Titus Denarius, RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 119

Monetary Context and Historical Setting

The coinage of Titus's sole principate (AD 79 to 81) operated within the monetary framework established by his father, Vespasian, following the civil wars of AD 68 and 69. Nero's monetary reform of AD 64 had reduced the weight of the denarius from approximately 3.9 grams to roughly 3.4 grams and lowered its silver fineness to approximately 80 to 82 percent. Vespasian preserved this post-reform Neronian weight and purity standard to sustain military payrolls, administrative infrastructure, and massive reconstruction projects across the capital. Titus maintained these weight and fineness baselines without major disruption. Metallurgical analyses of Flavian silver by Butcher and Ponting demonstrate that denarii of AD 80 maintained a mean weight around 3.20 to 3.30 grams with an average silver content hovering between 80 and 85 percent, alloyed primarily with copper and minor trace elements of lead and bismuth. The year AD 80 was marked by acute civic challenges alongside monumental public spectacles. While Rome witnessed the lavish multi-day inaugural games of the Flavian Amphitheatre (the Colosseum), the capital was also reeling from the psychological and material impact of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the late summer of AD 79, an outbreak of pestilence, and a catastrophic blaze that swept through the Campus Martius and the Capitoline Hill in AD 80. The denarius RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 119 entered circulation as part of a concentrated wave of silver coinage designed to cover imperial expenditures while systematically projecting religious piety and civic stability during a period of crisis.

Production and Mint Operation

Production of RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 119 was concentrated exclusively at the principal imperial mint in Rome. Earlier in the Flavian dynasty, branch mints had operated in the western provinces (such as Lugdunum and uncertain Spanish workshops) as well as eastern centers (such as Antioch, Ephesus, and various Syrian cities) to support the reorganization of the empire. By the beginning of Titus's sole reign, however, the production of precious metal coinage had been largely centralized at the capital under the authority of the procurator monetae and the equestrian bureaucracy. The Rome mint employed specialized teams of artisans, including flan casters, die engravers (scalptores), and strivers (suppostores and malleatores). Silver blanks were cast in hemispherical or open molds, adjusted for weight, and struck hot or warm between hand-cut iron or bronze dies. Consistent with the mint practices of the late first century AD, striking was performed with a loose die alignment, resulting in die axes that vary considerably between 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock. The dies for Titus 119 show high artistic competency: the lettering is crisply cut with pronounced serifs, and the drapery on the reverse couch is executed with careful relief to simulate folds of heavy fabric.

Obverse Iconography and Style

The obverse of RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 119 features a right-facing, laureate head of Titus. The portrait adheres to the hallmark Flavian style of verism, which self-consciously broke with the idealized, youthful classicism of the Julio-Claudian dynasty in favor of mature, austere, and battle-tested features reminiscent of Republican ancestral portraiture. Titus is depicted with a broad cranium, a muscular and fleshy neck, a prominent jawline, and a deeply creased forehead, projecting physical vigor, administrative diligence, and filial resemblance to his deified father, Vespasian. The laurel wreath encircling his head is tied at the nape with two ribbon ends falling along the curve of the neck. The laurel wreath symbolized triumph, imperium, and the restoration of civic order. The engraving exhibits fine treatment of the hair, composed of short, layered curls framing the brow and temples. Encircling the bust is a complete titulary legend, enclosed by a fine outer border of dots that grounds the composition within the circular flan.

