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Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XI  7 April 2016
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Lot 782

Estimate: 20 000 GBP
Price realized: 24 000 GBP
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Vespasian AV Aureus. Rome, AD 73. IMP CAES VESP AVG CEN, laureate head right / VESTA, domed tetrastyle Temple of Vesta, containing statue of Vesta holding [patera] and sceptre; temple flanked by two further statues. RIC 515; Calicó 690a (same obv. die). 7.12g, 20mm, 1h.

Good Extremely Fine - Near Mint State. Well struck on sound, lustrous metal. Rare.

The original Temple of Vesta is believed to have been built by Numa Pompilius along with the original Regia and House of the Vestal Virgins, though the site had already been the centre of the cult's activity since the 7th century. The temple was the storehouse for the legal wills and documents of Roman Senators and relics such as the Palladium. Popular superstition held that the sacred fire of Vesta contained within was closely tied to the fortunes of the city, and its extinction was viewed as a portent of disaster. One of the earliest structures located in the Roman Forum, it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt several times. The present depiction is that of Nero's restoration after the Great Fire of AD 64.

The appearance of the temple as a type on the coinage of Vespasian is likely linked to the seriousness with which he took the role of Pontifex Maximus, head of Roman religion, a position which he assumed in 71 and which was followed by an explosion in types related to religion on the coinage. It is also appropriate that the founding emperor of the Flavian Dynasty should use the temple sacred to the goddess of hearth, home and family in Roman religion on his coinage. It is perhaps a little ironic however, that while commemorating the temple built by Nero to replace that lost in the Great Fire, Vespasian had recently begun work building the Flavian Amphitheatre, or Colosseum. This lasting monument to the Flavian Dynasty stands over part of the large central area of Rome that Nero appropriated after the fire to build the lavish and extravagant Domus Aurea palace within, and was a symbolic act for Vespasian to be returning part of the city of Rome to her people.
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