Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath

A Roman bronze sestertius: the obverse shows the emperor's laureate head with his name and titles, the reverse a four-line legend inside an oak wreath. The legend has the Senate and People of Rome, and the title Father of the Fatherland, credit the ruler with saving the citizens; the wreath borrows the civic crown that the Senate had given Augustus, and the SPQR formula puts the Senate's name on a message the ruler's mint issued.

Date: 0037
Period: Pre-1914
Made by: Roman imperial mint at Rome, under Emperor Gaius (Caligula) and the Senate
Region: Western and Central Europe
Country: Roman Empire
Medium: Banknotes and coins
Issuer type: State
Regime: Roman Principate
Leader: Gaius Caligula
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Persuade or win support
Theme: Elections and party politics
Techniques: Testimonial Transfer
Source: Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access), retrieved September 29, 2026
Rights: Public domain (The Met Open Access, CC0; isPublicDomain true in the Met API; object about 2,000 years old)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Joseph H. Durkee, 1899 (99.35.448), Open Access

Text on the object

Original (Latin) · read from the image, not independently checked

Obverse (clockwise from lower left): C·CAESAR·AVG·GERMANICVS·PON·M·TR·POT

Reverse (in wreath): S·P·Q·R
P·P
OB·CIVES
SERVATOS

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

Obverse: Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Pontifex Maximus, holding tribunician power.

Reverse: The Senate and People of Rome, to the Father of the Fatherland, for saving the citizens.

The two P letters on the reverse are stylised and read P P (Pater Patriae). Word-dots are as struck. The translation expands standard abbreviations.