The two sides of the same coin

The next sign of Nero’s status of power on the coin comes from the text around the portrait, stating all of Nero’s imperial titles. We assume Roman citizens like Lucius were able to read these short texts well enough.

In general, a high rate of alphabetization is assumed for the high imperial period, especially among the urban population, as inscriptions and documents were ubiquitous, as were the abbreviations of the imperial titulature, which are repeated on many public buildings. Rolf Bergmeier: Schatten über Europa: Der Untergang der antiken Kultur. Besides, they stood in a tradition started by the first emperor Augustus, and were probably common knowledge by the time Nero used them on his coins. This was very much what people expected to see on a coin.

It was important for Nero to show he continued the tradition of the previous emperors. Even though he was connected to the first emperor, Augustus, through both paternal and maternal lineage, he needed to solidify his position of power, because he acquired the throne through the scheming of his mother Agrippina. Agrippina married the previous emperor, Claudius, and persuaded him to adopt her son from a previous marriage, Nero. Then Agrippina quickly eliminated all of Nero’s opponents, which put him directly in line for the throne. Eventually she even poisoned her husband Claudius, whereafter Nero succeeded him. After only a few years, Agrippina herself was the victim of such scheming. She was murdered by order of Nero, who had begun to suspect her of working against him.

One more rumor about Nero is that he gave the order to set fire to a part of Rome, destroying the homes of many ordinary Romans. Instead of restoring the old houses, he decided to use the space to build his Domus Aurea, his Golden House, a beautiful large villa complex. It is said that Nero accused the Christians in Rome of starting the fire, and maybe Lucius believed him.