First Adlocutio Issue

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 888. Estimate $6000.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $8500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ Sestertius (27.99 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38. C•CAESAR•AVG•GERMANICVS•PON•M•TR•POT, laureate head left / ADLOCVT above, COH in exergue, Gaius, bareheaded and togate, standing left on daïs, extending right hand in gesture of address; behind him a sella castrensis (chair); in front of him stand five soldiers right, all helmeted, holding shields, and parazonia; four aquilae behind them. RIC I 32; BMCRE 33-35; BN 45-46; Cohen 1. Good VF, mottled dark green-brown and red-brown patina, minor roughness, traces of smoothing. Extraordinary detail on reverse.

Before a battle, or on parade, the emperor would address his troops in an event known as an adlocutio cohortium (address to the cohorts). This was an important opportunity for the emperor to be present among his troops to inspire morale. This sestertius was issued on the occasion of a donative for the Praetorian Guard and was the first to employ the adlocutio as a reverse type.