Description: Item: i42830 Authentic Ancient Coin of: Valerius Gratus Prefect / Governor of Judaea under Roman Emperor Tiberius 15-26 A.D. or possibly 15-18 A.D. Bronze Prutah 17mm (1.93 grams) Jerusalem mint, circa 15-26 A.D. Reference: Hendin 1336 IOY ΛΙΑ (Julia) above vine leaf and small bunch of grapes. LΔ (year 4 = 17/18 A.D.) flanks narrow-necked amphora with scroll handles. * Numismatic Note: Julia is Julia Augusta, otherwise known as Livia, the mother of emperor Tiberius. After banishing Herod Archealaus in 6 A.D., Rome wound up creating the governors for the province of Judaea until about 66 A.D. The governors usually came from the Roman class of Knights, whom held fewer privilages than the senate class. The governors overall had the power to levy the taxes on behalf of Rome and enrich themselves doing so. This wound up sowing the seeds of resentment among the Jewish community and leading up to the Jewish Roman War. The coins of the governors (called prefects until time of Claudius and procurators from then on) had struck coins with the names of the emperors and their families. The governors held lived in Caesarea Maritima and usually came to Jerusalem only in times of great festivals when a lot of pilgrims would arrive there. You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity. Valerius Gratus was the Roman Prefect of Iudaea province under Tiberius from 15 to 26 AD. He succeeded Annius Rufus and was replaced by Pontius Pilate . The government of Gratus is chiefly remarkable for the frequent changes he made in the appointment of the high-priesthood . He deposed Ananus , and substituted Ismael, son of Fabi , then Eleazar, son of Arianus, then Simon, son of Camith, and lastly Joseph Caiaphas , the son-in-law of Ananus. In popular culture In the book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ and its derived films, Gratus is almost killed by a tile which is accidentally dropped by Judah Ben-Hur, which prompts all subsequent events of the story. In the novel Gratus is portrayed as a corrupt governor who acted against the Jews by removing the rightful head priest of the Temple, Hannas, and replacing him with a Roman puppet, Ishmael. Livia Drusilla, (Classical Latin: LIVIA•DRVSILLA, LIVIA•AVGVSTA) (58 BC–AD 29), after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his advisor. She was the mother of the Emperor Tiberius , paternal grandmother of the Emperor Claudius , paternal great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula , and maternal great-great grandmother of the Emperor Nero . She was deified by Claudius who acknowledged her title of Augusta . Birth and first marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero She was born on 30 January 59 or 58 BC as the daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus by his wife Aufidia , a daughter of the magistrate Marcus Aufidius Lurco . The diminutive Drusilla often found in her name suggests that she was a second daughter. Marcus Livius Drusus was her brother. She was probably married in 43 BC. Her first child, the future Emperor Tiberius, was born in 42 BC. Her father married her to Tiberius Claudius Nero , her cousin of patrician status who was fighting with him on the side of Julius Caesar 's assassins against Octavian. Her father committed suicide in the Battle of Philippi , along with Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus , but her husband continued fighting against Octavian, now on behalf of Mark Antony and his brother . In 40 BC, the family was forced to flee Italy in order to avoid Octavian's proscriptions and joined with Sextus Pompeius in Sicily , later moving on to Greece . Wife of Augustus A general amnesty was announced, and Livia returned to Rome, where she was personally introduced to Octavian in 39 BC. At this time, Livia already had a son, the future emperor Tiberius , and was pregnant with the second, Nero Claudius Drusus (also known as Drusus the Elder). Legend said that Octavian fell immediately in love with her, despite the fact that he was still married to Scribonia . Octavian divorced Scribonia in 39 BC, on the very day that she gave birth to his daughter Julia the Elder (Cassius Dio). Seemingly around that time, when Livia was six months pregnant, Tiberius Claudius Nero was persuaded or forced by Octavian to divorce Livia. On 14 January, the child was born. Octavian and Livia married on January 17, waiving the traditional waiting period. Tiberius Claudius Nero was present at the wedding, giving her in marriage "just as a father would." The importance of the patrician Claudii to Octavian's cause, and the political survival of the Claudii Nerones are probably more rational explanations for the tempestuous union. Nevertheless, Livia and Octavian remained married for the next 