Domitian, 81-96 Aureus Rome 90-91, AV 20.00 mm., 7.52 g.

Laureate head r. Rev. Minerva, helmeted and draped, standing l., holding thunderbolt and spear; at her l. side, shield. C 151. RIC 697. Calicó 841 (these dies).



Good very fine / very fine



Ex NAC sale 119, 2020, 42. Privately purchased from Moreno in 1984. This coin is sold with an export licence issued by the government of Spain.

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.