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RIC 760 Diva Julia Titi [Domitian]
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Æ Sestertius, 24.33g
Rome mint, 92-94 AD
Obv: DIVAE IVLIAE AVG DIVI TITI F above; S P Q R in exergue; Carpentum drawn r. by two mules
Rev: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XVI CENS PER P P; S C, large, in centre
RIC 760 (R). BMC 471. BNC 502.
Acquired from Ken Dorney, January 2020. Ex Agora Auctions Sale 84, 4 September 2019, lot 187. Ex CNG E314, 6 November 2013, lot 364.
Titus' daughter Julia Titi was granted the title Augusta sometime in 80 or 81 during his reign. After Titus' death she lived with her uncle Domitian at the imperial residence. In 90 or 91 AD she died and was deified by Domitian, this was commemorated on the coinage. The ancient sources are quick to malign her reputation in the name of smearing Domitian. It is said she had an ongoing affair with Domitian and became pregnant. She then was forced by Domitian to abort the baby and died during the attempted abortion sometime in 90 or 91. The Flavian historian Brian Jones has called the supposed affair between Domitian and his niece Julia (some ten or eleven years his junior) and the subsequent forced abortion which killed her as "implausible" and "nonsense". Further he wrote "Scholars seem not to have stressed one of the most significant factors in assessing the rumour's accuracy - Martial's epigram 6.3, written not long after Julia's death and deification. In it, he expresses the hope that Domitian will produce a son, implies that the baby's name will be Julius (6.3.1) and states that (the now deified) Julia will be able to watch over him (6.3.5). Martial was neither a hero or a fool. Had there been the slightest hint of an affair between emperor and niece, he would hardly have written those lines; had Julia's recent death been caused by an abortion forced on her by Domitian, would Martial have so far neglected the bounds of 'safe criticism' and common sense as to humiliate Domitia publicly, urging her to become pregnant, to give the child a name reminiscent of her husband's mistress and finally to remember that same mistress, now dead and deified (thanks to her husband), would be able to protect the child?" No doubt, the Diva coins testify that Domitian felt great affection towards his niece, however, there is no evidence that they had an illicit love affair. The incestuous rumour was spread after Domitian's death.
This sestertius struck for Diva Julia Titi between 92 and 94 copies an early carpentum and mules type struck under Tiberius for Diva Livia and another under Titus struck for her grandmother Domitilla. It is the second issue of this type struck under Domitian and is slightly rarer than the earlier one produced in 90-91. In the early empire the carpentum was granted to ladies of the imperial house by the Senate as an imperial honour. It was frequently used to convey an image of the deceased Divae and to symbolise the event on the coinage. The style of the Diva Julia Titi sestertii are so similar to those of the earlier Memoriae Domitilla sestertii that the RIC authors speculate a few of the older Domitilla dies were recut for Julia's issues (p. 317, note). It's astonishing to think that the mint still had access to dies that were nearly a decade old and were able to re-use them for a new issue!
Dark brassy tone with some minor pitting.
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![RIC 760 Diva Julia Titi [Domitian]
Æ Sestertius, 24.33g
Rome mint, 92-94 AD
Obv: DIVAE IVLIAE AVG DIVI TITI F above; S P Q R in exergue; Carpentum drawn r. by two mules
Rev: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XVI CENS PER P P; S C, large, in centre
RIC 760 (R). BMC 471. BNC 502.
Acquired from Ken Dorney, January 2020. Ex Agora Auctions Sale 84, 4 September 2019, lot 187. Ex CNG E314, 6 November 2013, lot 364.
Titus' daughter Julia Titi was granted the title Augusta sometime in 80 or 81 during his reign. After Titus' death she lived with her uncle Domitian at the imperial residence. In 90 or 91 AD she died and was deified by Domitian, this was commemorated on the coinage. The ancient sources are quick to malign her reputation in the name of smearing Domitian. It is said she had an ongoing affair with Domitian and became pregnant. She then was forced by Domitian to abort the baby and died during the attempted abortion sometime in 90 or 91. The Flavian historian Brian Jones has called the supposed affair between Domitian and his niece Julia (some ten or eleven years his junior) and the subsequent forced abortion which killed her as "implausible" and "nonsense". Further he wrote "Scholars seem not to have stressed one of the most significant factors in assessing the rumour's accuracy - Martial's epigram 6.3, written not long after Julia's death and deification. In it, he expresses the hope that Domitian will produce a son, implies that the baby's name will be Julius (6.3.1) and states that (the now deified) Julia will be able to watch over him (6.3.5). Martial was neither a hero or a fool. Had there been the slightest hint of an affair between emperor and niece, he would hardly have written those lines; had Julia's recent death been caused by an abortion forced on her by Domitian, would Martial have so far neglected the bounds of 'safe criticism' and common sense as to humiliate Domitia publicly, urging her to become pregnant, to give the child a name reminiscent of her husband's mistress and finally to remember that same mistress, now dead and deified (thanks to her husband), would be able to protect the child?" No doubt, the Diva coins testify that Domitian felt great affection towards his niece, however, there is no evidence that they had an illicit love affair. The incestuous rumour was spread after Domitian's death.