51 years, despite the fact that they had no children apart from a single miscarriage. She always enjoyed the status of privileged counselor to her husband, petitioning him on the behalf of others and influencing his policies, an unusual role for a Roman wife in a culture dominated by the paterfamilias . After Mark Antony 's suicide following the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, Octavian had removed all obstacles to his power and henceforth ruled as Emperor , from 27 BC on, under the honorary title Augustus. He and Livia formed the role model for Roman households. Despite their wealth and power, Augustus's family continued to live modestly in their house on the Palatine Hill . Livia would set the pattern for the noble Roman matrona . She wore neither excessive jewelry nor pretentious costumes, she took care of the household and her husband (often making his clothes herself), always faithful and dedicated. In 35 BC Octavian gave Livia the unprecedented honour of ruling her own finances and dedicated a public statue to her. She had her own circle of clients and pushed many protégés into political offices, including the grandfathers of the later emperors Galba and Otho. With Augustus being the father of only one daughter (Julia the Elder by Scribonia), Livia revealed herself to be an ambitious mother and soon started to push her own sons Tiberius and Nero Claudius Drusus into power. Drusus was a trusted general and married Augustus's favourite niece, Antonia Minor , and had three children: the popular general Germanicus , Livilla , and the Emperor Claudius . Tiberius married Augustus' daughter Julia the Elder in 11 BC and was ultimately adopted by his stepfather in 4 BC and named as Augustus' heir. Rumor had it that when Marcellus , nephew of Augustus, died in 23 BC, it was no natural death, and that Livia was behind it.[9] After the two elder sons of Julia by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa , whom Augustus had adopted as sons and successors, had died, the one remaining son Agrippa Postumus was incarcerated and finally killed. Tacitus charges that Livia was not altogether innocent of these deaths and Cassius Dio also mentions such rumours, but not even the gossipmonger Suetonius , who had access to official documents, repeats them. Most modern historical accounts of Livia's life discount the idea. There are also rumors mentioned by Tacitus and Cassius Dio that Livia brought about Augustus' death by poisoning fresh figs. Augustus' granddaughter was Julia the Younger . Sometime between 1 and 14, her husband Paullus was executed as a conspirator in a revolt. Modern historians theorize that Julia's exile was not actually for adultery but for involvement in Paulus' revolt. Livia Drusilla plotted against her stepdaughter's family and ruined them. This led to open compassion for the fallen family. Julia died in 29 AD on the same island where she had been sent in exile twenty years earlier. Life after Augustus, Death, and Aftermath Augustus died in AD 14, being deified by the senate shortly afterwards. In his will, he left one third of his property to Livia, and the other two thirds to Tiberius . In the will, he also adopted her into the Julian family and granted her the honorific title of Augusta . These dispositions permitted Livia to maintain her status and power after his death, under the new name of Julia Augusta. For some time, Livia and her son Tiberius, the new Emperor, appeared to get along with each other. Speaking against her became treason in AD 20, and in AD 24 he granted his mother a theatre seat among the Vestal Virgins . Livia exercised unofficial but very real power in Rome. Eventually, Tiberius became resentful of his mother's political status, particularly against the idea that it was she who had given him the throne. At the beginning of the reign he vetoed the unprecedented title Mater Patriae ("Mother of the Fatherland") that the Senate wanted to bestow upon her, in the same manner in which Augustus had been named Pater Patriae ("Father of the Fatherland"). (Tiberius also consistently refused the title of Pater Patriae for himself.) The historians Tacitus and Cassius Dio depict an overweening, even domineering dowager, ready to interfere in Tiberius’ decisions, the most notable instances being the case of Urgulania (grandmother of Claudius's first wife Plautia Urgulanilla ), a woman who correctly assumed that her friendship with the empress placed her above the law, and Munatia Plancina , suspected of murdering Germanicus and saved at Livia’s entreaty. (Plancina committed suicide in 33 AD after being accused again of murder after Livia's death). A notice from AD 22 records that Julia Augusta (Livia) dedicated a statue to Augustus in the centre of Rome, placing