Titus, as Caesar, 69-79. Aureus (Gold, 20 mm, 7.09 g, 12 h), Rome, struck under Vespasian, 73. T CAES IMP VESP CENS Laureate head of Titus to right. Rev. VESTA Front view of round tetrastyle Temple of Vesta with standing statue of Vesta in center; on either side, statues. BMC 120. Calicó 795. Cohen 348. RIC 558. Rare and with an interesting architectural reverse. Traces of mounting and slightly bent, otherwise, fine.


The domed Temple of Vesta, with its distinctive circular floor plan, stood in the Roman Forum and housed the sacred hearth fire of Rome. This eternal flame was tended by the Vestal Virgins, whose principal duty was to ensure that it never went out - its continued burning was believed to be essential for the safety and prosperity of the city. Over the centuries, the temple suffered damage and destruction multiple times and had to be rebuilt on several occasions.

Its appearance on this aureus of Titus commemorates Vespasian's restoration and rededication of the temple after it was destroyed in the Great Fire of 64 during Nero’s reign. Ancient sources famously accuse Nero of theatrical behavior during the disaster - claiming that he stood on the city’s walls dressed in stage costume, reciting lines about the fall of Troy while playing a stringed instrument called the cithara, which resembled the later medieval lute. The medieval Latin word for lute, fidicula, eventually gave rise to the English term 'fiddle', lending some playful credence to the enduring expression that 'Nero fiddled while Rome burned'.