DOMITIAN Titus Flavius Domitianus September 14, 81 - Septemb - Lot 231

DOMITIAN Titus Flavius Domitianus September 14, 81 - September 18, 96 IMP CAES DOMITIANVS AVG P M. His laurelled head right. R/. IVPPITER CONSERVATOR. Eagle, wings outstretched front, standing on a thunderbolt. ♦ Cohen 319; RIC 143b; BMC 51; Calicó 895 Aureus struck in Rome in 82-83. (7,71 g) Charming coin. A very fine example. Copy Castro Maya Collection (1957) n°291 Exemplary JVN sale January 23, 2001 n°27 The eagle has long been considered one of the oldest and most enduring emblems of the Roman people. Its importance to the Romans derives from its association with Jupiter, the supreme deity of the Roman pantheon, revered as the patron saint of the Roman state since the earliest days of the kings. Domitian was born on October 24, 51. He was the son of Vespasian. He became emperor on the death of his brother on September 14, 81. He was the 3rd and last representative of the Flavian dynasty. Domitian's policy of centralization earned him the hatred of the Senate. But to govern, he relied on the army, the knightly classes and the people, multiplying festivals and distributions of money and food. These measures made him very popular. But little by little, hatred grew against him. Following a plot hatched by his own family, his wife, the prefects of the Praetorium and the senators, he was assassinated at the fifth hour of a court hearing on September 18, 96.