Domitian Aureus, RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Vespasian 960

Monetary Context and Dynastic Policy

The Flavian monetary system established by Vespasian operated upon the structural parameters defined by Nero's currency reform of AD 64, retaining an aureus struck at approximately 1/45th of a Roman pound, with a target theoretical weight around 7.28 to 7.30 grams. Following the destructive conflicts of the Year of the Four Emperors in AD 68 to 69, the Roman state faced severe budgetary deficits and monetary disruption. Vespasian's administration engaged in a determined stabilization effort that restored fiscal discipline, recovered tax revenues, and reasserted centralized production of high-value gold and silver coinages. Gold aurei formed the bedrock of state payments, military bounties, high-level administrative expenditure, and large commercial transactions, serving simultaneously as primary instruments of imperial messaging. Within this broader framework, Vespasian maintained a deliberate dynastic policy designed to secure hereditary succession. His sons, Titus and Domitian, were elevated to the rank of Caesar and regularly celebrated on the coinage of the Rome mint. While Titus served as co-ruler and held repeated consulships alongside his father, Domitian was presented as the junior heir apparent, receiving consular honours, priesthoods, and distinct coin types that underscored his status in the Flavian house. Type RIC 960 exemplifies this programmatic messaging during Vespasian's eighth consulship and Domitian's fifth, projecting an image of stability, succession security, and imperial renewal at the peak of the Flavian consolidation.

Production Standards and Mint Operation

Production of RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Vespasian 960 was concentrated entirely at the central imperial mint in Rome. Earlier in Vespasian's principate, auxiliary mints across the provinces, including Lugdunum, Tarraco, and various eastern facilities in Syria and Asia Minor, had struck substantial quantities of precious-metal coinage to supply regional armies and administrative hubs. However, by the late AD 70s, Flavian mint activity in gold had been systematically recentralized in Rome, creating high consistency in technical execution, die cutting, and metallurgical purity. Aurei of this issue were struck on carefully prepared gold flans with an extraordinarily high gold content, typically exceeding 98 to 99 percent purity. The engraving style of the Rome mint during this phase is characterized by refined sculptural modeling, balanced spatial arrangements, and clean, standardized lettering. Flans were cast in individual molds, heated, and struck between hand-held upper reverse dies and fixed lower obverse dies. While die alignments can vary, Rome mint products of this era often exhibit roughly regular orientations, commonly near twelve o'clock or six o'clock, reflecting disciplined workshop practice under the supervision of the imperial monetarii.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Representation

The obverse of RIC 960 features the head of Domitian facing right, crowned with a laurel wreath. Unlike his later portraits as reigning Augustus, where he is frequently depicted with heavier features, a pronounced brow, and an increasingly idealized, severe countenance, this portrait presents the younger Caesar in his mid-twenties with recognizable Flavian physiognomy. The portrait displays the characteristic Flavian hook to the nose, full lips, and slightly fleshy chin, tempered by classical proportions consistent with official Roman court style. The laurel wreath signifies both victory and imperial rank, a symbol shared across members of the ruling dynasty to emphasize their collective military and civic triumphs. The execution of the hair exhibits soft, articulated curls bound by the ribbon of the wreath, which trails behind the neck. This obverse die sequence aligns seamlessly with the contemporary denarius and aureus issues struck for Domitian at Rome during the same emission period, illustrating the cohesive artistic templates utilized across precious-metal denominations.

Reverse Iconography: The She-Wolf, Twins, and Boat

The reverse design of this aureus depicts the venerable motif of the she-wolf standing right, turning her head back and down to suckle the infant twins, Romulus and Remus. Below this legendary group, set in the exergual zone, is a small boat or bark. This composition combines two distinct elements of early Roman foundation myth: the divine rescue of the abandoned infants by the Lupercal wolf and their initial miraculous preservation upon the waters of the Tiber River. The inclusion of the boat reinforces the alluvial narrative of Romulus and Remus being cast adrift before washing ashore beneath the Ruminal fig tree. In Flavian political theology, the foundation legend held profound resonance. After the catastrophic devastation of the civil wars, which had seen the burning of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline, the Flavians cast themselves not as usurpers, but as the restorers and re-founders of the Eternal City. By placing this ancient foundational imagery on an issue struck for the young Caesar Domitian, the regime visually equated the promise of the Flavian youth with the perennial rebirth and destiny of Rome itself.

Epigraphy and Epigraphic Analysis

The inscriptions on RIC 960 are concise, standardized, and strictly regulated by the imperial chancery. The obverse legend reads CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS, beginning at the lower left and running clockwise along the border. The formula expands epigraphically to 'Caesar Augusti Filius Domitianus' ('Domitian, Caesar, son of Augustus'). This legend succinctly expresses Domitian's filial relationship to Vespasian, anchoring his civic and dynastic authority in his status as the biological son of the reigning princeps. The reverse inscription consists simply of the chronological notation COS V, located across the upper field or above the she-wolf, with the exergue occupied by the boat. The legend represents 'Consul Quintum' ('Consul for the fifth time'). Domitian entered his fifth ordinary or suffect consulship on January 1, AD 77, serving alongside his brother Titus. This consular designation continued through AD 78 until his sixth consulship began in AD 79, providing an unambiguous terminus post quem for the emission. The epigraphy is executed in clean, classical Roman capitals with delicate serifs, exhibiting the disciplined layout typical of the Flavian urban mint.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the revised classification of the Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC II, Part 1 (second edition), type 960 is cataloged within the Rome mint issues struck for Domitian under Vespasian, dated specifically to AD 77 to 78. It shares its reverse type and chronological placement with a corresponding denarius issue, RIC 961, which features the identical she-wolf and boat motif accompanied by the COS V legend. Parallel issues struck in the name of Titus from the same emission period emphasize complimentary civic and martial themes, demonstrating how the mint coordinated outputs across both imperial heirs. The second edition of RIC II resolved several ambiguities present in Harold Mattingly's original 1926 arrangement, which had occasionally conflated suffect consular intervals and provincial attributions. By refining the die sequences and stylistic groups of the Rome mint, the modern corpus firmly positions RIC 960 into the final major phase of Vespasian's gold output before his death in June of AD 79. While individual dies show minor artistic variations in the rendering of the boat and the posture of the wolf, the core design components remain remarkably uniform across the surviving specimens.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Monetary Impact

Aurei of the Flavian period enjoyed prolonged and extensive circulation throughout the Mediterranean basin and across the northern frontier. Due to their high intrinsic value and dependable purity, aurei were rarely spent in ordinary daily commerce, functioning instead as stores of substantial wealth, reserve funds for elite households, and instruments for high-value tax payments and military bonuses. Consequently, specimens of RIC 960 appear in significant imperial gold hoards, ranging from the British Isles to the Danubian limes and the eastern provinces. Because the gold standard established under Nero remained stable through the Flavian period until Domitian's subsequent reform of the coinage upon his own accession as Augustus in AD 81, these aurei moved freely alongside issues of Nero and the civil war combatants. Many Flavian aurei remained in active circulation for decades, frequently surviving until Trajan's general reminting policy in the early second century AD, which withdrew worn and pre-reform gold and silver. Surviving specimens show varying degrees of circulation wear, from pristine pieces preserved in early savings hoards to moderately abraded examples that circulated into the Antonine period.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. II: Vespasian to Domitian. pp. 47-48, nos. 237-239
2. The Roman Aurei, Vol. I: From the Republic to Pertinax. no. 838
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Vespasian 960. RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Vespasian 960
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II, Part 1: From AD 69 to AD 96: Vespasian to Domitian. p. 132, no. 960