Galba                                68 - 69 A.D.

Another one of the short-lived emperors during the Roman civil wars of this period, Galba was the Governor of Spain at the time of Nero's downfall. Coming from a Senatorial background, he was a likely candidate to succeed Nero from the Senate's point of view and was thus given the title. Galba made his way to Rome where he proceeded to make enemies out of all his former supporters. Most critical among these was his decision to deny the customary donatives to the army on his accession. This bit of ill-will towards the hands that fed him precipitated a number of events that would eventually lead to his murder. Otho, another recently disenfranchised governor and former protege of Galba's, gathered an army and set to remove Galba. For his part, Galba reacted to this latest affront by performing another round of purgings within the Praetorian Guard and succeeded only in finding them step aside on Otho's arrival.

AR Denarius 68--69 A.D. 18 mm. Obv. IMP SER GALBA CAESAR AVG PM: Laureate head right Rev. ROMA RENASC: Roma standing left, holding Victory and egle-tipped scepter C. 202v., Van Meter 20b