1. History
In spring 68 AD, the galloroman aristocrat C. Iulius Vindex rebelled against Nero. The Emperor first didn't take the revolt serious, but soon, more unrest arose throughout the empire. In Africa, Clodius Macer rebelled, and in Spain, the powerful governors Salvius Otho and Servius Sulpicius Galba joined the cause of the rebels. Vindex appointed Galba as new emperor and pushed forward to the south, only to be defeated by the Rhine legions which remained loyal to Nero. Although Nero's cause seemed saved, his Praetorian prefect C. Nymphidius Sabinus convinced him that it was lost and led the Praetorians to appoint Galba to emperor. Nero, terribly frightened, fled from Rome and committed suicide.
The new emperor Galba soon committed a fatal mistake by appointing Aulus Vitellius as new leader of the Rhine army. Vitellius rebelled, and Galba was murdered by the Praetorians. In his place, Otho assumed power, only to be defeated by Vitellius soon after. Otho committed suicide, and Vitellius made himself emperor. But the eastern armies, which had not been involved in the civil war so far, appointed an own candidate to the throne: the experienced general Titus Flavius Vespasianus. The young leader of the Danube army, Antonius Primus, soon marched on Rome and defeated Vitellius in the name of Vespasian: the Roman Empire finally had a generally accepted emperor again.
2. Coinage
2.1. Some general notes
This chaptre deals with the anonymous coinage of the civil war 68-69 AD. Only Denarii and Aurei were issued, all of them are very rare and of many types only a few coins are known to exist. The (moving?) mints probably were located in Gaul, Germany and Spain.
2.2. The Types
A wide spectrum of propagandistic types was issued, such as the divine Julius Caesar and Augustus, Bonus Eventus, the Concordia of Spain and Gaul, the Fides of the Army, Mars, the Roman Genius and many other slogans.
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A good example of the political slogans on the civil war coins is this Denarius, which propagates the renaissance of Rome: ROMA RENASCES. Though it is an anonymous denarius, the coin can be assigned to Galba since this reverse type also shows up on coins bearing his portrait.
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A second example is this Denarius, which features the slogan SALVS GENERIS HVMANI. The idea of Salus Generis Humani, associated with Victoria, Fortuna Augusti, and Fortuna Redux, expressed the idea that the welfare of the world depended on Galba's victory and was connected with his fate.
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2.3. Coins
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