetonius described it, hanging down behind. The same author also tells us that he was tall, well-built, strong, and left-handed, with a graceful mien, and large eyes. This medal, in capital condition though barely patinated, was purchased at Pisa, in 1823. The legend reads outwards. Reverse. ROM. ET. AVG. (Rome et Augusto.) This represents the "altar of Lyons," flanked by victories, as above, but with a trifling difference in the minutiæ. Mezza-barba says that this was struck A. D. 11, and describes it thus:"Porticus, sivè templum, cum duabus Victoriis desuper, ambabus Coronam proferentibus.". XX. Obverse. TI. CAESAR DIVI AVG. F. AVGVST. IMPERAT. VII. (Tiberius Cæsar, Divi Augusti filius, Augustus, Imperator septimum.) The laurelled head of the Emperor looking towards the left, with a good featured but scowling physiognomy-having a prominent aquiline nose, and large eye-" prægrandibus oculis." This medal, in high condition and patinated, was procured at Baia, very near the spot where the fell tyrant was destroyed. Reverse. MODERATIONI. A highly-decorated shield in an oaken wreath, with a bust of Concord in the centre-this is represented with a full face, indicating that in the exercise of such a virtue, the monarch is exerting his greatest prerogative: and the shield implies the Emperor to be proof against the attacks of fortune, while its rotundity typifies eternity. This medal bears the senatorial mark; it was struck A. D. 14, at the opening of the reign of Tiberius-an occasion on which he boasted both of Clemency and Moderation, as numerous coins testify.* But the instability in which he considered his station, from the popularity of Germanicus, made his modesty the "adroganti moderatione," alluded to by Tacitus; though he certainly ridiculed the Senate's flattery, and was unconcerned at scandal, saying, that in a free city, men's thoughts and tongues should be free. XXI. Obverse. CIVITATIBVS ASIAE RESTITVTIS. Tiberius seated on a curule chair, with the left foot upon a stool. His extended right hand holds a patera, and his left is supported by a hasta pura. This medal was struck A. D. 22, to commemorate the munificence of the Emperor. One of the most dreadful earthquakes on record happened in Asia, by which 12, or according to Eusebius, 13, cities were overturned; and as it happened in the night, it proved the more destructive of life, being the less expected. Tiberius, to do him justice, behaved on this, as in other public calamities, with a generosity worthy of his high station-for he not only remitted the taxes of the ruined cities for five years, but also presented them with large sums for rebuilding. A few other such deeds faintly illumine the dark picture of the tyrant's reign his liberality, as Tacitus says, being retained after he had abandoned all other virtues. Reverse. TI. CAESAR DIVI AVG. F. avgvst. p. M. TR. POT. XXIIII. (Tiberius Cæsar, Divi Augusti filius, Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunitia potestate vigesimum-quartum.) In the field an archaïc S. C. The medal is in very fair condition, and was obtained from a Dominican at Catania, in 1814: it countenances the historic record of Tiberius having been popular in the provinces; for he declined laying new taxes on them, saying, that a good shepherd may shear, but not flay his flock :-" Boni pastoris esse, tondere pecus, non deglubere.” XXII. Obverse. CIVITATIBVS ASIAE RESTITVTIS. The Emperor seated with the consecrated patera and lance, as in XXII, but with the addition of a small S. C. in the field. The obverse doubtlessly represents the noble colossal statue which, according to Apollonius, was put up in the Forum. Reverse. An incuse, or indented impression of the obverse. It has been usual with medallists to impute this to accident in striking, in that a second planchet, or blank, was placed on the dye before the first was withdrawn, whence there would be a relief on one side, and an intaglio on the other. This generally-adopted opinion, however, will not account for the fact-that, though the reverse wants the uncial S. C. of No. XXII, the authority of the senate is affixed to the obverse; thereby proving it to have been purposely struck upon an express dye. This medal is of yellow metal, and in excellent preservation: it was purchased at Lord Morton's sale, in 1830. It should be noted that no forged incuse has ever been known. * The medal of Clemency has the same emblem as this of Moderation; but that Virtue is usually represented as a stolated female. See the Index. D |