Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Titus, as Caesar, Æ Sestertius. Rome, AD 72-73. T CAES VESP IMP PON TR POT COS II CENS, laureate head to right / Titus, holding branch in right hand and sceptre in left, standing in triumphal quadriga to right, chariot ornamented with Victory holding wreath; SC in exergue. RIC 611; C. 226; BMCRE 668; Hendin 1542; BN 671. 24.37g, 35mm, 6h.
About Good Very Fine; light corrosion spots, attractive 'Tiber' patina.
From the collection of Z.P., Austria.
The reverse of this sestertius commemorates the triumph celebrated by Vespasian and Titus for the Roman victory in the First Roman-Jewish War of AD 66-69. Father and son had campaigned alongside one another in the early stages of the conflict, before the death of Nero and the ensuing civil war forced Vespasian to leave the prosecution of the war in the hands of his son Titus while he returned to Rome to press him claim for the throne. The triumph over Judaea is considered one of most calamitous events in Jewish history due to the destructive nature of the Roman campaign which included the destructions of the Second Temple when the Romans re-took Jerusalem in AD 70. A great many towns and cities, including Yodfat, Gamla and Masada, sustained severe damage during their sieges or were deliberately torn down after their capture on the orders of Vespasian (Aviam, Making History: Josephus and Historical Method, 2007, pp. 372–384). Josephus estimates that over a million Jews died in Jerusalem alone, with nearly 100,000 enslaved with many times more displaced or fled to other areas around the Mediterranean.
About Good Very Fine; light corrosion spots, attractive 'Tiber' patina.
From the collection of Z.P., Austria.
The reverse of this sestertius commemorates the triumph celebrated by Vespasian and Titus for the Roman victory in the First Roman-Jewish War of AD 66-69. Father and son had campaigned alongside one another in the early stages of the conflict, before the death of Nero and the ensuing civil war forced Vespasian to leave the prosecution of the war in the hands of his son Titus while he returned to Rome to press him claim for the throne. The triumph over Judaea is considered one of most calamitous events in Jewish history due to the destructive nature of the Roman campaign which included the destructions of the Second Temple when the Romans re-took Jerusalem in AD 70. A great many towns and cities, including Yodfat, Gamla and Masada, sustained severe damage during their sieges or were deliberately torn down after their capture on the orders of Vespasian (Aviam, Making History: Josephus and Historical Method, 2007, pp. 372–384). Josephus estimates that over a million Jews died in Jerusalem alone, with nearly 100,000 enslaved with many times more displaced or fled to other areas around the Mediterranean.