Watch List notes:

The Roman Empire
Domitian augustus, 81 – 96. Aureus, Roma 82, AV 7.81 g.

Description: IMP CAES DOMITINIANVS AVG P M Laureate head r. Rev. TR POT IMP II COS VIII DES IX P P Helmeted and cuirassed bust of Minerva l., with aegis, holding spear over r. shoulder.

References: C –
BMC –
RIC 140
CBN –
Calicó 938b
Condition:Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Perfectly struck and centred on a broad flan, good extremely fine
Provenance: UBS sale 78, 2008, 1578
Privately purchased from Münzhandlung Basel
Note: The emperor Domitian was a conscientious autocrat whose ruthless efficiency did not endear him to posterity. Born in 51 in Rome, his youth was spent mostly in the care of his uncle, the city prefect Titus Flavius Sabinus II, his mother and sister having died while he was very young, and his father, Vespasian, and brother, Titus, serving in Rome's legions. Thus, Domitian seems to have had only a distant relationship with his father and brother, and indeed Vespasian's elevation to the throne only brought his youngest son ceremonial honors rather than any administrate posts of significance. This overshadowing continued during the reign of Titus, but Titus' reign was short. After his death, Domitian was promptly acclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard.
Once Emperor, Domitian set about restoring the Roman Empire to the splendor of the Augustan era in all its finer aspects – culturally, economically, and militarily. The city of Rome had suffered devastating fires in 64 and again in 80, and had also declined during the upheaval of the Year of the Four Emperors (68-69). In an attempt to rectify these problems, Domitian set upon an ambitious building campaign, sponsored cultural events, and regulated public morals. He also rigidly enforced taxation, brooked no corruption from public officials, and revalued the denarius, increasing its purity from 90% to 98% silver. In military matters, Domitian campaigned in Germany, Britain, and along the Danube frontier, but he only did so with purpose and not wanton abandon; his measures were practical and efficient. In all these areas Domitian exercised absolute political power, having dispensed with any pretense that the Senate exercised power, which from a purely pragmatic perspective was probably quite sensible but in real terms was to have disastrous consequences as it led to such disaffection that he was eventually assassinated.
As part of Domitian's attempt to regulate public morality, he adhered to a traditional view of Roman religion and insisted that religious customs were scrupulously observed. His patron deity was the goddess Minerva, of whom he kept a personal shrine in his living quarters and who appeared regularly on his coinage, such as on the reverse of this wonderful aureus struck early in his reign.