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TVTELA AVGVSTI: a new sestertius type for Vespasian in 71

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curtislclay:
The type TVTELA AVGVSTI S C, Tutela seated left, reaching her hands to a small togate figure standing behind her and a draped female (?) figure standing before her, has so far been known only on dupondii of Vitellius in 69 and of Vespasian in 71.

Vitellius: one rev. die, attested with two varieties of his obv. legend. Paris 114, pl. XXVI; E. and F. Krupp, The Tutela Type of Vitellius, Num. Chron. 1961, pp. 129-30 and pl. XVI. These two dupondii of Vitellius were erroneously omitted in Sutherland's revised RIC I of 1984.

Vespasian: two rev. dies, both different die than the one known for Vitellius, coupled with the standard dupondius obv. type of Vespasian in 71 (COS III). First die: RIC 282 (R2), pl. 27 (Oxford spec.); BMC 527, pl. 19.17 (obv. legend tooled to COS II). Second die: BMC 596, pl. 23.6; Paris 572-3, pl. LI.

Recently I was able to acquire a previously unknown sestertius of Vespasian with the same rev. type, coupled with the VESPASIAN...COS III obv. legend of c. spring-summer 71, from London Ancient Coins 3, 27 April 2011, lot 184, 35 mm, 25.30g (25.37g in the catalogue), die axis inverted (6h); see the dealer's image below. I am grateful to the Flavian specialist collector Harry Sneh for alerting me to this piece!

curtislclay:
Colin Kraay in his unpublished Oxford dissertation knew the obv. die of my new coin, his A32, coupled with four rev. dies: SPQR ADSERTORI LIBERTATIS PVBLICAE in wreath, IVDAEA CAPTA, and two MARS VICTOR. For examples see BMC pl. 33.1 (IVDAEA CAPTA) and RIC pl. 22, 175 (MARS VICTOR).

One of those same two MARS VICTOR rev. dies had been taken over from Vitellius, which made me think that maybe the new TVTELA AVGVSTI sestertius rev. die was a Vitellian die too, though the type has not yet been recorded for Vitellius on a sestertius!

On the other hand, since Vespasian's mint apparently cut its own dupondius die with this type, it might have cut its own sestertius die too, rather than just taking over a hypothetical Vitellian die.

It's a shame that the rev. of my new sestertius is more banged up than the obverse, and in particular that the important word TVTELA of the legend is so unclear; all one can make out is a rather small T...A at 9:30 and 11:30 o'clock respectively. It will be nice if a second example of this sestertius with clear rev. legend turns up someday!

curtislclay:
Cohen suggested a dynastic interpretation of this TVTELA AVGVSTI rev. type: Vitellius seated with his two children, one boy and one girl, under Vitellius; Domitilla, Vespasian's deceased wife, seated with her sons Titus and Domitian under Vespasian.

Mattingly, in BMC, p. xliv, modified Cohen's interpretation: "Cohen can hardly be right in identifying the woman with Domitilla, but the children seem to stand for Titus and Domitian, and Tutela is the guardian care of the Emperor that watches over his sons."

However, I prefer Mattingly's alternate interpretation, which he explains in a footnote:

"Or the children might represent citizens and Tutela would then be the Emperor's ward over his subjects. Cf. Suetonius, Divus Vespasianus, 5, an omen that portended 'desertam rem p. civili aliqua perturbatione in tutelam eius ac velut in gremium deventuram' ['that the Roman state, abandoned because of some civil agitation, would fall under his protection (tutela) and as it were into his lap']....Martial (v.1.7ff.) addresses Domitian as 'o rerum felix tutela salusque / sospite quo gratum credimus esse Iovem' [O happy protector (tutela) and savior of our affairs, whose continuing good health makes us believe that Jupiter is on our side']."

These quotes, and others that Mattingly indicates in the same note, show that 'tutela' was commonly used in Vespasian's day to mean the emperor's solicitous care for his subjects. Plus, the few later appearances of a Tutela type on Roman coins, under Tetricus I and Carausius, do not include children and seem to refer to governing not childrearing.

Other coin types that DO refer to imperial offspring never show Tutela, but rather the empress, Juno, Fecunditas, Pietas, Felicitas, Concordia or the like. One might also wonder whether Titus and Domitian still needed parenting from Vespasian in 71: both were already grown men, aged 31 and 20, and Titus had captured Jersualem the year before and was about to be granted imperium and the tribunician power and made virtually co-emperor with Vespasian, with whom he then celebrated a triumph over the Jews in July 71!

ancientdave:
Very, very interesting stuff, Curtis. Thanks for sharing this.

David Atherton:
Congratulations on a fascinating purchase Curtis!

This early period in Vespasian's reign is so numismatically fascinating...and that coin is a good example of why. Thanks for sharing it.

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