Ancient Rome - 41-54 CE, Claudius AV Aureus, NGC Choice VF

This coin was struck to commemorate Agrippina II being granted the honorific title of Augusta. She was only the third Roman woman to receive this title. This title was bestowed upon her in CE 50. She married her uncle Claudius as her third husband and his fourth wife. For her, the marriage was solely about power. She was stepmother to Claudia Antonia, Claudius's daughter, as well as the young Claudia Octavia and Britannicus, Claudius' children with Valeria Messalina. Agrippina got rid of anyone in the palace or the imperial court whom she believed was loyal to or honored the memory of Messalina, Claudius' late third wife. She also dispatched anybody whom she felt was a potential threat to her position and the future of her son Lucius (Nero). Among the victims was Lucius' (Nero's) second paternal aunt and Messalina's mother Domitia Lepida the Younger. The historian Griffin tells us how Agrippina "had achieved this dominant position for her son and herself by a web of political alliances..." Both ancient and modern historians of Rome have agreed that Agrippina had planned on securing the throne of Rome for her son from the first day of her marriage, if not sooner. Dio Cassius writes that "As soon as Agrippina had come to live in the palace she gained complete control over Claudius." She secured the throne for Nero by feeding her beloved husband Claudius a dish of poisoned mushrooms in October of 54 CE, bringing his 13-year reign to a tragic end.