Titus, as Caesar (AD 79-81). AV aureus (20mm, 7.24 gm, 1h). NGC Choice XF 5/5 - 5/5. Rome, AD 73. T CAES IMP-VESP CEN, laureate head of Titus right / PAX-AVG, Pax standing facing, head left, resting left elbow on column and cradling palm branch in left arm, caduceus in right hand pointed at Mercury's purse on tripod to left. Calicó 744. RIC II.1 551. Well-centered strike on a tight flan. This coin enjoys brilliant surfaces on an amber toned flan with hints of reddish hues throughout. The elder son of Vespasian, Flavius Titus Vespasianus was born in AD 41 and seemed marked out for the life of an upper middle-class civil servant in the mold of his father. Vespasian won glory as a general during Claudius' invasion of Britain, and Titus grew into an intelligent, handsome, and charming young man who became his father's second in command for the Judaean campaign of AD 66-69. When Nero's regime collapsed in Rome, Vespasian seized the throne and Titus took over direction of the Judaean war, which culminated in the storming of Jerusalem in AD 70. Returning to Rome at the head of several legions, Titus was suspected of planning a coup, but he warmly greeted his father and was granted a stupendous triumph. Titus next served as Praetorian Prefect and was utterly ruthless in protecting his family's stranglehold on power. When Vespasian died in AD 79 and Titus was proclaimed emperor, many feared he would be another Nero or Caligula. But he soon emerged as an uncommonly benevolent ruler. This coin is likely the product of the spoilia from Titus' victory over Judaea during the Jewish War. The Flavians minted their Judaea Capta coinage from the beginning of Vespasian's reign through AD 73, the year that this coin was minted. The reverse image features an array of attributes not normally associated with Pax. She has the column of Securitas, the caduceus of Felicitas, which points at purse of Mercury. This amalgamation of different personifications was likely a way to display the health and wealth of the Empire under the Flavian reign. HID09801242017 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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