Vespasian, 69-79. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 34 mm, 26.61 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, 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 543-7. Bromberg II 611. CBN 498. Cohen 239. Hendin 6534. RIC 167. Samel 2295-9. Shoshana -. A magnificent example of this prestigious issue, undoubtedly among the finest known. Beautifully preserved, with a delightful, even olive-green patina and excellent reverse detail. Small scratch and minor spot of corrosion on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine.



Among the most powerful designs of the Judaea Capta series, this sestertius represents a major change in the visual language of the Flavian victory. On the familiar captive-and-Judaea reverses (see lots 358-362 above), Roman conquest is expressed primarily through the defeated: a male prisoner and the seated female personification of Judaea arranged on either side of the palm tree. Here, however, the male captive has disappeared and is replaced by Vespasian himself. The composition is no longer simply an image of captivity, but a direct confrontation between the victorious emperor and the defeated province.

Vespasian stands in military dress, holding spear and parazonium and resting one foot upon a captured helmet. The pose draws on the traditional imagery of Roman military virtue and command, while the palm tree remains the central marker of Judaea. Opposite the emperor, Judaea sits at ground level, creating a deliberate contrast between standing and seated, armed and unarmed, victor and vanquished. The result is not a literal representation of the triumph, but a concentrated image of imperial victory in which Vespasian himself has become the dominant figure.

This emphasis on Vespasian is particularly significant. Jerusalem had been captured by Titus in 70 CE, but under Roman imperial ideology the victory ultimately belonged to the emperor under whose auspices the campaign had been fought. The same idea was later expressed explicitly in the inscription of the now lost Arch of Titus in the Circus Maximus, which credited Titus with subduing the Jewish people praeceptis patris consiliisque et auspiciis – 'under his father's instructions, guidance and auspices' (CIL VI 944). The reverse of the present sestertius gives visual form to precisely this principle: Titus may have commanded the final siege, but Vespasian appears as the ultimate victor.

Struck in 71 CE, the coin also belongs to the year of the great joint triumph of Vespasian and Titus at Rome. Josephus describes how the Senate had originally granted separate triumphs, but father and son chose to celebrate a single triumph together; in the procession itself, Vespasian took precedence, followed by Titus (Josephus, B.J. 7.123-152). More tellingly, Josephus saw the celebrations as marking not only victory over an external enemy, but also 'the end ... of their civil miseries' (B.J. 7.157). The Judaean victory thus allowed the new dynasty to replace the memory of civil war with the image of victory over a foreign enemy.

The present type gives direct visual expression to that message. Judaea is no longer merely shown among the captives of Rome: she is placed directly before the emperor who claims her defeat as his own. In our exceptionally well-preserved sestertius, the contrast between the commanding figure of Vespasian and the seated province is particularly striking, offering a wonderful illustration of this important development within the Judaea Capta series.