Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIII 23 March 2017
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Titus, as Caesar, AV Aureus. Rome, AD 77-78. T CAESAR VESPASIANVS, laureate head right / ANNONA AVG, Annona seated to left on throne, holding cloth in lap with both hands, on which three grain ears. RIC 971; BMC 316; Calicó 726. 7.21g, 19mm, 5h.
Good Extremely Fine. Boldly struck on a broad flan.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 78, 26 May 2014, lot 898.
The reverse of this detailed aureus depicts the emperor's power to care for his people through the provision of grain, personified in the form of the goddess Annona. A type utilised by both Titus, his father Vespasian and his brother Domitian, it formed part of the propaganda campaign deployed by the nascent Flavian dynasty to restore confidence in the government of the Empire, specifically in relation to the continued grain supply required to feed the people of Rome. Indeed, early in his reign and before he had ever set foot in the city as emperor, Vespasian was required to quell protests and unrest in Alexandria brought about by the imposition of new taxation policies that had disrupted the regular grain shipments from Egypt.
However as emperor, Titus' reign was marred by catastrophic events beginning just two months after his accession the effects of which were far outside the scope of the Virtues which he claimed within his power. On the 24th August AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted over the Bay of Naples burying the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum in stone, lava and ash and killing thousands. A year later and whilst Titus was coordinating the relief effort and on his second visit to the southern coast of Italy, a fire broke out in Rome which burned for three days and nights which destroyed many important public buildings and areas of housing; in the poor living conditions of those whose houses had burned, disease broke out and brought further suffering and death to Rome. Titus himself died in 81, having only been emperor for a little over two years.
Good Extremely Fine. Boldly struck on a broad flan.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 78, 26 May 2014, lot 898.
The reverse of this detailed aureus depicts the emperor's power to care for his people through the provision of grain, personified in the form of the goddess Annona. A type utilised by both Titus, his father Vespasian and his brother Domitian, it formed part of the propaganda campaign deployed by the nascent Flavian dynasty to restore confidence in the government of the Empire, specifically in relation to the continued grain supply required to feed the people of Rome. Indeed, early in his reign and before he had ever set foot in the city as emperor, Vespasian was required to quell protests and unrest in Alexandria brought about by the imposition of new taxation policies that had disrupted the regular grain shipments from Egypt.
However as emperor, Titus' reign was marred by catastrophic events beginning just two months after his accession the effects of which were far outside the scope of the Virtues which he claimed within his power. On the 24th August AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted over the Bay of Naples burying the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum in stone, lava and ash and killing thousands. A year later and whilst Titus was coordinating the relief effort and on his second visit to the southern coast of Italy, a fire broke out in Rome which burned for three days and nights which destroyed many important public buildings and areas of housing; in the poor living conditions of those whose houses had burned, disease broke out and brought further suffering and death to Rome. Titus himself died in 81, having only been emperor for a little over two years.