Titus Denarius, RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 108

Monetary Context and Imperial Policy

Under the Flavian dynasty, the imperial denarius maintained its status as the principal silver denomination of the Mediterranean basin, anchoring standard state payments, military stipends, and fiscal receipts. Titus assumed sole rule in June AD 79 following the death of his father Vespasian, inheriting a stable monetary system that operated primarily on the silver alloy standard established by the monetary reform of Nero in AD 64. Although Nero had reduced the theoretical weight of the denarius to roughly 3.41 grams (one ninety-sixth of a Roman pound) and lowered the fineness to around eighty percent silver, the Flavian administration preserved these adjustments to sustain extensive post-civil war reconstruction projects across Rome and Italy. During Titus's brief reign of twenty-six months, the mint at Rome produced massive runs of precious-metal issues intended to finance extraordinary imperial expenditures. These outlays included reconstruction efforts in Campania following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, relief funds following the devastating fire in Rome in AD 80, and elaborate inaugural celebrations for the Colosseum (the Flavian Amphitheatre) and adjoining imperial baths. Within this fiscal framework, denarii such as RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 108 were struck in substantial quantities, providing liquid capital that circulated rapidly through urban markets and provincial economies while disseminating ideological messages connected to imperial munificence and piety.

Mint Organization and Production Standards

The issue RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 108 was produced exclusively at the primary imperial mint in Rome. By the beginning of Titus's sole reign, provincial silver mints that had been active during the civil wars and early reign of Vespasian, such as those in Antioch, Ephesus, or Lugdunum, had largely ceased regular denarius striking, concentrating western imperial silver operations at the capital. Production at the Rome mint utilized multi-officina divisions where teams of die-sinkers, planchet casters, and moneyers operated in structured shifts. Flavian planchets were cast in open or bivalve moulds, resulting in typical diameter spreads between 18 mm and 20 mm. The intended weight standard hovered between 3.20 and 3.40 grams, with modern metallurgical analyses indicating a median silver purity around 80 percent, balanced with copper. The striking process relied on heavy bronze or iron dies, with the lower die mounted in an anvil and the upper reverse die held manually and struck by hammer. Die alignment for Flavian silver of this period predominantly exhibits a vertical or semi-vertical orientation (around 6 o'clock or 12 o'clock), reflective of standardized die-case fittings used by the mint staff at Rome. The crisp execution of the curule chair and portrait modeling demonstrates the high technical proficiency characteristic of the central mint's engravers in this era.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 108 presents the head of Titus facing right, crowned with a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck with fluttering ribbons. The portrait reflects the mature Flavian dynastic style pioneered under Vespasian, intentionally breaking away from the idealized, youthful classicism of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The engravers depicted Titus with realistic, veristic facial features: a broad, square cranium, a prominent forehead, deeply set eyes under a furrowed brow, fleshy cheeks, and a heavy, muscular neck. This physiognomy conveyed the traditional Roman virtues of gravitas, severitas, and military readiness, emphasizing his proven capability as an experienced general and competent statesman. The laurel wreath served as an enduring symbol of military triumph and religious consecration, recalling his successful campaigns in Judaea as well as his shared triumphs alongside Vespasian. The portrait is framed by a continuous circular legend running clockwise from the lower left, enclosed by an outer border of fine dots. Die studies across surviving examples demonstrate slight stylistic variations in the treatment of the hair curls, the knot of the wreath ties, and the truncation of the neck, reflecting the distinct hands of different master engravers working simultaneously within the Rome officinae.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse design of this denarius displays an empty curule chair (sella curulis) surmounted directly by a round laurel or oak wreath. The curule chair was an ancient magistrates seat, characterized by its curved, crossed legs (often terminating in lion-paw or ornamental feet) and lack of a backrest. Historically reserved for curule aediles, praetors, consuls, and dictators, the seat embodied legitimate civil imperium and magisterial jurisdiction under Roman constitutional tradition. On Flavian coinage, the curule chair carries multi-layered religious and political significance. Numismatists and historians often categorize this design within a series of pulvinaria (sacred draped couches or ceremonial chairs) struck by Titus in AD 80. These were prepared for the lectisternium, a public religious ceremony in which statues or symbols of the gods were set upon couches or chairs to receive banquets during times of crisis, celebration, or imperial consecration. Other scholars emphasize the political and judicial connotations of the seat, linking it to the emperor's role as supreme magistrate and consul, with the suspended wreath symbolizing civic salvation, honour, and perpetual victory. The composition is restrained yet potent, positioning the physical emblems of authority and religious devotion at the centre of public view.

