Nero aureus from Pompeii

History remembers Nero as a sinister, cruel and self-indulgent tyrant. Discontent came to a climax in 64 CE. This roman coin commemorates Nero’s perceived divine protection against the Pisonian Conspiracy, a revolt which nearly killed him. This aureus was part of the group found during the excavation of Pompeii, buried beneath the ash of Mt. Vesuvius for 1,800 years.