Vespasian, 69-79. Denarius (Silver, 19 mm, 3.33 g, 6 h), Rome, July 77-December 78. CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG Laureate head of Vespasian to right. Rev. IMP XIX The Lavinian Sow standing left with three piglets, two standing below her, one behind her. BMC 212. Cohen 213. RIC 982. Minor deposits, otherwise, good very fine.



According to the Aeneid (3.389-393), the great Trojan seer, Helenos, prophesized that Aeneas would found a city on the spot where a huge, milk-white sow was suckling thirty piglets in a grove, a prophecy later repeated by Tiberinus (Aeneid 8.42-48). Indeed, upon reaching Italy, Aeneas would eventually find the sow, whom he dutifully sacrificed to Juno. In the same spot he would found the city of Lavinium, named for his wife, Lavinia, the daughter of king Latinus. His son, Ascanius, would later found Alba Longa in the area, named after the white ('alba' in Latin) sow. This city in turn was the birthplace of Romulus and Remus, who would of course go on to found Rome itself, thus linking the city to the illustrious Trojan past.