Epigraphic Analysis and Imperial Titulature

The inscriptions on both faces of the coin provide a precise epigraphic record of Titus's constitutional powers at the exact moment of manufacture. The obverse legend reads IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, an abbreviation for Imperator Titus Caesar Vespasianus Augustus, Pontifex Maximus. Here, the praenomen of Imperator signals supreme military command, Caesar and Vespasianus assert his dynastic lineage as the legitimate heir of Vespasian, Augustus claims sovereign majesty, and Pontifex Maximus denotes his position as chief priest of the Roman state religion, an office assumed following his father's demise. The reverse legend reads TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P, resolving to Tribunicia Potestate nonum, Imperator decimum quintum, Consul octavum, Pater Patriae. The ninth renewal of his tribunician power occurred between July 1, AD 79, and June 30, AD 80. His fifteenth imperial acclamation (IMP XV) was gained in the autumn of AD 79 or early AD 80, connected to military successes in Britain under Agricola. His eighth consulship (COS VIII) was entered on January 1, AD 80. Finally, Pater Patriae (Father of His Country) highlights his patriarchal protection over the citizens of Rome. This exact combination of titles securely anchors the striking of the coin to the middle months of AD 80, before his tenth tribunician renewal and sixteenth acclamation took effect.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Within the modern classification system established by Harold Mattingly, Ian Carradice, and Theodore V. Buttrey in the revised Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 108 occupies a definitive position in the regular denarius sequence of Rome for AD 80. It belongs to the broader Group 3 of Titus's Rome issues, struck concurrently with parallel gold aurei that shared identical or related iconographic types. The curule chair type is closely linked chronologically to other pulvinar reverse types produced during this exact consular year, including those depicting a seat draped with a fringed cloth and thunderbolt (representing Jupiter), a seat with a draped frame and crescent (representing Minerva or Diana), and a draped couch bearing wheat ears (representing Ceres). Numismatic debate has centered on whether the curule chair specifically represents the pulvinar of Divus Augustus, the chair of an unnamed deity, or an imperial seat associated with the divine honors voted to Vespasian. In older reference works, such as the original 1926 edition of RIC II, this type was listed under different catalogue numbers (e.g., RIC 27b), but the 2007 second edition systematized the sequence based on progressive changes in the imperial titulature, confirming that RIC 108 represents the standard form of the curule chair denarius bearing the TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P legend.

Circulation Patterns, Hoard Evidence, and Survival

Denarii of Titus, including RIC 108, circulated widely across the Roman world and remained in active commercial use for generations. Significant hoard evidence from Roman Britain, the Rhine-Danube limes, and Mediterranean provinces demonstrates that Flavian silver coins formed the backbone of everyday currency throughout the late first and second centuries AD. Because Domitian briefly raised the fineness of the denarius in AD 82 to roughly ninety-eight percent before partially reducing it again in AD 85, earlier Flavian denarii of the eighty-percent standard were slightly less intrinsically valuable, encouraging their continued circulation rather than immediate hoarding or melting. Hoards such as those from Falkirk in Scotland, Reka Devnia in Bulgaria, and numerous findspots in Gaul consistently contain moderate numbers of Titus's AD 80 silver issues, often showing considerable surface wear accumulated over decades of circulation. Many examples remained in currency until the major debasement under Septimius Severus in AD 194 or were recalled and recoined during Trajan's great demonetization of worn pre-Neronian and early imperial silver in AD 107. Today, RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 108 survives in moderate numbers across institutional and private collections, reflecting its status as a standard, widely distributed denomination of the Flavian era.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. II: Vespasian to Domitian. pp. 235-236, no. 66
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan. pp. 283-310
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 108. ric.2_1(2).tit.108
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II, Part 1: Vespasian to Domitian (second edition). pp. 206-207, no. 108