Vespasian, 69-79. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 36 mm, 25.54 g, 7 h), Lugdunum, 72. IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS IIII Laureate head of Vespasian to right, small globe at point of bust. Rev. IVDAEA CAPTA / S C Palm tree with two bunches of dates; to left, Vespasian standing right in military attire, resting his left foot on helmet, holding spear in his right hand and parazonium in his left; to right, Judaea, draped and veiled, seated right on cuirass in attitude of mourning, resting her head on her left hand. BMC 812. Bromberg -. CBN 814. Cohen -. Giard 63.4 (this coin). Hendin 6574. RIC 1181. Samel -. Shoshana -. Very rare and with an exceptional portrait. Slightly smoothed and with minor traces of corrosion, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.



The exceptionally fine portrait on the present sestertius offers a particularly forceful example of Vespasian’s new imperial image. With its massive neck, heavy features, prominent nose and determined expression, it stands in marked contrast to the youthful idealization that had characterised the portraits of Augustus and, to varying degrees, his Julio-Claudian successors. Vespasian appears neither ageless nor conventionally handsome, but as a mature and experienced ruler whose authority is expressed through physical presence and strength.

The immediate precedent can be found in the coinage of Galba, whose stern and strongly individualised portraits had already broken sharply with the idealising tradition of the Julio-Claudians in 68-69 CE. Under Vespasian, however, this harder portrait style became the lasting image of a new dynasty and also recalled the veristic traditions of Republican portraiture. Its apparent realism should not be mistaken for the absence of artistic or political intent: age, heavy features and an uncompromising expression could themselves communicate gravitas, military experience and authority.

Such qualities were particularly appropriate for an emperor who had emerged from the civil wars of 69 CE and whose claim to rule rested to a large extent on his standing as an experienced commander and restorer of order. They also suited the image of the victor in Judaea: the general who had begun the suppression of the revolt and whose dynasty now presented that victory as the defining military achievement of the new regime.