JUDAEA, Herodians. Agrippa I, with Herod of Chalcis and Claudius. 37-43 CE. Æ (24mm, 12.15 g, 6h). Caesarea Maritima mint. Dated RY 8 of Agrippa (43/4 CE). Fine.

Electronic Auction 533
Lot: 417. Estimated: $ 300

Roman Provincial, Bronze

Sold For $ 850. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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JUDAEA, Herodians. Agrippa I, with Herod of Chalcis and Claudius. 37-43 CE. Æ (24mm, 12.15 g, 6h). Caesarea Maritima mint. Dated RY 8 of Agrippa (43/4 CE). Claudius, togate, standing left, sacrificing from patera over altar, between Agrippa I and Herod of Chalcis, each crowning the emperor with a wreath; [L H (date) in exergue] / Clasped right hands. Burnett, Coinage 8; Meshorer 124; Hendin 6278; RPC I 4982. Dark brown patina, porosity. Fine. Rare and of great historical importance.

Agrippa I had a close relationship with both Gaius (Caligula) and Claudius, in part helping to secure the rule of the latter in the uncertain days following his unexpected rise to the purple. Indeed, his relationship with Claudius was so close that Josephus (Ant. xix. 5.1) records that among the new emperor’s first acts was publishing an edict guaranteeing Agrippa’s kingdom (with the title “Great King”) and granting the territory of Chalcis to Agrippa’s elder brother Herod.

This remarkable and rare issue not only explicitly refers to the alliance on the reverse, even using Agrippa’s new title “Great King,” but depicts the oath taking ceremony that occurred in the Roman Forum and is discussed in historical sources:

He also made a league with this Agrippa, confirmed by oaths, in the middle of the Forum in the city of Rome. (Josephus, Ant. xix.5.1)

He struck his treaties with foreign princes in the Forum, sacrificing a pig and reciting the ancient formula of the fetial priests. (Suetonius, Claud. 25.5)

For the extremely rare counterpart issue of Herod of Chalcis with a similar obverse, albeit with the position of the brothers switched, see Meshorer 361.

Closing Date and Time: 22 February 2023 at 12:18:40 ET.

All winning bids are subject to an 20% buyer’s fee.