The Civil Wars, 68 – 69.   Aureus, lower Germany 69-70, AV 7.68 g. SALVTIS Draped bust of Salus r., hair knotted above neck. Rev. CONCORDIA Concordia standing l., holding cornucopia and branch. C 357. BMC p. 308, a and pl. 51, 24. Martin 1. RIC 134. CBN –. Calicò 450 (these dies).
Of the highest rarity, apparently the second and by far the finest specimen known and the
only one in private hands. A very interesting and historically important issue.
Good very fine

This extremely rare aureus was struck in the context of the Year of the Four Emperors (AD 69), but not in support of any of the major claimants to the imperial purple. Instead, it was produced as part of a revolt in Germania Inferior ostensibly on behalf of the imperial claims of Vespasian, but really aiming to foment a general uprising in Gaul and create an independent Gallic empire. Under the Batavian leader C. Julius Civilis and the Gallic auxiliary commanders Julius Classicus and Julius Tutor, the rebels marched to victory against the two legions sent against them and followed up by besieging them at Castra Vetera. At the beginning of AD 70, Castra Vetera was surrendered to Civilis and plundered by the rebels. He went on harrying Roman forces sent against him, but by late AD 70, Civilis sued for peace. Jerusalem had fallen in the spring, meaning that the Jewish Revolt that had absorbed so many military resources was almost at an end and those resources could be redirected to destroy him and his followers. Under the negotiated peace terms, the Batavians who had been the motive force behind the revolt were compelled to resume their former status as auxiliary troops in the Roman army, but it is unclear what became of Civilis. The aureus does not name Civilis or any of the other rebel leaders, but simply expresses the same desire that must have been felt by many throughout the Roman world in the tumultuous years AD 69-70. The obverse invokes Salus, the personification of safety and security while the revers depicts Concordia, the personification of harmony. Both had been noticeably lacking since the suicide of Nero in AD 68.