Aureus: Bust of Claudius I (obverse); Triumphal Arch with Equestrian Statue and Trophies (reverse) (47–48 CE): Art, History and Details

Aureus: Bust of Claudius I (obverse); Triumphal Arch with Equestrian Statue and Trophies (reverse) (47–48 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Minted in Rome, this coin depicts the triumphal arch erected there in 44 AD commemorating Claudius in the campaign in Britain. On top of the arch is the emperor seated on a horse between two military trophies. The arch itself was a converted aqueduct which crossed the main road leading north toward Rome. Claudius was the youngest of the three surviving children of Drusus and Antonia Minor and the first Roman emperor to have been born outside Rome.

Object facts

• Title: Aureus: Bust of Claudius I (obverse); Triumphal Arch with Equestrian Statue and Trophies (reverse)
• Date: 47–48 CE
• Culture: England, Roman, Claudius I (41–54 CE)
• Type: Coins
• Technique: gold
• Dimensions: Diameter: 1.9 cm (3/4 in.)
• Collection: MED - Numismatics
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1969.158

A detail from the museum

During his reign, Claudius started the successful campaign for the conquest of Britain.

Collection credit

The Norweb Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Emery May Norweb. English Gold Coins, Ancient to Modern Times, On Loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art from the Norweb Collection. 1968.
• Emery May Norweb Collection (Cleveland, Ohio), Emery May Norweb, C. E. Blunt, F. Elmore Jones, and R. P. Mack. Collection of Ancient British, Romano-British and English Coins. London: Spink, 1971.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.