NERO Askelon, Phoenicia AE21 6.01gm 12h Phanebal OP= Askelon Year 170 = 66 AD

Description

Rare early dated Roman Provincial bronze AE21 6.01gm 12h
Nero/Phanebal stg l holding harp and shield
OP to r = year of Askalon 170 = 66 AD
RPC 4889
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was born in 37 AD, the only son of Gnaeus Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, sister of Caligula. He was also grandson of Marc Antony and was adopted by his great uncle Claudius to become successor to the throne.
He was proclaimed an adult at age 14 and appointed proconsul, and in 53 AD he married his stepsister Claudia Octavia.
Claudius died in 54 from poison mushrooms given to him by Agrippina.
Nero slowly gained power as he eliminated enemies and potential rivals to the throne.
He often passed laws that pleased the commoners and was criticized for being obsessed with popularity.
He was a great advocate of construction projects and some historians feel the burning of Rome was partly engineered by him to clear land for his projects.
The state treasury did not have the money necessary to build what Nero wanted, so for the 1
st
time in Roman history, he devalued the currency to help his cause.
He considered himself a great entertainer and craved attention which led him to participating in the chariot races in the Olympic Games of 67 (which almost got him killed).
He squashed the revolt of Boudicca in Britain and dispatched Vespasian to restore order during the Jewish Revolt.
In March of 68, Vindex, Governor of Gallia rebelled against Nero’s tax policies and called upon Galba, Governor of Hispania to join him.
After the Battle of Vesontio, Vindex committed suicide and Galba was declared a ‘public enemy’.
Nero steadily began to lose support within the empire and started fearing for his life.
After surveying his options, he decided to travel in disguise to a villa where he intended to commit suicide, but he could not go through with it and had his secretary do it for him.
He was the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors.
His name was erased from important monuments and his statues were reworked to represent other figures.
If you translate Nero’s name into Hebrew and add the corresponding numbers together it equals 666, The Mark of the Beast.
interesting events in 66 AD:
Consulship of Telesinus & Paullinus; Jewish Revolt against Roman Empire begins; Sicarii captures Masada; Baekje invades Silla; 1
st
Epistle to Timothy is written; Halley’s Comet appears; Deaths: Petronius, Roman writer
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