Reverse Iconography: The Draped Pulvinar

The reverse design presents an elaborate square seat or stool draped with ornamental cloth, above which rests a horizontal winged thunderbolt (fulmen). This motif is classified numismatically as a pulvinar: a ceremonial cushioned couch prepared for the gods during public religious rites known as a lectisternium or supplicatio. In traditional Roman cult practice, statues or divine symbols were placed upon these couches during times of public emergency or solemn thanksgiving, inviting the deities to participate symbolically in a sacred feast and to accept the prayers of the Roman populace. On Titus 119, the winged thunderbolt resting on the pulvinar represents Jupiter Optimus Maximus, the supreme protector of the Roman state whose great temple on the Capitoline Hill had been destroyed by fire under Vitellius in AD 69 and damaged again in AD 80. The thunderbolt is flanked by stylized wings and barbed lightning darts, serving as an unmistakable attribute of Jove's celestial sovereignty and retributive justice. The seat itself is covered by a textile that falls down the sides in symmetrical folds, often bordered by fine fringe at the bottom edge. Through this design, Titus explicitly placed the empire under the protective ward of Jupiter while highlighting imperial piety in the ritual appeasement of the gods.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The obverse and reverse inscriptions of this denarius provide a precise epigraphic record of Titus's constitutional powers and official nomenclature in AD 80. The obverse reads: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M This formula is expanded as Imperator Titus Caesar Vespasianus Augustus, Pontifex Maximus. Here, the military praenomen Imperator signifies supreme command, while the shared cognomina Caesar and Vespasianus assert dynastic legitimacy and unbroken continuity from the founding Flavian emperor. Augustus confers sacrosanct prestige, and Pontifex Maximus highlights Titus's position as chief priest of the Roman state religion, directly underscoring the sacred nature of the reverse pulvinar motif. The reverse reads: TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P This titulary chain expands as Tribunicia Potestate IX, Imperator XV, Consul VIII, Pater Patriae. The ninth investiture of tribunician power commenced on 1 July AD 79 and renewed on 1 July AD 80. Combined with Titus's eighth consulship, entered on 1 January AD 80, and his fifteenth imperial acclamation, this inscription securely dates the minting of this denarius to the calendar year AD 80, prior to his sixteenth acclamation.

Typology and the Flavian Pulvinar Series

In the modern classification system of Roman Imperial Coinage, this coin is designated as RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 119, updating the older numbering in the 1926 first edition (where related variants were indexed under numbers 23a and 24). It belongs to a cohesive typology produced in AD 80 consisting of multiple pulvinaria dedicated to different deities of the Roman pantheon. Parallel denarii and aurei of this issue share the same obverse and reverse legend structures but exhibit distinct divine attributes upon the draped couch. Other issues in this parallel sequence include pulvinaria bearing a dolphin coiled around an anchor (attributed to Neptune or Apollo), a radiate crown (representing Sol), a seat surmounted by corn ears (dedicated to Ceres), a curule chair with a wreath (associated with divine imperial honours), and a draped table with an urn and wreath (commemorating athletic and musical contests). RIC 119 constitutes the primary Jovian component of this program. Minor die varieties exist in the execution of the thunderbolt (wings straight or flared, lightning darts simple or barbed) and the exact drapery contours of the seat, representing the output of multiple concurrent die cutters at the Rome mint rather than distinct sub-types.

Circulation, Hoards, and Survival

Denarii of Titus, including RIC 119, circulated extensively throughout Italy, the northwestern provinces, and the Danubian frontier. Because Titus reigned for only twenty-six months, his denarii were produced in significantly smaller cumulative volumes than those of his father Vespasian or his brother Domitian. Nevertheless, the extensive pulvinar emissions of AD 80 formed a visible component of the late first-century money supply. Hoard evidence from Britain, Gaul, Germany, and the Balkans illustrates that these denarii remained in active circulation well into the second century AD. Because Domitian temporarily raised the silver standard in AD 82 before slightly reducing it in AD 85, Flavian coins minted prior to AD 82 (such as RIC 119) were of marginally lower intrinsic fineness than Domitianic issues, yet they continued to trade at face value alongside later Trajanic and Hadrianic denarii. Many surviving specimens exhibit moderate to heavy wear consistent with several decades of commercial exchange before deposition. Under Trajan's recoinage policy around AD 107, older worn denarii were systematically gathered and melted down, which permanently reduced the surviving population of Flavian silver issues.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum (BMCRE), Vol. II: Vespasian to Domitian. pp. 233-234, nos. 51-54
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Peace of Augustus to the Reform of Trajan. pp. 370-385
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE): RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 119. ric.2_1(2).tit.119
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II, Part 1: Vespasian to Domitian (AD 69–96). pp. 200-204, no. 119