438, Lot: 501. Estimate $150. Sold for $280. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Domitian. AD 81-96. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.16 g, 6h). Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games) issue. Rome mint. Struck 14 September-31 December AD 88. IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR VIII, laureate head right / Cippus inscribed with COS/XIIII/LVD/SAEC/FEC in fiven lines; to right, herald standing left, holding wand and shield; candelabrum between. RIC II 601; RSC 73. Near VF, toned, some light smoothing/cleaning scratches.

Ex Tony Hardy Collection (Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 120, 10 August 2005), lot 110 .

After Augustus was dead, these games (i.e., Secular Games) were celebrated by Claudius, without any regard to the due time. After him, Domitian, who paid no regard to what Claudius had done, computed the years from the time when Augustus kept the festival, and seemed to observe their original institution. (Zosimus, Historia Nova, 2).

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, marking Rome’s fifth saeculum. 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. Honoring the original system for the celebration of the games, Domitan held the Ludi Saeculares in October AD 88, coming close to the traditional 110-year standard.

Heralds were sent out to announce the games and invite the populace to attend.