Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 146 8-9 May 2024
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Julia Titi, daughter of Titus.
Aureus 88-89 (?), AV 20 mm, 7.72 g. IVLIA – AVGVSTA Draped bust r., hair in dome at top of head and in plait falling at neck. Rev. DIVI TITI FILIA Peacock in splendour. C 6. BMC Domitian 250. RIC Domitian 683. CBN Domitian 220. Kent-Hirmer pl. 68-69, 241. Calicó 809.
Extremely rare. A wonderful portrait of excellent style,
minor marks, otherwise good very fine
This aureus is especially helpful for understanding Julia Titi's undefined position within the Flavian dynasty because its obverse attests to her holding the title of Augusta and its reverse promotes her as the "daughter of the divine Titus". Though Julia was an Augusta, she was secondary in importance to Domitia, the wife of her uncle Domitian, who was then the reigning emperor. Nonetheless, the future was brimming with hope for Julia, a woman who has come down to us in the historical tradition as less than scrupulous. She was young enough to hope for an elevation from her position of honour to one of actual authority, especially since she was having a secret affair with her uncle Domitian, who was childless and in a difficult marriage. In 83, not long after this coin was struck, Julia's prospects brightened considerably: Domitian exiled his wife and Julia could pursue her affair with Domitian more completely by living with him in the palace. This did not bode well for Julia's unfortunate husband, her second cousin Flavius Sabinus, who Domitian soon executed on an invented charge. The incestuous couple shared their lives until 90 or 91, when Julia died of a failed abortion attempt.
Aureus 88-89 (?), AV 20 mm, 7.72 g. IVLIA – AVGVSTA Draped bust r., hair in dome at top of head and in plait falling at neck. Rev. DIVI TITI FILIA Peacock in splendour. C 6. BMC Domitian 250. RIC Domitian 683. CBN Domitian 220. Kent-Hirmer pl. 68-69, 241. Calicó 809.
Extremely rare. A wonderful portrait of excellent style,
minor marks, otherwise good very fine
This aureus is especially helpful for understanding Julia Titi's undefined position within the Flavian dynasty because its obverse attests to her holding the title of Augusta and its reverse promotes her as the "daughter of the divine Titus". Though Julia was an Augusta, she was secondary in importance to Domitia, the wife of her uncle Domitian, who was then the reigning emperor. Nonetheless, the future was brimming with hope for Julia, a woman who has come down to us in the historical tradition as less than scrupulous. She was young enough to hope for an elevation from her position of honour to one of actual authority, especially since she was having a secret affair with her uncle Domitian, who was childless and in a difficult marriage. In 83, not long after this coin was struck, Julia's prospects brightened considerably: Domitian exiled his wife and Julia could pursue her affair with Domitian more completely by living with him in the palace. This did not bode well for Julia's unfortunate husband, her second cousin Flavius Sabinus, who Domitian soon executed on an invented charge. The incestuous couple shared their lives until 90 or 91, when Julia died of a failed abortion attempt.