Bronze coin of Augustus and Agrippa, with pig's trotter appendage

Roman, AD 10-14
From Nîmes (Nemausus), France

The chained crocodile of Egypt

This coin was produced at the town of Colonia Nemausus, ancient Nîmes in the south of France, in about AD 10-14. The designs show Augustus, the first Roman emperor (reigned 31 BC - AD 14) on the right, with his general, Agrippa (died 12 BC). They are shown as victors of the great Roman civil war against Augustus' rival, Mark Antony and his lover, Cleopatra VII, queen of Egypt. The war was portrayed by the victors very much as a battle against 'foreign' domination, despite the involvement of the distinguished Roman, Mark Antony. To emphasize this, the crocodile is used to symbolize Egypt - chained to a palm tree to indicate its defeat and occupation by Rome.

This coin is certainly not a typical example of this issue as is has an appendage in the form of a pig's leg! Although we cannot be certain, peculiar coins such as these are likely to have been used for some form of religious offering.

T. Cornell and J. Matthews, Atlas of the Roman world (Phaidon, 1987)

A. Burnett, M. Amandry and P.P. Ripollès, Roman provincial coinage, vol. 1 (London, The British Museum Press, 1992)