JUDAEA, Herodians. Temp. Agrippa II, circa 50-94/5 CE. AE (Bronze, 23 mm, 10.07 g, 1 h), in the names of emperor Nero, and his
legatus Augusti pro praetore, Vespasian. Sepphoris, RY 14 = 67/8 CE. EΠI OYECΠACI[ANOY EIPHNOΠΟΛI NEPΩNIAC CEΠΦΩP] Kerykeion between crossed cornucopiae.
Rev. L ΔI / NEPΩNO / KΛAYΔIOY / KAICAPO/C within circular frame; all within wreath. Bromberg -. Hendin 6308. Meshorer, AJC II, Suppl. III, 8. Rosenberger 1. RPC I 4849. Samel -. Shoshana I 20155. Sofaer 173. Rare with legible name of Vespasian. Repatinated
, otherwise, very fine.
Ex Leu 91, 10 May 2004, 253 (with original ticket).
This coin is of particular historical interest both because it was struck in Nero’s fourteenth regnal year, 67/68 CE, during the second year of the Jewish Revolt, and because it names not only Nero but also Vespasian, the Roman commander appointed by the emperor to conduct the war against the rebels. Sepphoris had refused to join the revolt from the outset, reached an agreement with the Syrian governor Cestius Gallus, and sided with Rome. Josephus reports that the city welcomed Gallus warmly, offered Vespasian its support against the rebels, and requested a Roman garrison (Josephus, B.J. 2.511–513; 3.30–34; cf. Vita 30, 38–39).
The claim made in Shoshana I 20155, that the coin 'further supports Rabbinic stories that various Jews predicted Vespasian’s future rise to emperor' is untenable. Josephus attributes such a prophecy to himself (Josephus, B.J. 3.400–402), while rabbinic tradition ascribes a similar prediction to Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai (Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 56a–b; Eikhah Rabbah 1.5 § 31; cf. Midrash Mishlei 15). The coin, however, offers no support for these accounts. Vespasian is named simply because he was then the Roman commander in Judaea and the authority with whom Sepphoris was directly dealing. Any connection with his accession as emperor in 69 is purely retrospective.
More significant is the city’s self-designation in the legend ΕΠΙ ΟΥΕΣΠΑΣΙΑΝΟΥ ΕΙΡΗΝΟΠΟΛΙΣ ΝΕΡΩΝΙΑΣ ΣΕΠΦΩ, which may be rendered: 'Under Vespasian: Sepphoris, the Neronian City of Peace.' Εἰρηνόπολις literally means 'City of Peace,' while Νερωνιάς is an honorific derived from Nero’s name. The legend thus presents Sepphoris as a city loyal to Nero, at peace, and firmly aligned with Roman rule.
