OTHO Very Rare 69AD Authentic Ancient Silver Roman Coin Securitas NGC i82503

Item: i82503 Authentic Ancient Coin of. Silver Denarius 18mm (3.28 grams) Rome mint: January - April 69 A. Reference: RIC 8; Cohen 17; BMC 18; CBN 10 Certification: NGC Ancients. Ch XF Strike: 5/5 Surface: 3/5 5872967-001 IMP M OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P, bare, bewigged head of Otho right.

SECVRITAS P R, Securitas, draped, standing facing, head left, wreath upward in right hand, scepter in left. Securitas - Security, as a goddess worshipped by the Romans, is delineated in a great variety of ways on their imperial coins. She appears for the most part under the form of a woman in matronly costume; though in some few instances she is but half clothed, having a veil thrown over the lower extremities. Sometimes she is quietly seated, as if perfectly at her ease and having nothing to fear. That is to say, her right or her left elbow rests on her chair, and the hand supports her head, as in Nero.

Or else one of her arms is placed above the head; an attitude which ancient artists regarded as characteristic of repose. She holds in one or other of her hands either a sceptre, or a scipio, or the hasta pura, or a cornucopia, or a patera, or a globe. On some medals there is near her a lighted altar; on others she stands leaning against, or with her arm upon, a column or cippus, having sometimes the legs crossed in a tranquil, easy posture, carrying one of the above-mentioned symbols, or otherwise holding before her a branch or a crown of olive, or a palm branch. The meaning of these various attitudes and attributes is on the whole too evident to require explanation.

There are medals of nearly all the emperors (with flagrant inappropriateness to most of the reigns) from Otho and Vitellius to Constans and Constantius jun. Which have for the type of their reverses this figure of Security, and present for their legend the word SECVRITAS, with the addition of the words, AVGVSTI, or AVGVSTORVM (security of the emperor or of the emperors); ORBIS (security of the world) ; PVBLICA (public security) ; PERPETVA (perpetual security) ; POPVLI ROMANI (security of the Roman people) TEMPORVM (of the Times) ; IMPERII (of the empire) SAECVLI (of the age) ; REPVBLICAE (of the republic), etc. Otho (Latin: Marcus Salvius Otho Caesar Augustus ; 28 April 32 - 16 April 69) was Roman Emperor for three months, from 15 January to 16 April 69.

He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors. Otho belonged to an ancient and noble Etruscan family, descended from the princes of Etruria and settled at Ferentinum (currently Ferento, near Viterbo) in Etruria. The future Emperor appears first as one of the most reckless and extravagant of the young nobles who surrounded Neroo.

This friendship was brought to an end in 58 AD because of his wife, the noblewoman Poppaea Sabina. Otho introduced his beautiful wife to the Emperor upon Poppaea's insistence, who then began an affair that would eventually lead to her premature death. After securely establishing this position as his mistress, she divorced Otho and had the Emperor send him away as governor to the remote province of Lusitania (which is now parts of both modern Portugal and Extremadura, Spain). Otho remained in Lusitania for the next ten years, administering the province with a moderation unusual at the time. When in 68 AD his neighbor the future Emperor Galba, the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, rose in revolt against Nero, Otho accompanied him to Rome. Resentment at the treatment he had received from Nero may have impelled him to this course, but to this motive was added before long that of personal ambition. Galba was childless and far advanced in years, and Otho, encouraged by the predictions of astrologers, aspired to succeed him. However, in January 69 AD, his hopes were dashed by Galba's formal adoption of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus, whom Galba had previously named a recipient in his will.

After this, Otho decided to strike a bold blow. On the morning of 15 January, only five days after Galba adopted Piso, Otho attended as usual to pay his respects to Galba, and then hastily excused himself on account of private business and hurried from the Palatine Hill to meet his accomplices. He was then escorted to the Praetorian camp, where, after a few moments of surprise and indecision, he was saluted as Imperator. The cohort that was on duty at the Palatine, which had accompanied the Emperor, instantly deserted him. Galba, his newly adopted son Piso and others were brutally murdered by the Praetorians.

Otho had owed his own success to the resentment felt by the Praetorian guards and the rest of the army at Galba's refusal to pay the promised gold to the ones who supported his accession to the throne. The population of the city was also unhappy with Galba and cherished the memory of Nero.

Otho's first acts as Emperor showed that he was not unmindful of these facts. He accepted, or appeared to accept, the cognomen of Nero conferred upon him by the shouts of the populace, whom his comparative youth and the effeminacy of his appearance reminded of their lost favourite. Nero's statues were again set up, his freedmen and household officers reinstalled (including the young castrated boy Sporus whom Nero had taken in marriage and Otho would also live intimately with), and the intended completion of the Golden House announced.

