Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIV 21 Sep 2017
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Titus, as Caesar, AV Aureus. Rome, AD 77-78. T CAESAR IMP VESPASIANVS, laureate headt right / Roma, helmeted, seated right on two shields, left foot on helmet, holding spear before her; wolf standing right at her feet, head turned back, suckling Romulus and Remus; in left and right fields, two eagles flying towards her; COS VI in exergue. RIC 954; BMCRE 223; Calicó 738a. 7.21g, 20mm, 6h.
Good Extremely Fine.
The Flavians came to power after a year of civil war, vicious intrigue and three short-lived reigns which all ended in bloodshed. Vespasian and his son Titus thus sought to restore the security of the empire, and more importantly the confidence of the people in the office of emperor, by establishing a clear and peaceful succession through a strong father and son line, both of whom had proven themselves capable generals and administrators, that would renew belief in the eternity of Rome.
The revival of earlier reverse types was to be a feature of the coinage struck by the Flavian dynasty and Titus, along with his father Vespasian and brother Domitian, struck a series of coins which recalled types of the Republican and Augustan periods. Part of these issues, the present piece is particularly significant as it bears an unusual variant of the Roman foundation myth; the goddess Roma watching over the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, waiting patiently for the day that Rome will be built. Repeating a type seen on an anonymous Republican denarius of 115-114 BC (Crawford 287/1), this was the first such representation on an Imperial coin and is clearly used to symbolise the rebirth of Rome under the Flavians.
Good Extremely Fine.
The Flavians came to power after a year of civil war, vicious intrigue and three short-lived reigns which all ended in bloodshed. Vespasian and his son Titus thus sought to restore the security of the empire, and more importantly the confidence of the people in the office of emperor, by establishing a clear and peaceful succession through a strong father and son line, both of whom had proven themselves capable generals and administrators, that would renew belief in the eternity of Rome.
The revival of earlier reverse types was to be a feature of the coinage struck by the Flavian dynasty and Titus, along with his father Vespasian and brother Domitian, struck a series of coins which recalled types of the Republican and Augustan periods. Part of these issues, the present piece is particularly significant as it bears an unusual variant of the Roman foundation myth; the goddess Roma watching over the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, waiting patiently for the day that Rome will be built. Repeating a type seen on an anonymous Republican denarius of 115-114 BC (Crawford 287/1), this was the first such representation on an Imperial coin and is clearly used to symbolise the rebirth of Rome under the Flavians.