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Domitian was the younger son of the emperor
Vespasian. Although his older brother Titus
occupied the throne from A.D. 79 to 81, while
Domitian was growing up, he was not given any
real political power. Because of this, Domitian
always felt a certain amount of resentment
towards his elder brother, spurring the rumors
that Domitian poisoned Titus, although these are
generally believed to be false. Like Tiberius and
Caligula before him, Domitian sought to be
absolute ruler. He scandalized the Senate and the
rest of the Roman aristocracy by having statues
of himself erected and by insisting that people
refer to him as "Lord and God.” The Senate grew
to loathe and fear Domitian, hatching numerous
plots against his life, and he, in turn, became
increasingly suspicious towards them. In the last
three or four years of Domitian’s reign, the
senators lived in fear of their lives, reaping the
fruit of their conspiracies. In the end, it would be
this backstabbing and mistrust on both sides
that would doom Domitian. In 95, he eliminated
his two praetorian prefects. The two men who
replaced them, Petronius Secundus and
Norbanus, fearing that they too would soon be
eliminated, decided to form a successful
conspiracy to assassinate Domitian.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or purse? What eras and lands have the
coin traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull
out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of
who might have touched the coin before us, or
where the coin will venture to after it leaves our
hands. More than money, coins are a symbol of
the state that struck them, of a specific time and
location, whether active currencies in the age we
live or artifacts of a long forgotten empire. This
stunning hand-struck coin reveals an expertise
of craftsmanship and intricate sculptural detail
that is often lacking in contemporary machine-
made currencies. This coin commemorates
Rome’s victory against the Jewish rebellion. While
Rome’s occupation of the Holy Land was short-
lived, artifacts like this coin live one: concrete
remnants of ancient empires passed from the
hands of civilization to civilization, from
generation to generation.
- (C.0786)
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