Vespasian, 69-79. Aureus (Gold, 20 mm, 7.12 g, 12 h), Rome, 73. IMP CAES VESP AVG P M COS IIII CEN Laureate head of Vespasian to right. Rev. VESTA Front view of round tetrastyle Temple of Vesta with standing statue of Vesta in center; on either side, statues. BMC 107. Calicó 690a. Cohen 578. RIC 515. A lovely piece with a beautiful rendering of the Temple of Vesta. Minor traces of mounting and with a few light scratches on the obverse, otherwise, very 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 elegant aureus of Vespasian commemorates the emperor’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'.