Art Institute of Chicago
Aureus (Coin) Portraying Emperor Vespasian
Roman; minted in RomeLinkedCulture matchlcp-e211f3224235
- Date
- 75-79, issued by Vespasian
- Medium
- Gold
- Culture
- Rome
- Department
- Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 5621
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
Obverse: Head of Vespasian right, laureate Reverse: Fortuna, standing left on low garlanded altar, holding rudder in right hand and cornucopia in left In A.D. 68 the chaotic reign of the Roman emperor Nero came to an end with his forced suicide, but what followed was an equally chaotic struggle to succeed him. The support of the army was critical: the year A.D. 69 saw one general after another claim the throne only to be killed by one of his rivals. Finally, the Roman army in Egypt joined the army in Syria to back General Vespasian. Knowing that Egypt was the empire’s breadbasket, Vespasian’s first effort as emperor was to pacify and control this important province. The armor he wears on this coin emphasizes his role as a warrior king.
The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Gift of Martin A. Ryerson
- Provenance
- Martin A. Ryerson (1856-1932), Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.
Linked open data
Authority identifiers that link this record into the wider web of cultural data — stable references you can follow to the source.
- Object type
- AAT300037334
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Art Institute of Chicago and other institutions.