Titus Denarius: RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 357

Monetary and Political Context

Upon the death of Vespasian on 23 June AD 79, the Flavian dynasty faced its first critical succession test. Titus assumed supreme imperial authority seamlessly, yet securing the legitimacy of his family remained an urgent political imperative. Unlike the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which possessed deep aristocratic roots, the Flavians were of modest Italian municipal background. Titus and the Senate immediately moved to deify Vespasian, formally enrolling him among the state gods as Divus Vespasianus. The consecration issues of AD 80 to AD 81 served as tangible instruments of this policy, transforming political deification into universally circulating visual propaganda. In Roman monetary practice, consecratio coinage reinforced the hereditary right of the reigning princeps by presenting him as the son of a god (divi filius), echoing the foundational model established by Augustus in relation to Julius Caesar. Denarii bearing the Divus Vespasianus legends were struck in substantial volume, integrating ideological commemoration with the everyday supply of silver coin necessary for state disbursements, legionary pay, and administrative costs in Rome and the wider empire.

Production, Minting, and Standards

RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 357 was produced exclusively at the principal imperial mint in the city of Rome. During the Flavian period, silver denarius production was centralized at Rome, where skilled die-engravers operated within a structured workshop system capable of producing millions of coins annually. The metallurgical profile of this issue adheres to the standard maintained under Vespasian and continued under Titus, prior to Domitian's temporary upward reform of AD 82. Metallurgical analyses of Flavian denarii from this timeframe indicate a silver fineness averaging approximately eighty-eight to ninety percent silver, with the remainder composed primarily of copper alloy. The target weight standard clustered between 3.20 and 3.35 grams, yielding roughly ninety-six denarii per Roman pound (libra). Die alignment for this Rome mint series generally conforms to a regular six o'clock or twelve o'clock orientation. Dies were hand-carved with steel gravers, displaying the crisp, individualized portraiture characteristic of the capital's senior die-cutters, who balanced portrait realism with idealized deification conventions.

Obverse Iconography

The obverse of the coin features a right-facing portrait of Divus Vespasianus. The late emperor is depicted bare-necked with a mature, lined countenance, capturing his broad jowl, prominent chin, and deeply furrowed brow. This veristic tradition, inherited from republican and early Flavian portrait models, remains evident despite the posthumous context of the issue. Crowning his head is a laurel wreath, tied at the back of the neck with ribbon ends trailing downward. The laurel wreath functions as both a symbol of military triumph and an attribute appropriate to a deified emperor receiving senatorial honors. Unlike some later consecration series which employ a radiate crown or divine drapery, the obverse iconography for this type adheres to dignified senatorial restraint, presenting Vespasian as the victorious, revered paterfamilias elevated to celestial honors through lawful decree.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse iconography of RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 357 presents an elaborate allegorical design rich in astrological and political meaning. At the center of the composition are two Capricorns positioned back to back (addorsed). Each creature possesses the forequarters of a goat and the coiled, finned tail of a fish. Supported directly above and between their forelegs is a circular shield (clipeus virtutis), inscribed with the letters S C. Positioned underneath the beasts is a miniature globe representing the terrestrial sphere. The Capricorn was the astrological sign most famously associated with Augustus, having been adopted on the first emperor's silver and gold coinage to commemorate his conception and divine destiny. By resurrecting the addorsed Capricorns with the shield and globe, Titus intentionally connected the Flavian house to Augustan precedents of cosmic order, peace, and universal dominion. The globe signifies worldwide imperium, while the shield inscribed S C asserts that Vespasian's celestial elevation was sanctioned through the legitimate constitutional authority of the Senate and Roman People.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The epigraphic program of this issue is concise and deliberately focused on dynastic legitimacy. The obverse legend reads DIVVS AVGVSTVS VESPASIANVS, running continuously around the periphery from the lower left to the lower right. The formulation directly states the deceased ruler's deified status through the title DIVVS, joined with the imperial title AVGVSTVS and his personal cognomen VESPASIANVS. The reverse carries no peripheral legend; instead, the inscription is confined entirely to the interior of the round shield, reading S C for Senatus Consulto ('by decree of the Senate'). While S C was the mandatory formula marking bronze coinage produced under senatorial purview, its appearance on this imperial silver denarius is commemorative rather than administrative, recording that the shield itself, or the deification it represents, was formally granted by a senatorial decree. Lettering is rendered in classical Roman square capitals with sharp serifs and even spacing, characteristic of official mint production under Titus.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Within the revised framework of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 357 is classified among the undated consecration denarii issued during the middle to late portion of Titus's reign, spanning AD 80 to 81. In earlier numismatic scholarship, such as Mattingly's first edition of RIC II (1926) and BMCRE II, these posthumous issues were broadly catalogued under the deified Vespasian heading, occasionally conflated with later consecration pieces struck under Domitian. The modern revision by Carradice and Buttrey securely attributes type 357 to Titus's mint operations at Rome based on stylistic links, die carving idiosyncrasies, and hoard sequence data. Titus issued several parallel consecration denarii featuring distinct reverse motifs, including an urn on a pillar, an eagle on a cippus, and celestial altars. Type 357 is clearly differentiated within this group by its combination of the addorsed Capricorns, inscribed clipeus, and basal globe, forming a distinct typological unit that was not repeated with identical dies under Domitian.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Loss

Denarii of type RIC 357 entered general circulation across Italy and the frontiers alongside contemporaneous regular-issue silver of Titus and older Vespasianic coinage. Because Roman silver coins of this period were valued primarily as bullion tokens tariffed at sixteen asses, posthumous consecration pieces circulated without distinction from normal imperial denarii. Hoard evidence from Britain, Gaul, the Rhine frontier, and the Danubian provinces reveals that Flavian denarii remained in active commercial use for generations. Due to their relatively high silver fineness, these coins were heavily retained during the second century AD, appearing frequently in hoards deposited during the Antonine and Severan eras. Trajan's mass recoinage in AD 107 removed vast quantities of pre-Neronian and worn early imperial silver from circulation, but Flavian denarii often met the metallurgical threshold to continue circulating until the severe debasements of the mid-third century AD ultimately drove them into hoards or the melting pot.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume II: Vespasian to Domitian. pp. 247-248, nos. 129-131
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Peace of Nero to the Reform of Trajan. pp. 235-242
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 357. RIC II, 1 (2nd ed.) Titus 357
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II, Part 1: From AD 69 to 96 (Vespasian to Domitian). p. 226, no. 357