her own name even before that of Tiberius. Ancient historians give as a reason for Tiberius’ retirement to Capri his inability to endure her any longer. Until AD 22 there had, according to Tacitus, been "a genuine harmony between mother and son, or a hatred well concealed;" Dio tells us that at the time of his accession already Tiberius heartily loathed her. In AD 22 she had fallen ill, and Tiberius had hastened back to Rome in order to be with her. But in AD 29 when she finally fell ill and died, he remained on Capri, pleading pressure of work and sending Caligula to deliver the funeral oration. Suetonius adds the macabre detail that "when she died... after a delay of several days, during which he held out hope of his coming, [she was at last] buried because the condition of the corpse made it necessary...". Divine honours he also vetoed, stating that this was in accord with her own instructions. Later he vetoed all the honours the Senate had granted her after her death and canceled the fulfillment of her will. It was not until 13 years later, in AD 42 during the reign of her grandson Claudius , that all her honours were restored and her deification finally completed. She was named Diva Augusta (The Divine Augusta), and an elephant-drawn chariot conveyed her image to all public games. A statue of her was set up in the temple of Augustus along with her husband's, races were held in her honour, and women were to invoke her name in their sacred oaths. In 410 AD during the Sack of Rome (410) her ashes were scattered when Augustus' tomb was sacked. Her Villa ad Gallinas Albas north of Rome is currently being excavated; its famous frescoes of imaginary garden views may be seen at National Museum of Rome . One of the most famous statues of Augustus (the Augustus of Prima Porta ) came from the grounds of the villa. Livia's personality While reporting various unsavoury hearsay, the ancient sources generally portray Livia (Julia Augusta) as a woman of proud and queenly attributes, faithful to her imperial husband, for whom she was a worthy consort, forever poised and dignified. With consummate skill she acted out the roles of consort, mother, widow and dowager. Dio records two of her utterances: "Once, when some naked men met her and were to be put to death in consequence, she saved their lives by saying that to a chaste woman such men are in no way different from statues. When someone asked her how she had obtained such a commanding influence over Augustus, she answered that it was by being scrupulously chaste herself, doing gladly whatever pleased him, not meddling with any of his affairs, and, in particular, by pretending neither to hear nor to notice the favourites of his passion." With time, however, and widowhood, a haughtiness and an overt craving for power and the outward trappings of status came increasingly to the fore. Livia had always been a principal beneficiary of the climate of adulation that Augustus had done so much to create, and which Tiberius despised ("a strong contempt for honours", Tacitus, Annals 4.37). In AD 24, typically, whenever she attended the theatre, a seat among the Vestals was reserved for her (Annals 4.16), and this may have been intended more as an honour for the Vestals than for her (cf. Ovid, Tristia, 4.2.13f, Epist.Ex Ponto 4.13.29f). Livia played a vital role in the formation of her children Tiberius and Drusus. Attention focuses on her part in the divorce of her first husband, father of Tiberius, in 39/38 BC. It would be interesting to know her role in this, as well as in Tiberius’ divorce of Vipsania Agrippina in 12 BC at Augustus' insistence: whether it was merely neutral or passive, or whether she actively colluded in Caesar’s wishes. The first divorce left Tiberius a fosterchild at the house of Octavian; the second left Tiberius with a lasting emotional scar, since he had been forced to abandon the woman he loved for dynastic considerations. Judea (Hebrew: יהודה, Standard Yehuda Tiberian Yehûḏāh; Arabic : يهودا; Greek : Ἰουδαία; Latin : IVDAEA), sometimes spelled in its original Latin forms of Judæa, Judaea or Iudaea to distinguish it from Judea proper, is a term used by historians to refer to the Roman province that incorporated the geographical regions of Judea , Samaria , and Idumea , and which extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel. It was named after Herod Archelaus 's Tetrarchy of Judea , of which it was an expansion, the latter name deriving from the Kingdom of Judah of the 6th century BCE. Rome's involvement in the area dated from 63 BCE, following the end of the Third Mithridatic War , when Rome made Syria a province. In that year, after the defeat of Mithridates VI of Pontus , the proconsul Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) sacked