Domitian
Æ As, 10.13g
Rome mint, 88 AD
RIC 623b (C2). BMC 434.
Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P VIII CENS PER P P; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: COS XIIII LVD SAEC FEC; S C in exergue; Domitian stg. l., sacrificing over altar; to l., flute player and lyre player stg. r.; in background, temple, wreath in pediment
Acquired from Künker, January 2019. Ex Heinrich Pilartz Münzhandlung.
In October 88 AD Domitian held the Secular Games, a festival featuring theatrical performances and circus games accompanied by six various daytime and nighttime religious ceremonies. The games marked the transition from one era (saeculum) to another and were supposedly held once every 110 years, or the maximum span of a human lifetime, making them a ‘once in a lifetime’ event. Domitian conducted his games on the Augustan calculation, rejecting the formula for the Claudian games held in 47 AD. The festival was important enough to interrupt the normal striking of reverse types on the coinage and for the mint to produce a new unique issue commemorating the event both in precious metal and bronze. The precious metal designs tended to be symbolic while the bronze were more narrative in nature, focusing on the various religious sacrifices that were at the heart of the games.
The reverse on this as features a daytime victimless sacrifice of cakes to Apollo and Diana on the sixth and last day of the celebrations, held in front of an unidentified hexastyle temple somewhere on the Palatine. The stylised nature of the reverse’s design makes it difficult to pinpoint the temple in question. The generic decorative wreath on the pediment offers no clues. Another variant of the type (RIC 623a) has an eagle on the pediment, perhaps an indication the engravers were not intending to depict a specific temple at all. The scene could stand alone and be an excellent representation for all the religious ceremonies of the games. The main message of the design is to show the Roman people that Domitian provided and responsibly held the Secular Games. The fact this type was struck in fairly large quantities hints it was an important piece of Domitianic propaganda.
When I first started researching this coin I wanted to know what temple it deeeeepicted in the background. After seeing so many variants of the type with different renditions of the mysterious temple, I came to realise I was missing the point of the reverse’s message. The generic temple just serves as a backdrop to the foreground action of Domitian sacrificing – the engraver’s weren’t preserving history, they were spreading propaganda. The actual sacrifice likely took place in front of a temple on the Palatine, unfortunately the coins do not point the way to which one.
The coin came with an old coin envelope from Heinrich Pilartz as well. 1960s?
Flavian Fanatic 