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Domitian, 13 September 81 - 18 September 96 A.D.
Apollo's most famous attribute is the tripod, the symbol of his prophetic powers. It was in the guise of a dolphin that Apollo brought priests from Crete to Delphi, explaining Apollo's cult title "Delphinios" and the name of the town. He dedicated a bronze tripod to the sanctuary and bestowed divine powers on one of the priestesses, and she became known as the "Pythia." It was she who inhaled the hallucinating vapors from the fissure in the temple floor, while she sat on a tripod chewing laurel leaves. After she mumbled her answer, a male priest would translate it for the supplicant. Depictions of Pythia's seat vary greatly because the seats were given away as prizes and replaced. Apparently the designs changed.RS94288. Silver denarius, BMCRE II p. 302, 22 & pl. 59, 15 (same rev. die); RIC II-1 p. 269, 74; BnF III 19; Hunter I 9; RSC 568c var. (ravens on tripod); SRCV I -, Choice VF, toned, flow lines, Rome mint, weight 3.070g, maximum diameter 18.1mm, die axis 180o, 13 Sep - 31 Dec 81 A.D.; obverse IMP CAES DOMITIANVS AVG P M, laureate head right; reverse TR P COS VII DES VIII P P, tripod lebes, ornamented with fillets flying out left and right, lion paw feet, and loop handles above the bowl, surmounted by Pythia's seat with a dolphin backrest; ex Numismatik Naumann Auction 76 (7 Apr 2019), lot 399; SOLD
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