This sestertius struck for Diva Julia Titi between 92 and 94 copies an early carpentum and mules type struck under Tiberius for Diva Livia and another under Titus struck for her grandmother Domitilla. It is the second issue of this type struck under Domitian and is slightly rarer than the earlier one produced in 90-91. In the early empire the carpentum was granted to ladies of the imperial house by the Senate as an imperial honour. It was frequently used to convey an image of the deceased Divae and to symbolise the event on the coinage. The style of the Diva Julia Titi sestertii are so similar to those of the earlier Memoriae Domitilla sestertii that the RIC authors speculate a few of the older Domitilla dies were recut for Julia's issues (p. 317, note). It's astonishing to think that the mint still had access to dies that were nearly a decade old and were able to re-use them for a new issue!
Dark brassy tone with some minor pitting.](albums/userpics/11162/normal_D717sm.jpg "Click to view full size image
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RIC 760 Diva Julia Titi [Domitian]
Æ Sestertius, 24.33g
Rome mint, 92-94 AD
Obv: DIVAE IVLIAE AVG DIVI TITI F above; S P Q R in exergue; Carpentum drawn r. by two mules
Rev: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XVI CENS PER P P; S C, large, in centre
RIC 760 (R). BMC 471. BNC 502.
Acquired from Ken Dorney, January 2020. Ex Agora Auctions Sale 84, 4 September 2019, lot 187. Ex CNG E314, 6 November 2013, lot 364.
Titus' daughter Julia Titi was granted the title Augusta sometime in 80 or 81 during his reign. After Titus' death she lived with her uncle Domitian at the imperial residence. In 90 or 91 AD she died and was deified by Domitian, this was commemorated on the coinage. The ancient sources are quick to malign her reputation in the name of smearing Domitian. It is said she had an ongoing affair with Domitian and became pregnant. She then was forced by Domitian to abort the baby and died during the attempted abortion sometime in 90 or 91. The Flavian historian Brian Jones has called the supposed affair between Domitian and his niece Julia (some ten or eleven years his junior) and the subsequent forced abortion which killed her as \"implausible\" and \"nonsense\". Further he wrote \"Scholars seem not to have stressed one of the most significant factors in assessing the rumour's accuracy - Martial's epigram 6.3, written not long after Julia's death and deification. In it, he expresses the hope that Domitian will produce a son, implies that the baby's name will be Julius (6.3.1) and states that (the now deified) Julia will be able to watch over him (6.3.5). Martial was neither a hero or a fool. Had there been the slightest hint of an affair between emperor and niece, he would hardly have written those lines; had Julia's recent death been caused by an abortion forced on her by Domitian, would Martial have so far neglected the bounds of 'safe criticism' and common sense as to humiliate Domitia publicly, urging her to become pregnant, to give the child a name reminiscent of her husband's mistress and finally to remember that same mistress, now dead and deified (thanks to her husband), would be able to protect the child?\" No doubt, the Diva coins testify that Domitian felt great affection towards his niece, however, there is no evidence that they had an illicit love affair. The incestuous rumour was spread after Domitian's death.
This sestertius struck for Diva Julia Titi between 92 and 94 copies an early carpentum and mules type struck under Tiberius for Diva Livia and another under Titus struck for her grandmother Domitilla. It is the second issue of this type struck under Domitian and is slightly rarer than the earlier one produced in 90-91. In the early empire the carpentum was granted to ladies of the imperial house by the Senate as an imperial honour. It was frequently used to convey an image of the deceased Divae and to symbolise the event on the coinage. The style of the Diva Julia Titi sestertii are so similar to those of the earlier Memoriae Domitilla sestertii that the RIC authors speculate a few of the older Domitilla dies were recut for Julia's issues (p. 317, note). It's astonishing to think that the mint still had access to dies that were nearly a decade old and were able to re-use them for a new issue!
Dark brassy tone with some minor pitting.")
