Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXIII 24-25 Mar 2022
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Domitian AV Aureus. Rome, AD 87. IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P VI, laureate head to right / IMP XIIII COS XIII CENS P P P, female German captive seated on shield to right in attitude of mourning; broken spear below. RIC II.1 513 (R2); C. -; BMCRE -; Calicó 882. 7.62g, 20mm, 6h.
Extremely Fine; light traces of mounting and marks, an excellent example, with wonderful reverse detail. Previously graded Ch XF, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 3/5, Fine Style, edge filed (#4282739-003). Very Rare.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 120, 6 October 2020, lot 738;
Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XXIII, 14 January 2020, lot 711;
Ex Leu Numismatik AG, Auction 2, 11 May 2018, lot 248;
Ex cgb.fr, e-Monnaies March 2017, lot 68.
This beautiful issue was struck in commemoration of Domitian's campaigns against the Chatti in Germany in AD 83. At Domitian's accession following the death of both his father and brother, Domitian was keen to accrue military victories of his own. Much of his career had been spent performing a purely ceremonial role in the governance of the provinces, and his lust for glory following his father and brother's impressive military victories was noted by Suetonius, as he explains he "...planned a quite unnecessary expedition into Gaul and Germany, from which his father's friends managed to dissuade him".
Domitian's pathological need to prove himself and equal his familial predecessors' achievements is perhaps understandable given the shadow of reflected glory he had lived in all his life; the new emperor's opportunity presented itself when the Chatti, a German tribe, invaded Roman territory in the area of modern Mayence. By AD 83/84 Domitian had successfully dealt with the incursion and for his victory, a distinction he had long been craving, Domitian staged a triumphal entry to the capital with pomp and splendour. He also granted himself the title of 'Germanicus' (see Jones, The Emperor Domitian, p. 128-131), he renamed the month of September 'Germanicus' and from the year AD 85 he began minting coins with the legend GERMANIA CAPTA, an echo of the magnificent triumphal celebrations of AD 71, when Vespasian and Titus returned to Rome following the pacification of Judea.
It was in this context that the present aureus was struck. Encompassed by the emperor's new title 'Germanicus' and the formula denoting his consulship for the fourteenth time sits a figure with her head bowed, resting in her hand, the personification of Germania - mourning. Soft drapery falls over Germania's lap as she sits beside an ornate hexagonal shield that could not withstand the might of the Roman forces and a spear, broken in the middle and rendered unusable. The pathos of this scene is reminiscent of the sculpture now generally referred to as the Dying Gaul and housed in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.
However, doubt is cast on the validity of Domitian's success against the Chatti by Suetonius, who deemed the campaign 'unjustified' (Suetonius, Life of Domitian 6) and Tacitus in his 'Agricola'. Though perhaps somewhat biased as Tacitus was writing about the life of his father-in-law, when discussing his successes in Britain he mentions that "Domitian heard, as was his wont, with joy in his face but anxiety in his heart. He felt conscious that all men laughed at his late mock triumph over Germany, for which there had been purchased from traders people whose dress and hair might be made to resemble those of captives, whereas now a real and splendid victory, with the destruction of thousands of the enemy, was being celebrated with just applause." These writers saw the campaign and the proceeding celebrations as extravagant beyond reason. To them it seemed a construction to overshadow the glory granted to Vespasian and Titus, considering the very small territorial gain the campaign resulted in and the fact that neither Vespasian nor Titus took the title 'Iudaicus' following their victories in Judea (Jones, The Emperor Domitian, p. 129).
Yet despite being wrapped up in a programme of self-aggrandizement the campaign was in itself significant and had a lasting historical impact, not so much for the territory gained than for the measures taken to secure this territory in the future. With his victory over the Chatti, Domitian laid the foundations for a new system of securing the Roman frontiers in Germany, which resulted in the Limes: a series of watch towers, signal stations and a network of roads with which the borders of the empire could be rapidly reinforced and defended.
Extremely Fine; light traces of mounting and marks, an excellent example, with wonderful reverse detail. Previously graded Ch XF, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 3/5, Fine Style, edge filed (#4282739-003). Very Rare.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 120, 6 October 2020, lot 738;
Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XXIII, 14 January 2020, lot 711;
Ex Leu Numismatik AG, Auction 2, 11 May 2018, lot 248;
Ex cgb.fr, e-Monnaies March 2017, lot 68.
This beautiful issue was struck in commemoration of Domitian's campaigns against the Chatti in Germany in AD 83. At Domitian's accession following the death of both his father and brother, Domitian was keen to accrue military victories of his own. Much of his career had been spent performing a purely ceremonial role in the governance of the provinces, and his lust for glory following his father and brother's impressive military victories was noted by Suetonius, as he explains he "...planned a quite unnecessary expedition into Gaul and Germany, from which his father's friends managed to dissuade him".
Domitian's pathological need to prove himself and equal his familial predecessors' achievements is perhaps understandable given the shadow of reflected glory he had lived in all his life; the new emperor's opportunity presented itself when the Chatti, a German tribe, invaded Roman territory in the area of modern Mayence. By AD 83/84 Domitian had successfully dealt with the incursion and for his victory, a distinction he had long been craving, Domitian staged a triumphal entry to the capital with pomp and splendour. He also granted himself the title of 'Germanicus' (see Jones, The Emperor Domitian, p. 128-131), he renamed the month of September 'Germanicus' and from the year AD 85 he began minting coins with the legend GERMANIA CAPTA, an echo of the magnificent triumphal celebrations of AD 71, when Vespasian and Titus returned to Rome following the pacification of Judea.
It was in this context that the present aureus was struck. Encompassed by the emperor's new title 'Germanicus' and the formula denoting his consulship for the fourteenth time sits a figure with her head bowed, resting in her hand, the personification of Germania - mourning. Soft drapery falls over Germania's lap as she sits beside an ornate hexagonal shield that could not withstand the might of the Roman forces and a spear, broken in the middle and rendered unusable. The pathos of this scene is reminiscent of the sculpture now generally referred to as the Dying Gaul and housed in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.
However, doubt is cast on the validity of Domitian's success against the Chatti by Suetonius, who deemed the campaign 'unjustified' (Suetonius, Life of Domitian 6) and Tacitus in his 'Agricola'. Though perhaps somewhat biased as Tacitus was writing about the life of his father-in-law, when discussing his successes in Britain he mentions that "Domitian heard, as was his wont, with joy in his face but anxiety in his heart. He felt conscious that all men laughed at his late mock triumph over Germany, for which there had been purchased from traders people whose dress and hair might be made to resemble those of captives, whereas now a real and splendid victory, with the destruction of thousands of the enemy, was being celebrated with just applause." These writers saw the campaign and the proceeding celebrations as extravagant beyond reason. To them it seemed a construction to overshadow the glory granted to Vespasian and Titus, considering the very small territorial gain the campaign resulted in and the fact that neither Vespasian nor Titus took the title 'Iudaicus' following their victories in Judea (Jones, The Emperor Domitian, p. 129).
Yet despite being wrapped up in a programme of self-aggrandizement the campaign was in itself significant and had a lasting historical impact, not so much for the territory gained than for the measures taken to secure this territory in the future. With his victory over the Chatti, Domitian laid the foundations for a new system of securing the Roman frontiers in Germany, which resulted in the Limes: a series of watch towers, signal stations and a network of roads with which the borders of the empire could be rapidly reinforced and defended.