| Roma Numismatics Ltd > E-Sale 118 | Auction date: 8 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 1258 Price realized: 1,700 GBP (Approx. 2,150 USD / 1,981 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Nero AV Aureus. Rome, AD 64-66. NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS, laureate head to right / IANVM CLVSIT PACE P R TERRA MARIQ PARTA, closed doors of the temple of Janus. RIC I 50 & 58; C. 114; BMCRE 64; Biaggi 224; Calicó 409. 7.06g, 19mm, 7h. Very Fine. The structure commonly referred to as the Temple of Janus, but more correctly the Ianus Geminus, Ianus Quirinus or Portae Belli, was not a temple at all in the traditional sense. Built by the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, the doors of the Ianus Geminus were opened to indicate that Rome was at war and closed during times of peace. Since the time of Numa and before the time of Nero, the doors were said to have been closed only in 235 BC, after the first Punic war; and three times during the reign of Augustus. The structure itself was probably originally conceived and executed in wood and other perishable materials, but contained an archaic bronze statue of the god which held in the one hand a key, denoting his role as the supreme gate-keeper in both spatial and temporal senses, and in the other a staff, signifying both his authority and role as a divine guide. Said to have been situated between the Forum Julium and the Forum Romanum, close to where the Argiletum entered the forum, it consisted of twin gates opposite each other; the cult statue was between them. No roof is indicated, and it may have been an open enclosure. While there is no literary evidence that the temple was destroyed or rebuilt, it must have been moved to make way for the construction of the Basilica Aemilia in 179 BC. Following the favourable end to a war with Parthia in 63 thanks to the efforts of the general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, and the general establishment of peace across Rome's borders by 65, Nero famously closed the doors to great fanfare in AD 66 as a sign that all war was at an end. Estimate: 2000 GBP |  |
