Domitian, as Caesar, 69-81. Aureus (Gold, 19 mm, 7.25 g, 6 h), Rome, 77-78. CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS Laureate head of Domitian to right. Rev. COS V Captive kneeling to right, extending his left hand and offering a vexillum in an act of submission. BMC 231. Calicó 819. Cohen 48. RIC 959. Beautifully toned, well struck and with a splendid portrait. Nearly extremely fine.


In 75, the Parthian King Vologases I applied to Vespasian for help against an Alan invasion (Cass. Dio. 65.15.3). However, the emperor declined and a full-scale war between the two superpowers was only avoided through the careful maneuvering of Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, the governor of Syria and father of the future emperor Trajan. The reverse of this beautiful aureus likely refers to these events by copying an Augustan type that commemorated the recovery of Crassus' legionary eagles from the Parthians almost a full century earlier.