At the same time the fears of the more sober and respectable citizens were allayed by Otho's liberal professions of his intention to govern equitably, and by his judicious clemency towards Marius Celsus, consul-designate, a devoted adherent of Galba. Otho soon realized that it was much easier to overthrow an Emperor than rule as one: according to Suetonius Otho once remarked that "Playing the Long Pipes is hardly my trade" i. Undertaking something beyond one's ability to do so. Otho by Robert Van Voerst after Titian. Any further development of Otho's policy was checked once Otho had read through Galba's private correspondence and realized the extent of the revolution in Germany, where several legions had declared for Vitellius, the commander of the legions on the lower Rhine River, and were already advancing upon Italy.

After a vain attempt to conciliate Vitellius by the offer of a share in the Empire, Otho, with unexpected vigor, prepared for war. From the much more remote provinces, which had acquiesced in his accession, little help was to be expected; but the legions of Dalmatia, Pannonia and Moesia were eager in his cause, the Praetorian cohorts were in themselves a formidable force and an efficient fleet gave him the mastery of the Italian seas. The fleet was at once dispatched to secure Liguria, and on 14 March Otho, undismayed by omens and prophecies, started northwards at the head of his troops in the hopes of preventing the entry of Vitellius' troops into Italy. But for this he was too late, and all that could be done was to throw troops into Placentia and hold the line of the Po. Otho's advanced guard successfully defended Placentia against Aulus Caecina Alienus, and compelled that general to fall back on Cremona. But the arrival of Fabius Valens altered the aspect of affairs. Vitellius' commanders now resolved to bring on a decisive battle, the Battle of Bedriacum, and their designs were assisted by the divided and irresolute counsels which prevailed in Otho's camp. The more experienced officers urged the importance of avoiding a battle, until at least the legions from Dalmatia had arrived. But the rashness of the Emperor's brother Titianus and of Proculus, prefect of the Praetorian Guards, added to Otho's feverish impatience, overruled all opposition, and an immediate advance was decided upon. Otho himself remained behind with a considerable reserve force at Brixellum, on the southern bank of the Po. When this decision was taken, Otho's army had already crossed the Po and were encamped at Bedriacum (or Betriacum), a small village on the Via Postumia , and on the route by which the legions from Dalmatia would naturally arrive. Leaving a strong detachment to hold the camp at Bedriacum, the Othonian forces advanced along the Via Postumia in the direction of Cremona. At a short distance from that city they unexpectedly encountered the Vitellian troops. The Othonians, though taken at a disadvantage, fought desperately, but were finally forced to fall back in disorder upon their camp at Bedriacum. There on the next day the victorious Vitellians followed them, but only to come to terms at once with their disheartened enemy, and to be welcomed into the camp as friends. More unexpected still was the effect produced at Brixellum by the news of the battle.

Otho was still in command of a formidable force: the Dalmatian legions had already reached Aquileia and the spirit of his soldiers and their officers was unbroken. But he was resolved to accept the verdict of the battle that his own impatience had hastened. In a dignified speech he bade farewell to those about him, declaring: "It is far more just to perish one for all, than many for one", and then retiring to rest soundly for some hours. Early in the morning he stabbed himself in the heart with a dagger, which he had concealed under his pillow, and died as his attendants entered the tent.

Otho's ashes were placed within a modest monument. He had reigned only three months. His funeral was celebrated at once, as he had wished.

A plain tomb was erected in his honour at Brixellum, with the simple inscription Diis Manibus Marci Othonis. It has been thought that Otho's suicide was committed in order to steer his country from the path to civil war. Just as he had come to power, many Romans learned to respect Otho in his death. Few could believe that a renowned former companion of Nero had chosen such an honourable end.

Tacitus wrote that some of the soldiers committed suicide beside his funeral pyre because they loved their emperor and wished to share his glory. Writing during the reign of the Emperor Domitian (AD 81-96), the Roman poet Martial expressed his admiration for Otho's choice to spare the Empire from civil war through sacrificing himself. Although the goddess of civil warfare was still in doubt, And soft Otho had perhaps still a chance of winning, He renounced fighting that would have cost much blood, And with sure hand pierced right through his breast. By all means let Cato in his life be greater than Julius Caesar himself; In his death was he greater than Otho? Suetonius, in The Lives of the Caesars , comments on Otho's appearance and personal hygiene. He is said to have been of moderate height, splay-footed and bandy-legged, but almost feminine in his care of his person.

He had the hair of his body plucked out, and because of the thinness of his locks wore a wig so carefully fashioned and fitted to his head, that no one suspected it. Moreover, they say that he used to shave every day and smear his face with moist bread, beginning the practice with the appearance of the first down, so as never to have a beard. Juvenal, in a passage in the Satire II dealing with homosexuality, specifically mentions Otho as being vain, looking at himself in the mirror prior to going into battle, and "plaster[ing] his face with dough" in order to look good. World-renowned expert numismatist, enthusiast, author and dealer in authentic ancient Greek, ancient Roman, ancient Byzantine, world coins & more. Ilya Zlobin is an independent individual who has a passion for coin collecting, research and understanding the importance of the historical context and significance all coins and objects represent.

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Ancient Coins: Roman Coins
Certification Number: 5872967-001
Certification: NGC
Grade: Ch XF
Composition: Silver
Ruler: Otho
Denomination: Denarius