Aureus (Coin) Portraying Emperor Tiberius (15-37, issued by Tiberius): Artwork and History

Aureus (Coin) Portraying Emperor Tiberius (15-37, issued by Tiberius) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Roman, minted in Lyon.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

The front (obverse) of this gold coin portrays the head of Emperor Tiberius to the right, laureate. The back (reverse) possibly portrays Livia as Pax, enthroned on a chair with scepter in right hand, branch in left. The inscription on the front of this coin, TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVTVS ("Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of divine Augustus"), was important to marking the transition of power in the early Roman Empire. The title helped Tiberius to advertise his inherited right to rule, as Augustus’ heir and deified first Roman Emperor. The back design showing a female figure is frequently assumed to be Livia, Tiberius’s mother and Augustus's wife of fifty-three years. Livia is depicted as the Roman deity for peace, Pax. The inscription around her, “PONTIF MAXIM”, refers to the title of Pontifex Maximus, a title held by each of the Roman Emperors and signified the religious authority held by the Roman Emperor.

Object facts

• Title: Aureus (Coin) Portraying Emperor Tiberius
• Date: 15-37, issued by Tiberius
• Artist attribution: Roman, minted in Lyon
• Place of origin: Lyon
• Medium: Gold
• Dimensions: Diam.: 2 cm (13/16 in.)
• Type: Coin
• Department: Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
• Reference number: 1922.4857

Collection credit

Gift of Martin A. Ryerson

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.