Domitian, 81-96.
AR Denarius , Rome, September 93-September 94.
Obverse: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P XIII Laureate head of Domitian to right.
Reverse: IMP XXII COS XVI CENS P P P Minerva standing front, head to left, holding thunderbolt in her right hand and spear in her left; behind her, shield set on the ground.
Reference: BMC 218. Cohen 283. RIC 763.
Size: 19 mm. Weight: 3.52 g, 6 h)
Attractive toning. The reverse die somewhat worn, otherwise, very fine.
History:
The worship of Minerva is prominent in the Forum of Domitian. Minerva was Domitian’s favorite deity; Domitian’s rule followed that of two other Flavians, and he needed a strong claim to a dynastic right to rule. The patronage of Minerva provided that claim, with her role as part of the Capitoline triad, the origin of her cult in the Sabine region, and her association with the palladium. The advantages of Minerva’s favor are heavily stressed on what survives of the forum's frieze, which projects over the Colonacce. The frieze depicts women performing female household tasks such as spinning and weaving associated with the goddess, including the climax of the myth of Arachne. The choice in subject matter was unusual; Adriano la Regina notes that iconography of matronly virtues was normally reserved for private spheres, and d’Ambra mentions that the fora of Julius Caesar, Trajan, and Augustus tend towards imagery of military triumph and imperial dominion. However, the choice reflects Domitian’s programs of moral and religious reform, which stressed Augustan themes of piety, marriage legislation, cultural renewal, and the mores maiorum. Martial himself names Domitian as the reason Rome is chaste. And the downfall of Arachne serves as an exemplum impietatis, an example of impiety, of the dangers of arrogance against the gods.
Collezione : 1. Roman Emperors in Silver