Titus Denarius, RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 31

Monetary and Political Context

The accession of Titus in late June AD 79 marked the first seamless hereditary succession from father to biological son in imperial Roman history. Following the death of Vespasian, Titus assumed supreme authority, having already served for eight years as virtual co-ruler, praetorian prefect, and holder of tribunician power. The Roman silver denarius served as the operational backbone of imperial state finance, facilitating state expenditures such as military salaries, administrative costs, and public disbursements, while also functioning as the primary vehicle for political messaging across the Mediterranean world. In monetary terms, Titus inherited a stabilized currency system. Vespasian had spent the previous decade repairing the catastrophic fiscal disarray created by the civil wars of AD 68 to 69 and the profligate spending of Nero's final years. By standardizing silver content and maintaining a strict oversight of the mint, the Flavian regime restored widespread confidence in imperial coinage. The denarius defined under RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 31 represents one of the initial acts of imperial self-definition by the new sole ruler. Rather than breaking with established visual traditions, Titus maintained monetary and ideological continuity with his father's successful regime, invoking shared military glory and constitutional standing to reinforce Flavian supremacy.

Mint Production and Metrology

The production of RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 31 was carried out exclusively at the principal imperial mint in Rome. Under the Flavian emperors, centralized minting operations in the capital accounted for the overwhelming majority of regular precious metal denominations produced for the empire, following the closure of auxiliary western mints active during the early 70s AD. Technically, denarii of this issue were manufactured from cast silver planchets struck between engraved bronze or iron dies. The mint of Rome operated under organized officinae, producing dies marked by stylistic consistency and high artistic execution. The metrological baseline followed the post-Neronian weight and fineness standards preserved by Vespasian. Intended to be struck at approximately 96 to the Roman pound (libra), individual specimens of this denarius family typically cluster around a theoretical mean weight of roughly 3.25 grams, with typical observed weights ranging between 3.10 and 3.45 grams depending on flan preparation, die wear, and subsequent chemical leaching in the ground. The silver fineness of Rome denarii in AD 79 was held stable at approximately 80 to 82 percent fine silver, with the remainder composed primarily of copper alloy added to improve die strike durability.

Obverse Iconography and Variations

The obverse of this specific type is characterized by a laureate head of Titus facing left. In Roman imperial numismatics, and particularly within the Flavian series, left-facing imperial portraits represent a distinct and relatively scarce minority variant, as the predominant standard convention placed the ruler facing right. The choice of a leftward bust provided variety in production across active officinae while maintaining all requisite elements of sovereign prestige. The portraiture on this issue reflects a naturalistic mature portrait of the thirty-nine-year-old emperor. Characteristic Flavian facial traits, such as a heavy jaw, furrowed brow, and thick neck, are prominent, closely mirroring the numismatic portraiture of Vespasian. This stylistic convergence was an intentional programmatic effort to stress physical resemblance and direct filial continuity. The laurel wreath encircling Titus's head signifies both supreme civic standing and victorious military triumph. Dies for this type exhibit subtle differences in the rendering of the wreath ties, the curl of the hair, and the truncation of the neck, reflecting the hands of different engravers at work within the urban mint.

Reverse Iconography: Captive and Trophy

The reverse iconography of RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 31 features a male captive kneeling in front of a martial trophy. The captive is depicted in an attitude of submission, oriented on the ground beside or beneath an erected panoply consisting of captured armor, shields, and spears mounted on a wooden frame. This motif forms an integral part of the expansive Flavian visual campaign commemorating victory over the Jewish revolt. Although the sack of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple occurred in AD 70, followed by the joint triumph celebrated by Vespasian and Titus in Rome in AD 71, the themes of Judea Capta remained a foundational cornerstone of Flavian political legitimacy throughout the dynasty's rule. For Titus, who had held the direct supreme command in the Judaean theatre after his father's departure for Rome, these images served as personal reminders of his military competence and right to rule. By depicting the barbarian captive kneeling beside the trophy, the die engravers rendered the submission of enemies as an established, permanent reality, assuring the Roman citizenry of stability and external security under Titus's administration.

Epigraphy and Imperial Titulature

The legends on both faces of the coin provide a formal, legalistic framework that explicitly validates the authority and chronology of the issue. The obverse legend reads IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, running clockwise from the lower left. This epigraphic formula translates as 'Imperator Titus Caesar Vespasian Augustus, Pontifex Maximus'. The inclusion of the praenomen Imperator alongside Augustus indicates supreme military and civic status, while Caesar Vespasian underscores dynastic identity. The title Pontifex Maximus (chief priest) reflects Titus's formal assumption of the empire's supreme religious office following the death of his father. The reverse inscription reads TR P VIIII IMP XIIII COS VII P P, standing for 'Tribunicia Potestate nonum, Imperator decimum quartum, Consul septimum, Pater Patriae'. This formula details Titus's ninth renewal of the tribunician power, his fourteenth acclamation as imperator following imperial military victories, his seventh consulship, and his designation as Father of the Country. The concise lettering, executed in classical Roman square capitals, leaves no ambiguity regarding the constitutional offices held by the new emperor at the time of striking.

Typology and Chronological Placement

In the typological arrangement of Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II, Part 1 (second edition), this issue is categorized under type number 31 within the sole reign of Titus. The exact chronological window of the issue is unusually narrow and firmly established by the intersection of the titular dates recorded on the reverse legend. Titus entered his ninth tribunician year (TR P VIIII) on 1 July AD 79, only days after Vespasian's death on 23 June AD 79. He held his seventh consulship (COS VII) throughout the calendar year AD 79, having entered into it on 1 January AD 79 while still Caesar under Vespasian. On 1 January AD 80, Titus assumed his eighth consulship (COS VIII), which instantly rendered the COS VII formula obsolete on newly engraved dies. Consequently, the combination of TR P VIIII with COS VII restricts the emission of this denarius strictly between July and December AD 79. The right-facing bust variant of this same design was produced concurrently in larger volumes (catalogued as RIC 30), highlighting that RIC 31 represents the rarer, left-facing die variant struck in this initial six-month production cycle.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

As standard silver denarii of the mint of Rome, specimens of RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 31 entered circulation through routine state expenditures, primarily the disbursement of quarterly military pay to legions stationed along the Rhine and Danube frontiers, as well as distributions within the capital itself. Once released, these denarii circulated alongside earlier issues of Vespasian, Nero, and surviving late Republican and early imperial silver coins. Hoard evidence from across the Roman Empire, including find-spots in Britain, Germany, Gaul, and the Balkans, demonstrates that Flavian denarii remained active in monetary circulation for more than a century. Because their silver fineness was slightly higher than that of later Antonine and Severan issues, Flavian coins experienced prolonged wear and were selectively retained or hoarded during third-century inflationary periods. While the right-facing counterpart (RIC 30) is well represented in imperial hoards, specimens bearing the left-facing portrait of RIC 31 appear with considerably lower frequency, confirming its specialized status within the minting output of AD 79.

References

1. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II, Part 1: Vespasian to Domitian (Second Edition). pp. 195-200, no. 31
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum (BMCRE), Vol. II: Vespasian to Domitian. pp. 223-228
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE): RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 31. ric.2_1(2).tit.31