Titus Caesar, 69-79 Aureus circa 76, AV 19.5mm., 7.10g. T CAESAR IMP VESPASIANVS Laureate head r. Rev. COS V Cow walking r. RIC Vespasian 188. BMC Vespasian 187. C 53. CBN Vespasian 164. Vagi 983. Calicó 734.

Very Fine.

Augustus greatly admired Greek art, philosophy and culture, and was not shy about confiscating works of art in Greece and relocating them in Rome. His fancy even extended to Egyptian culture, and he even brought many obelisks to Rome. Quite famous among the Greek works of art Augustus acquired were four massive bronze sculptures of bulls cast in the mid-5th Century B.C. by the renowned Eleutheraean sculptor Myron. Augustus took the sculptures from their traditional home in Athens and placed them before his Temple of Apollo on the Palatine, which he consecrated in 28 B.C. in commemoration of his victory at Actium. Not only were Myron's cows among the most successful experimentations in post-Archaic Greek bronze sculpture, but the association of the bull with the sea-god Neptune (Poseidon) could not have been lost on Augustus, who was still basking in post-Actian glory. As a coin type the standing cow, or bullock, first occurs under Augustus about a year after Myron's originals had been relocated to Rome. Subsequently it is recycled by Vespasian and Titus both of whom we know were fond not only of Augustan types, but also 'animal' types in general (they also depicted a butting bull, a sow, yoked oxen, a Capricorn, the she-wolf and twins, and a she-goat milked by a goatherd).