Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIII 23 March 2017
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Domitian AV Aureus. Rome, 1 January - 13 September AD 88. IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P VII, laureate head right / IMP XIIII COS XIIII CENS P P P, Germania, bare-chested but wearing drapery from the waist, seated to right in attitude of mourning upon Germanic hexagonal shield, a broken spear below her. RIC 586; BMC 125; Calicó 893. 6.64g, 19mm, 6h.
Very Fine. Attractive lustre. Extremely Rare; Calicó displays only a line drawing of the type.
This aureus belongs to an issue which was first struck in commemoration of Domitian's campaigns against the Chatti in Germany in AD 83, for which he celebrated a triumph and was hailed Germanicus, an honour which he had been craving. The reverse type of Germania that we see here became a standard type on the coinage of Domitian and continued to be used throughout the rest of his reign; it is likely that the Domitian was simply emulating the 'Judaea Capta' series of coinage begun by his father Vespasian, and it is hard to ignore the parallel between this display of military success and the celebration of the successful First Jewish War.
However, from the very outset it seems that commentators doubted the truth of Domitian's success against the Chatti and believed that his victory might have been exaggerated. Suetonius notes that before the campaign against the Chatti, the emperor had been dissuaded from a quite unnecessary expedition into Gaul and Germany", while Tacitus in his 'Agricola' states that Domitian "felt conscious that all men laughed at his late mock triumph over Germany". That the tribe had not been decimated in battle by Domitian is confirmed by their involvement in quelling the Revolt of Saturninus in AD 89, confirming the hints left by the ancient authors that the conquest of Germania was something of a sham. "
Very Fine. Attractive lustre. Extremely Rare; Calicó displays only a line drawing of the type.
This aureus belongs to an issue which was first struck in commemoration of Domitian's campaigns against the Chatti in Germany in AD 83, for which he celebrated a triumph and was hailed Germanicus, an honour which he had been craving. The reverse type of Germania that we see here became a standard type on the coinage of Domitian and continued to be used throughout the rest of his reign; it is likely that the Domitian was simply emulating the 'Judaea Capta' series of coinage begun by his father Vespasian, and it is hard to ignore the parallel between this display of military success and the celebration of the successful First Jewish War.
However, from the very outset it seems that commentators doubted the truth of Domitian's success against the Chatti and believed that his victory might have been exaggerated. Suetonius notes that before the campaign against the Chatti, the emperor had been dissuaded from a quite unnecessary expedition into Gaul and Germany", while Tacitus in his 'Agricola' states that Domitian "felt conscious that all men laughed at his late mock triumph over Germany". That the tribe had not been decimated in battle by Domitian is confirmed by their involvement in quelling the Revolt of Saturninus in AD 89, confirming the hints left by the ancient authors that the conquest of Germania was something of a sham. "