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Sale 137
Lot 1279
Aelius. Silver Denarius (3.17 g), Caesar, AD 136-138. Rome, 137. L AELIVS CAESAR, bare head of Aelius left. Reverse: TRIB POT COS II PIE-TAS, Pietas standing right, holding acerrum and dropping incense onto lighted and garlanded altar to right. RIC 2631; BMC 992; RSC 36a. NGC grade Ch XF; Strike: 5/5, Surface: 2/5. Light smoothing. An outstanding example and in our opinion, undergraded. Estimated Value $1,000 - UP
On 13 January AD 101, Lucius Ceionius Commodus was born to a Roman consular family from Etruria. Although he is known to have served as praetor in AD 130 and was married to the influential Avidia Plautia, his importance increased dramatically in AD 136, when the emperor Hadrian unexpectedly adopted him and thereby made him Caesar and heir to the purple. At the time of his adoption, Lucius Ceionius Commodus set aside his name and assumed the new name of Lucius Aelius Caesar that linked him to the gens Aelia to which Hadrian belonged.Up until this point it was widely believed that Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator II, the grandson of the emperor's well-regarded brother-in-law, Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus, would be Hadrian's heir. Indeed, Hadrian had virtually indicated this himself by giving Salinator a privileged position in his court. However, all of the hopes and expectations for Salinator were dashed in AD 136 when Hadrian fell seriously ill and almost died from a haemorrhage. This near death experience caused the emperor to change his mind and adopt Aelius as his heir instead. This new decision, which the Historia Augustae describes as "against the wishes of everyone" sent political shockwaves through Rome and enraged both Servianus and Salinator. They were subsequently implicated in a (fabricated?) coup attempt and executed. Thus, Aelius was raised to power on a tide of unpopularity and bloodshed. It was not an auspicious beginning.As Caesar, Aelius' first order of business in AD 137 was to join the legions in Pannonia and defend the Danube frontier against Germanic incursions although he had no military experience of any kind. His Danubian campaigns seem to have met with success and he returned to Rome to make a public address at the start of the New Year, AD 138. Although his speech was said to have been well composed and a model for future rhetoricians, Aelius never presented it. He fell ill shortly before and died after drinking a potion intended to help him. It has been suggested that Aelius may have been killed by the onset of tuberculosis. Hadrian honored his dead heir with monumental statues and temples. The emperor then chose Antoninus Pius to be his new heir and Caesar, but ordered Pius to adopt Lucius Verus, the son of Aelius, with the intention that he would become Caesar to Antoninus Pius after he assumed power as Augustus.
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| Realized $1,140 |
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