The Roman Empire
Vespasian, 69 – 79
Sestertius, Lugdunum 72, Æ 26.14 g. IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P II P COS IIII Laureate head r., globe at point of bust. Rev. T IMP AVG F COS II CAESAR DOMITIAN AVG F COS DESIG II S – C Titus and Domitian standing to front, each with spear and parazonium. C –. BMC 814 note. RIC 1186. CBN pl. CXXX, 19 (‘faux’ but considered genuine by RIC).
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, undoubtedly among the finest
specimens known. An unusual portrait and a very interesting reverse
composition. Lovely dark green patina and extremely fine Illustrated on www.romancoins.info, section imagines imperatorum.
On this rare Lugdunese sestertius Titus and Domitian, heirs of the new Flavian Dynasty, are shown standing in military garb, holding spears and sheathed swords. Though it would require no great stretch of the imagination for an engraver to construct this type, it does give the sense of a dynastic statuary group, and it may have been based upon just such a monument.
It is part of an isolated issue of aes that Vespasian produced in Lugdunum from 71-72, after which that mint seems to have remained inactive for bronzes until 77-78, when it resumed output, this time for all three Flavian men.
Cited in the inscriptions are Vespasian’s fourth consulship, Titus’ second, and a designation for Domitian’s second, which allows us to firmly place it in 72. By this time the conflict between the brothers had grown from a mere sibling rivalry to an imperial concern. Domitian was resentful of his secondary role in political and military life, and found little joy living in the shadow of his older, more decorated brother.
In imperial publicity heir-brothers tended to be compared with Castor and Pollux, whose pietas was well attested, whereas to compare them with Romulus and Remus would set a poor example since Remus died at his brother’s hand.#
None the less, the literary tradition was often hostile to co-heirs, notably Drusus and Germanicus, and Titus and Domitian. Suetonius (Titus 9) represents Domitian as plotting against Titus, and it has been observed that there is a veiled reference to the rivalry between the Flavian brothers in Statius’ Thebaid, a work dedicated in 91/2 to Domitian that dramatizes the conflict between the sons of Oedipus over the rule of Thebes.