240 | Roman Empire

Automatically generated translation

DOMITIAN. Denarius. (Ar. 3.49g / 19mm). 88-89 AD Rome. (RIC 670). Anv: Laureate bust of Domitian on the right, around legend: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM PM TR P VIII. Rev: Minerva left standing carrying spear, around legend: IMP XIX COS XIIII CENS PP P. Good Extremely Fine. Beautiful rare specimen as well.

Probably after Caligula and Nero, Domitian was the most reviled emperor in classical historiography. A vision that modern historiography tries to, if not dismantle, at least qualify. And it is that, although he was presented as a cruel, ruthless and even sadistic autocrat, the Roman people had little reason to hate him; not so the Senate, but that is another issue. After his death, he suffered the so-called Damnatio Memoriae or what is the same to erase any trace of his time through the government of Rome that included, among other actions, the demolition of statues or the elimination of all his images or inscriptions in public spaces both in Rome and in the Empire. With him the Flavian dynasty was extinguished, the shortest in the history of Rome whose duration was only 27 years.