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Pupienus. AD 238. Æ Sestertius (31mm, 23.41 g, 6h). Rome mint. 1st emission. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Pax seated left, holding olive branch and transverse scepter. RIC IV 22a; BMCRE 48-9; Banti 6. Green patina, marks and scratches. VF.
From the Meander Collection.
Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus, who ruled jointly with Balbinus during the “Year of the Six Emperors” in AD 238, was probably born in the AD 160s. By AD 217 he had risen to the consulship and he served a second time in AD 234. He became Urban Prefect of Rome in the late 230s and cracked down harshly on criminals and vagrants. Along with the rest of the Senate, he fully supported the rebellion of Gordian I and II against the brutal regime of Maximinus I in March of AD 238. When the Gordians came to grief scarcely 21 days after their acclamation, the Senate appointed Pupienus and another senator, Balbinus, as joint emperors. The two men were a study in contrasts, with Pupienus a lean, stern disciplinarian and Balbinus a well-fed, easygoing aristocrat. They also detested one another. Due to his severity as Urban Prefect, Pupienus’s elevation was unpopular among the masses of Rome, who forced the Senate to name the 13-year-old nephew of Gordian II, Gordian III, as Caesar. Pupienus proceeded to northern Italy to raise troops against Maximinus, but he soon learned that the dreaded Maximinus was dead: his own troops had mutinied and murdered him. Thanking the gods for their miraculous intervention, Pupienus proceeded back to Rome amid general rejoicing. Balbinus, however, greatly resented his partner’s enhanced prestige and feared Pupienus’s loyal German bodyguards. The two emperors were still bickering when, in early July, a detachment of Praetorians, who had disliked the Senatorial emperors from the outset, stormed the palace and murdered them. So ended the Senate’s last real chance to name its own rulers.
The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 129 lots will be determined during the live online sale that will be held on 13-14 May 2025. This lot is in Session Two, which will begin 13 May at 2 PM ET.
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