Gold Aureus of Domitian, 7.56 g.

Gold Aureus of Domitian, 7.56 g.

Domitian

90-91 CE

Obverse: Laureate head of Domitian facing right; DOMITIANVS AVGVSTVS: Domitianus Augustus.

Reverse: Defeated, partly nude female (Germania?) seated facing right on shield, left hand raised to head in attitude of mourning; broken spear below; GERMANICVS CO(N)S(VL) XV: Germanicus, consul for the fifteenth time.

Style/Period: Roman Empire

Domitian made much of his military career, the highlight of which was his victory over the Chatti in Germany, a campaign that he led himself and that extended the western frontier beyond the Rhine. For these victories he received the name Germanicus, "conqueror of the Germans," in 83/84 CE and a triumph that included the construction of a triumphal arch. The victory was also celebrated very explicitly on coins for a number of years after the event, perhaps because he continued to deal successfully with other tribes in the area in this period; the date of this coin is set by Domitian's fifteenth consulship. The reverse of this aureus depicts a female figure, her nudity suggesting that she is a personification of Germany, sitting dejectedly on a shield, with a broken spear at her feet. The prominence of the name Germanicus in the legend identifies the defeated.
-- Carol L. Lawton

Bibliography: H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage II: Vespasian to Hadrian (London 1926) 164.

Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Purchased from Harlan Berk, August 29, 1989.

91.153

Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890

Roman, Empire, Domitian, female, shield, spear