Roman Empire Galba Rome Born Again

Struck from dies of excellent style, this issue easily ranks head and shoulders above the coins of the same reverse type minted at Tarraco, which indeed are also more frequently encountered. Heartened at the suicide of Nero and the news that the Praetorian prefect Nymphidius Sabinus had given him his support, Galba assumed the title of Caesar and left his provice of Hispania Tarraconensis to march on Rome. With the extinction of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and its associated excesses, Galba was keen to distance himself from his predecessors and suggest that under his reign, Rome would flourish in her rediscovered freedom.

He sought to improve the state of Rome’s finances and portray himself as ushering in a new golden age through a return to stern old Roman values. Galba’s legacy was however not to be one of a rebirth of the Roman state - his policies of high taxation and personal meanness made him thoroughly unpopular with the people and army alike; meanwhile his harsh treatment of the Praetorian guard and his refusal to pay the customary donative demonstrated an astounding lack of acumen, leading to his downfall and death a mere six months after his accession. ROMA RENASC - Roma Renascens: Rome rising again, or Rome reborn.