RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Vespasian 156 Sestertius

Monetary Context and Imperial Ideology

The sestertius occupied a central position within the Augustan monetary system as the premier large-format token denomination in circulation throughout the Roman Empire. Valued at four asses or one quarter of a silver denarius, the denomination was struck in orichalcum, a golden-toned copper-zinc brass alloy valued above pure copper. Under Vespasian, who assumed the purple at the end of the devastating civil wars of AD 68 to 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors, the imperial coinage served an urgent dual function. It met vast fiscal demands caused by prolonged conflict and carried intensive political communication aimed at restoring public confidence in central authority. By AD 71, Vespasian had returned to Rome, celebrating a joint triumph with his elder son Titus over the rebellion in Judaea and signaling the complete restoration of domestic peace. The re-establishment of stable civic life required substantial bronze emissions to restore liquidity in Italy and the western provinces, where currency supply had suffered disruption during the campaigns of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. Within this environment, RIC 156 delivered an explicit message to the military rank and file and the broader populace, proclaiming the fidelity of the armed forces to the newly established Flavian administration.

Production and Mint Organization

Production of RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Vespasian 156 took place at the principal mint of Rome in AD 71. Following temporary provincial and western issues struck during the civil wars in Gaul, Spain, and the East, the Rome mint was reorganized to handle massive output across all metals under Vespasian. The manufacture of sestertii involved melting and refining copper with calamine ore to produce orichalcum, followed by casting circular flans that were often individually adjusted for weight before hot striking between engraved bronze or iron dies. The standard target weight for the Flavian sestertius hovered around 25 to 28 grams, with diameters commonly spanning between 33 and 36 millimeters, though individual surviving specimens naturally exhibit variation due to manual blank preparation, alloy fluctuations, and subsequent wear. The Rome mint employed skilled engravers organized into distinct workshops or officinae, which maintained high artistic consistency in rendering the emperor's realistic portraiture and balanced reverse compositions. The inclusion of the formulaic letters S C confirms formal senatorial consultation in the production of base-metal coinage, preserving the traditional administrative fiction of cooperative governance between the Senate and the princeps.

Obverse Iconography and Epigraphy

The obverse of RIC 156 presents a left-facing portrait of Vespasian, wearing a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck. Roman imperial coinage predominantly depicted the sovereign facing right, making left-facing portraits a deliberate and less frequent variant produced across select die series. Vespasian's portraiture broke decisively with the idealized, youthful classicism favored by the Julio-Claudian dynasty, embracing instead a veristic, mature aesthetic grounded in traditional Republican portrait conventions. The engraving depicts the emperor with a broad, lined forehead, prominent jowls, a furrowed brow, and a determined expression, projecting fiscal sobriety, military grit, and veteran maturity. The laurel wreath symbolizes imperial imperium and triumph, alluding directly to the successful pacification of the realm. Surrounding the portrait runs the continuous Latin inscription IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS III, which encapsulates the full administrative and constitutional titles held by the emperor during his third consulship in AD 71.

Reverse Design: Clasped Hands, Aquila, and Prow

The reverse iconography of RIC 156 combines three distinct Roman military and civic symbols into an integrated composition. Centered in the field are two clasped right hands, known classically as the dextrarum iunctio, which serve as the universal Roman emblem of harmony, concord, mutual trust, and treaty obligations. The clasped hands firmly hold an aquila, the sacred silver or gilded eagle standard that embodied the religious and military soul of the Roman legion. Below the hands and standard sits the beaked prow of a war galley, oriented horizontally. This triad of symbols synthesizes the allegiance of both terrestrial legions and the Roman naval fleets, particularly the classis praetoria of Misenum and Ravenna whose defection had played a decisive role in overthrowing Vitellius in northern Italy. Flanking the lower design are the large capital letters S and C, denoting Senatus Consulto, by decree of the Senate. The legend FIDES EXERCITVVM arches over the upper perimeter, completing an unambiguous ideological declaration that the loyalty of the armed forces secured the imperial peace.

Epigraphic Structure and Reading

The inscriptions on RIC 156 conform to the established epigraphic conventions of Flavian state communication. The obverse legend reads IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS III. This expands in classical Latin to Imperator Caesar Vespasianus Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Pater Patriae, Consul Tertium. The sequence declares Vespasian's supreme military command through the praenomen Imperator, his familial claim via Caesar, his revered status as Augustus, his chief priesthood as Pontifex Maximus, his civil authority through the tribunician power, his paternal benevolence as Father of the Country, and his third holding of the consulship. The reverse legend reads FIDES EXERCITVVM, translating as the Fidelity of the Armies. Grammatically utilizing the genitive plural exercituum, the phrase attributes the virtue of fides to all the operational armies of the Roman state, asserting that factionalism had ceased and that every legion was now united under a single commander. Accompanied by S C on the reverse, the epigraphy balances dynastic authority with constitutional sanction.

Typology and Chronological Placement

In the revised classification established by Carradice and Buttrey in RIC II, Part 1 (second edition), type 156 is securely assigned to AD 71 on the basis of Vespasian's third consulship (COS III), an office he entered on January 1 of that year. The type forms part of a cohesive series of sestertii produced during this celebratory year, which also included the famous IVDAEA CAPTA, ROMA RESVRGENS, and VICTORIA AVGVSTI issues. The FIDES EXERCITVVM motif was struck with both right-facing and left-facing obverse portraits; RIC 156 specifically designates the left-facing portrait variety. The type was not repeated in subsequent consulships of Vespasian, confirming its role as a targeted issue of the early pacification phase. While minor stylistic variations exist between individual dies, such as the exact tilt of the aquila or the detailing of the ship's prow, all authentic specimens adhere to the standard combination of the left-facing laureate bust with the hands-and-eagle reverse.

Circulation, Wear, and Archaeological Recovery

Sestertii of Vespasian struck at Rome circulated extensively throughout the western provinces, including Roman Britain, Gaul, the German frontiers, and Hispania, as well as across the Italian peninsula. Because large brass coins possessed substantial intrinsic and purchasing value, equivalent to a day's wage for an unskilled laborer or soldier, they remained in everyday commercial circulation for decades. Archaeological find evidence from western military castra and urban deposits indicates that Flavian sestertii frequently continued to circulate well into the second century AD, often surviving until the Antonine and Severan periods before retirement through hoarding or government demonetization. Consequently, extant specimens of RIC 156 often exhibit moderate to heavy surface wear and characteristic dark olive or green bronze patinas formed by mineral contact in differing soil chemistries. Hoard contexts containing this type typically represent long-term cumulative savings assemblages rather than emergency battlefield deposits, testifying to the durability and enduring economic utility of the Flavian sestertius.

References

1. The Flavian Coinage: Studies in the Roman Imperial Coinage. pp. 45-52
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II, Part 1: Vespasian to Domitian (AD 69-96). pp. 60-65, no. 156
3. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume II: Vespasian to Domitian. pp. 115-120
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Vespasian 156. ric.2_1(2).ves.156