With Victory in Judaea a Return to Tranquility

CNG 112, Lot: 610. Estimate $3000. Sold for $3750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Vespasian. AD 69-79. Æ Sestertius (33.5mm, 25.93 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 71. IMP CΛES VESPAS AVG P M TR P P P COS III, laureate head right / PAX AVGVSTI, S C in exergue, Pax, draped, standing right, holding branch in left hand and with torch in right setting fire to arms on ground right; to the left, a column, on which is a statue of Minerva fighting right, a shield and spear resting against it; to the right, a lighted altar. RIC II 241 (R2); BMCRE 553 note; BN 518. Black-green surfaces, hairline flan crack, a few minor flan flaws. VF. Very rare.

This most unorthodox representation of Pax belongs to the large and important series of aes issued in AD 71, the year that witnessed the joint triumph of Vespasian and Titus through the streets of Rome in celebration of their victory in Judaea. At this time, the Roman Empire had experienced five straight years of warfare, which had devastated the economy and threatened the very foundations of the empire. The goddess of peace here holds a flaming torch with which she sets fire to a heap of arms, the spoils of Rome's defeated enemies. This symbolic act was carried out in fulfillment of a vow undertaken to Rome's principal deities of war, Mars and Minerva. A statue of the latter appears atop a column accompanying the scene of celebration. The hope was that with the cessation of hostilities, the Roman people could now enjoy a period of tranquility under Flavian rule.