Jerusalem and entered the Jerusalem Temple . Subsequently, during the 1st century BCE, the Herodian Kingdom was established as a Roman client kingdom and then in 6 CE parts became a province of the Roman Empire Judea province was the scene of unrest at its founding during the Census of Quirinius and several wars were fought in its history, known as the Jewish-Roman wars . The Temple was destroyed in 70 as part of the Great Jewish Revolt resulting in the institution of the Fiscus Judaicus , and after Bar Kokhba's revolt (132–135 CE), the Roman Emperor Hadrian changed the name of the province to Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina , which certain scholars conclude was done in an attempt to remove the relationship of the Jewish people to the region. Relations with Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties Pompey in the Temple of Jerusalemm, by Jean Fouquet The first intervention of Rome in the region dates from 63 BCE, following the end of the Third Mithridatic War , when Rome made a province of Syria . After the defeat of Mithridates VI of Pontus , Pompey (Pompey the Great) remained there to secure the area. The region at the time was not a peaceful place. The Queen of Judaea Salome Alexandra had recently died and her sons, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II , divided against each other in a civil war. In 63 BCE, Aristobulus was besieged in Jerusalem by his brother's armies. He sent an envoy to Marcus Aemilius Scaurus , Pompey's representative in the area. Aristobulus offered a massive bribe to be rescued, which Pompey promptly accepted. Afterwards, Aristobulus accused Scaurus of extortion. Since Scaurus was Pompey's brother in law and protégée, the general retaliated by putting Hyrcanus in charge of the kingdom as Ethnarch and High Priest , but he was denied the title of King. When Pompey was defeated by Julius Caesar , Hyrcanus was succeeded by his courtier Antipater the Idumaean , also known as Antipas, as the first Roman Procurator . In 57–55 BCE, Aulus Gabinius , proconsul of Syria , split the former Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel into five districts of the Sanhedrin . Both Caesar and Antipater were killed in 44 BCE, and the Idumean Herod the Great , Antipater's son, was designated "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate in 40 BCE. He didn't gain military control until 37 BCE. During his reign the last representatives of the Maccabees were eliminated, and the great port of Caesarea Maritima was built. He died in 4 BCE, and his kingdom was divided among his sons, who became tetrarchs ("rulers of a quarter part"). One of these quarters was Judea corresponding to the region of the ancient Kingdom of Judah. Herod's son Herod Archelaus , ruled Judea so badly that he was dismissed in 6 CE by the Roman emperor Augustus , after an appeal from his own population. Another, Herod Antipas , ruled as tetrarch of Galilee and Perea from 4 BCE to 39 CE, being then dismissed by Caligula . Judea as Roman province The Roman empire in the time of Hadrian (ruled 117–138 CE), showing, in western Asia, the Roman province of Iudaea. 1 legion deployed in 125. Part of a series on the Israel History of Ancient Israel and Judah Prehistory Hebrews Israelites United monarchy Northern Kingdom Kingdom of Judah Babylonian rule Persian rule Hasmonean dynasty Rome Byzantium Herodian kingdom Tetrarchy Roman Judea Syria Palaestina Palaestina Prima Palaestina Secunda Jewish-Sasanian commonwealth Caliphate Crusades Jund Filastin Jund al-Urdunn Kingdom of Jerusalem Ayyubid dynasty Mongol invasions Mamluk Sultanate Ottoman rule (Mutasarrifate) Zionism State of Israel Old Yishuv Aliyah British Mandate Independence Arab–Israeli conflict Timeline Years Topics Jews and Judaism in the Land of Israel Jewish leaders (Prime Ministers) Jerusalem Israeli nationality Israel Defense Forces LGBT Related Jewish history Hebrew calendar Archaeology Museums Israel portal v t e In 6 CE Judea became part of a larger Roman province, called Iudaea, which was formed by combining Judea proper (biblical Judah ) with Samaria and Idumea (biblical Edom). Even though Iudaea is simply derived from the Latin for Judea, many historians use it to distinguish the Roman province from the previous territory and history. Iudaea province did not include Galilee , Gaulanitis (the Golan), nor Peraea or the Decapolis . Its revenue was of little importance to the Roman treasury, but it controlled the land and coastal sea routes to the bread basket Egypt and was a border province against the Parthian Empire because of the Jewish connections to Babylonia (since the Babylonian exile ). The capital was at Caesarea , not Jerusalem , which had been the capital for King David , King Hezekiah , King Josiah , the Maccabees and Herod the Great . Quirinius became Legate (Governor) of Syria and conducted the first Roman tax census of Syria and Iudaea , which was opposed by the Zealots . Iudaea was not a Senatorial province , nor exactly an Imperial province , but instead was a "satellite of Syria" governed by a prefect who was a knight of the equestrian order (as was Roman Egypt ), not a former consul or praetor of senatorial rank . Pontius Pilate was one of these prefects, from 26 to 36 CE. Caiaphas was one of the appointed High Priests of Herod's Temple , being appointed by the Prefect Valerius Gratus in 18. Both were deposed by the Syrian Legate Lucius Vitellius in 36 CE. The 'Crisis under Caligula ' (37–41) has been proposed as the first open break between Rome and the Jews. Between 41 and 44 CE, Iudaea regained its nominal autonomy , when Herod Agrippa was made King of the Jews by the emperor Claudius , thus in a sense restoring the Herodian Dynasty, though there is no indication Iudaea ceased to be a Roman province simply because it no longer had a prefect. Claudius had decided to allow, across the empire, procurators , who had been personal agents to the Emperor often serving as provincial tax and finance ministers, to be elevated to governing magistrates with full state authority to keep the peace. He elevated Iudaeas's procurator whom he trusted to imperial governing status because the imperial legate of Syria was not sympathetic to the Judeans. Following Agrippa's death in 44 CE, the province returned to direct Roman control for a short period. Agrippa's son Marcus Julius Agrippa was designated King of the Jews in 48. He was the seventh and last of the Herodians . From 70 CE until 135 CE, Iudaea's rebelliousness required a governing Roman legate capable of commanding legions. Because Agrippa II maintained loyalty to the Empire, the Kingdom was retained until he died, either in 93/94 or 100, when the area returned to complete, undivided Roman Empire control. Judaea was the stage of three major rebellions against Roman rule : 66–70 CE - first rebellion, followed by the destruction of Herod's Temple and the siege of Jerusalem (see Great Jewish Revolt , Josephus ) 115–117 CE - second rebellion, called Kitos War 132–135 CE - third rebellion, Bar Kokhba's revolt Following the suppression of Bar Kokhba's revolt, the emperor Hadrian changed the name of the province to Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem became Aelia Capitolina which Hayim Hillel Ben-Sasson states was done to erase the historical ties of the Jewish people to the region. Under Diocletian (284-305) the region was divided into Palaestina Prima (Judea, Samaria, Idumea, Peraea and the coastal plain with Caesarea as capital), Palaestina Secunda (Galilee, Decapolis, Golan with Beth-shean as capital) and Palaestina Tertia (the Negev with Petra as capital). List of Governors (AD 6–135) Name Reign Length of rule Category Coponius 6–9 3 Roman Prefect Marcus Ambivulus 9–12 3 Roman Prefect Annius Rufus 12–15 3 Roman Prefect Valerius Gratus 15–26 11 Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate 26–36 10 Roman Prefect Marcellus 36–37 1 Roman Prefect Marullus 37–41 4 Roman Prefect Agrippa I 41–44 3 King of Judaea Cuspius Fadus 44–46 2 Roman Procurator Tiberius Julius Alexander 46–48 2 Roman Procurator Ventidius Cumanus 48–52 4 Roman Procurator Marcus Antonius Felix 52–60 8 Roman Procurator Porcius Festus 60–62 2 Roman Procurator Lucceius Albinus 62–64 2 Roman Procurator Gessius Florus 64–66 2 Roman Procurator Marcus Antonius Julianus 66–70 (dates uncertain) 4 Roman Procurator Sextus Vettulenus Cerialis 70–71 1 Roman Legate Lucilius Bassus 71–72 1 Roman Legate Lucius Flavius Silva 72–81 9 Roman Legate M. Salvidenus 80–85 5 Roman Legate Cnaeus Pompeius Longinus c.86 1 Roman Legate Sextus Hermetidius Campanus c.93 1 Roman Legate Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes 99–102 3 Roman Legate Gaius Julius Quadratus Bassus 102–104 2 Roman Legate Quintus Pompeius Falco 105–107 2 Roman Legate Tiberianus 114–117 3 Roman Legate Lusius Quietus 117-120 3 Roman Legate Lucius Cossonius Gallus 120 1 Roman Legate Quintus Tineius Rufus 132–135 3 Roman Legate Sextus Julius Severus c.135 1 Roman Legate See also Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC) Frequently Asked Questionsions How long until my order is shipped? Depending on the volume of sales, it may take up to 5 business days for shipment of your order after the receipt of payment. How will I know when the order was shipped? After your order has shipped, you will be left positive feedback, and that date should be used as a basis of estimating an arrival date. After you shipped the order, how long will the mail take? 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