Lot 5457

Description

Nero, (A.D. 54-68), AE sestertius, Rome mint, issued A.D. 64, (23.55 grams), obv. laureate head of Nero to right, around [NERO CLAVD] CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P [IMP P P], rev. view of the port of Ostia with pharos (light tower) and ships, in front the reclining river god of the Tiber, above AVG - VSTI, below S P Q R OSTC, (S.1953, RIC 178. BMC 132). Very good/good fine, portrait and obverse weak, reverse probably better than RIC illustration, some hoard patination and edge filing.

Ex McHugh Collection. Julius Caesar recognized the value of expanding Rome's port, but it was Claudius who began actual construction in 42 AD. As part of the construction, one of Caligula's pleasure galleys was scuttled and filled with cement and above it was erected a lighthouse surmounted by a statue of Neptune. Although the actual date of completion is not certain, it must have occurred shortly before this sestertius was minted in 64 A.D.. A further expansion of the facilities was required under Trajan and Hadrian. By the fourth century, however, the port's importance began to diminish as a result of silting and the region later became a breeding ground for malaria and was abandoned.