Lot 3057

Description

Domitian, (A.D. 81-96), issue struck at Rome in A.D.92-94, AE sestertius, obv. IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XVI CENS PER PP, head laureate to right, rev. S C, Domitian standing to left, being crowned by Victory, (S.-, RIC 403, C.514). Attractive dark green patina, nearly very fine and rare.

Emperors were rarely represented as gods on the coinage, and the portrayal of Domitian with attributes of Jupiter seems to go further than ordinary taste would allow. It is the best numismatic evidence for the vanity and megalomania ascribed to Domitian by the literary sources.