page_title: Gaius Julius Vindex
hierarchical_section_title: Gaius Julius Vindex
caption_attribution_description: English: A silver and copper-alloy Roman coin. A probable contemporary forgery of a denarius issued by Vindex of Gaul at the time of his rebellion against Nero. The official coin was minted in AD 68 between early March, when Vindex rebelled against Nero's regime, and May, when his rebellion was crushed by Verginius Rufus (Sutherland, p. 198). The coin has patches of green corrosion suggesting that it is comprised of a silver plated copper core. It measures 17.3mm diameter by 1.4mm thick and weighs 2.8g.
context_page_description: Gaius Julius Vindex, of a noble Gallic family of Aquitania given senatorial status under Claudius, was a Roman governor in the province of Gallia Lugdunensis. In either late 67 or early 68, he rebelled against Emperor Nero. Though the aims of his followers may have been more complex, Vindex, as a senator, probably had the aim simply of replacing Nero with a better emperor. According to the historian Cassius Dio, Vindex "was powerful in body and of shrewd intelligence, was skilled in warfare and full of daring for any great enterprise; and he had a passionate love of freedom and a vast ambition". In order to gain support, he declared his allegiance to the then governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, Servius Sulpicius Galba, as the new emperor, but the commander of the Germania Superior army, Lucius Verginius Rufus advanced against him. The battle between their two forces took place near Vesontio. What occurred then is unclear, but, despite a meeting between Verginius and Vindex, the forces under Verginius seem to have decided on a battle without orders. Desire for plunder and the weakness of Verginius as a commander are possible explanations.
context_section_description: Gaius Julius Vindex (born ca. AD 25; died AD 68), of a noble Gallic family of Aquitania given senatorial status under Claudius, was a Roman governor in the province of Gallia Lugdunensis.  In either late 67 or early 68, he rebelled against Emperor Nero. Though the aims of his followers may have been more complex, Vindex, as a senator, probably had the aim simply of replacing Nero with a better emperor. According to the historian Cassius Dio, Vindex "was powerful in body and of shrewd intelligence, was skilled in warfare and full of daring for any great enterprise; and he had a passionate love of freedom and a vast ambition". In order to gain support, he declared his allegiance to the then governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, Servius Sulpicius Galba, as the new emperor, but the commander of the Germania Superior army, Lucius Verginius Rufus advanced against him.  The battle between their two forces took place near  Vesontio (modern Besançon).  What occurred then is unclear, but, despite a meeting between Verginius and Vindex, the forces under Verginius seem to have decided on a battle without orders. Desire for plunder and the weakness of Verginius as a commander are possible explanations. Vindex was defeated in the resulting battle  and committed suicide. 
  By June 68, military support for Galba led to Nero committing suicide. Galba, acclaimed by the Senate, struck coins to commemorate Vindex, to whom he owed his position as emperor.
  Following normal Roman procedures, his name Gaius Julius indicated that his family had likely been given citizenship under Gaius Julius Caesar, or perhaps Emperor Augustus or Caligula.
caption: a forged denarius of Vindex, minted in AD 68, around the time of his rebellion.
exif: {"Image Tag 0x000B": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "118", "Image YResolution": "118", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Centimeter", "Image Software": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image DateTime": "2020:01:05 14:21:44", "Image ExifOffset": "2294", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4592", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9307", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2020:01:05 14:18:15", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2020:01:05 14:18:15", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "44", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "44", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "477", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "305", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}