Domitian, 81-96. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 34 mm, 25.43 g, 6 h), Rome, 85. IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XI CENS POT P P Laureate head of Domitian to right, with aegis on his left shoulder. Rev. S C Pax standing front, head to left, setting fire to pile of arms with torch held in her right hand and holding cornucopiae in her left. BMC -, cf. 329 (S C in field). CBN 353. Cohen -. RIC 363. Very rare. A beautiful coin with an illustrious pedigree and an unusual representation of Pax. Minor smoothing and the obverse struck slightly off center, otherwise, good very fine.



This beautiful sestertius presents an unusual image of Pax, the personification of Peace: she carries a cornucopiae as a symbol of prosperity while, with a torch, she sets fire to a heap of arms. Struck in 85, the coin refers to Domitian’s victories in the wars against the Chatti, which consolidated Rome’s position along the Rhine and in the same year brought about the establishment of the two new provinces, Germania Superior and Germania Inferior. In so doing, the emperor proclaimed the long-standing 'German question', smouldering since the age of Augustus, to be finally resolved. Tacitus, writing after Domitian’s death, would later mock such reports of Roman success with the famous remark tam diu Germania vincitur ('for so long has Germany been in the process of being conquered'), yet the Rhine frontier appears to have remained largely stable and peaceful until the Severan period - a testament to the durability of Domitian’s successes and his reorganisation of the frontier.