The John Bitner Collection of Secular Games Coinage – The Secular Games under Domitian, AD 88

CNG 84, Lot: 996. Estimate $300. Sold for $800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Domitian. AD 81-96. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.59 g, 6h). Secular Games issue. Rome mint. Struck AD 88. Laureate head right / COS XIIII LVD · SAEC · FEC, herald advancing left, wearing feathered cap and holding wand and shield. RIC II 596; RSC 76/77. Good VF, toned, traces of deposits.

From the John Bitner Collection. Ex Philip DeVicci Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 54, 14 June 2000), lot 1532.

Classical Numismatic Group is pleased to present a selection of coinage from the John Bitner Collection of the Secular Games. This collection is comprised mostly from the issues of Domitian, Antoninus Pius, and Philip I, with a few issues from the Severan period as well. A further selection of the collection will by offered concurrently by CNG in Electronic Auction 233, opening 28 April and closing 26 May, on our website, www.cngcoins.com.

A religious ceremony involving various sacrifices and theatrical performances, the Ludi Saeculares, or Secular Games, were allegedly first celebrated early in Rome’s history in response to a pestilence which afflicted the city. After a number of sacrifices to Pluto and Proserpine, the plague was said to have ceased, and the sacrifices, along with other events, were added to ensuing ceremonies. These latter celebrations were set to occur for three days and nights to mark the end of one saeculum and the beginning of the next, with a saeculum being between 100 and 110 years, believed to be the longest possible human lifespan.

In accordance with this tradition, Augustus celebrated the Ludi Saeculares in 17 BC, roughly 110 years since the last games. During the reign of Claudius, however, this tradition was broken, as Claudius believed the occasion for the events was to be celebrated at the end of each century since Rome’s founding, rather than the 110-year intervals of the past. Therefore, the games were celebrated again in AD 47, signifying the 800th anniversary of her founding, and establishing the ‘Augustan’ and ‘Claudian’ systems for the games’ celebration.

Domitian, returning the Augustan system, celebrated the Ludi Saeculares in AD 88, a practice which was followed by Septimius Severus in AD 204 (220 since the events under Augustus). Reviving the Claudian system, however, were Antoninus Pius and Philip I, in AD 148 and 248, respectively, culminating with the 1,000th anniversary of the city’s founding during the latter.

The Secular Games under Domitian, AD 88
Honoring the original system for the celebration of the games, Domitian held the Ludi Saeculares in October AD 88, coming close to the traditional 110-year standard. The reverses of the gold and silver issues typically employ a herald of the games, while the bronze issues convey the various events which occurred before and during the celebration. The legend LVDi SAECulares FECit is used throughout, and conveys the emperor as bringing the celebration of the games to the city.

The reverse type employed on these issues is alluded to by a passage in Suetonius in which heralds are described as going around the city, inviting people to a spectacle which “ ... [they] had never seen and would not see again.” He also states the fallacy of this event however, since the games had just been held 40 years earlier during the reign of Claudius in a break from past celebrations.