Obverse: IMP CAES DOMITIANVS AVG PM;
Laureate Bust of the Emperor Facing
Right
Reverse: TR P COS VII DES VIII PP; A
Tripod with a Dolphin Above
Domitian was the younger son of the
emperor Vespasian. Although his older
brother Titus occupied the throne from
A.D. 79 to 81, while Domitian was
growing up, he was not given any real
political power. Because of this,
Domitian always felt a certain amount of
resentment towards his elder brother,
spurring the rumors that Domitian
poisoned Titus, although these are
generally believed to be false. Like
Tiberius and Caligula before him,
Domitian sought to be absolute ruler. He
scandalized the Senate and the rest of
the Roman aristocracy by having statues
of himself erected and by insisting that
people refer to him as "Lord and God.”
The Senate grew to loathe and fear
Domitian, hatching numerous plots
against his life, and he, in turn,
became increasingly suspicious towards
them. In the last three or four years of
Domitian’s reign, the senators lived in
fear of their lives, reaping the fruit
of their conspiracies. In the end, it
would be this backstabbing and mistrust
on both sides that would doom Domitian.
In 95, he eliminated his two praetorian
prefects. The two men who replaced them,
Petronius Secundus and Norbanus, fearing
that they too would soon be eliminated,
decided to form a successful conspiracy
to assassinate Domitian.
How many hands have touched a coin in
your pocket or purse? What eras and
lands have the coin traversed on its
journey into our possession? As we reach
into our pockets to pull out some
change, we rarely hesitate to think of
who might have touched the coin before
us, or where the coin will venture to
after it leaves our hands. More than
money, coins are a symbol of the state
that struck them, of a specific time and
location, whether contemporary
currencies or artifacts of a long
forgotten empire. This stunning hand-
struck coin reveals an expertise of
craftsmanship and intricate sculptural
detail that is often lacking in
contemporary machine-made currencies.
This ancient coin is a memorial an
emperor’s reign passed from the hands of
civilization to civilization, from
generation to generation that still
appears as vibrant today as the day it
was struck.
- (C.4586)
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