Vespasian, 69-79. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 34 mm, 26.71 g, 6 h), Rome, 71. IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS III Laureate head of Vespasian to right. Rev. IVDAEA CAPTA / S C Palm tree with two bunches of dates; to left, male captive standing right with his hands bound behind his back; behind him, two shields; to right, Judaea, draped and veiled, seated right on cuirass in attitude of mourning, resting her head on her left hand; at her feet to right, two shields. BMC 535 var. (differing arrangement of arms on reverse). Bromberg II 614. CBN 490. Cohen 234. Hendin 6530. RIC 159. Samel -. Shoshana -. Boldly struck and exceptionally well preserved. Somewhat smoothed and with very minor traces of corrosion, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.



This IVDAEA CAPTA sestertius develops the image of the defeated province into a fuller representation of Roman conquest. The mourning Judaea remains seated beneath the palm tree, but she is now joined by a standing male captive with his hands bound behind his back, while captured arms further emphasise the military character of the scene. In pairing a male prisoner with a female embodiment of the defeated land, the composition also recalls the late Republican and Imperatorial prototypes discussed above (see lot 354 above), particularly the victory types of Julius Caesar and C. Sosius. Under Vespasian, however, the formula is given a specifically Judaean character: the palm tree replaces the trophy as the central axis of the composition, while the legend IVDAEA CAPTA explicitly identifies the conquered province.

The two figures express different aspects of the same defeat: the prisoner represents the conquered enemy in human form, while Judaea embodies the land and its people as a whole. The composition therefore forms an important counterpart to the simpler types showing Judaea alone and, at the same time, points towards the still more explicitly imperial version in which the captive is replaced by Vespasian himself (see lots 364-366 below). There the relationship between conqueror and conquered is made direct; here, by contrast, the reverse remains entirely occupied by the defeated.