117, Lot: 235. Estimate $300. Sold for $700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

DOMITIAN. 81-96 AD. Æ Sestertius (36mm, 25.38 g). Rome mint. Struck 88 AD. Laureate head right / COS XIIII LVD SAEC, Domitian seated right on stool set on low platform; citizens standing left, offering "fruges" which they pour onto the ground; temple in background. RIC II 375; BMCRE 419; Cohen 82. Near VF, even brown-black patina.

From the RLS Collection.

The Ludi Saeculares of 88 AD was an event that was one of the few highlights of Domitian's principate, and the coin types celebrating them are among the most interesting of Domitian's coinage. Combining architectural and ritual motifs, the principal types appeared on his aes denominations, and commemorate most of the major events of the occasion. These inculde: the preparatory ceremony, the distribution of purifying elements (suffimenta) to the people; the sacrifice of the first night, of a black sheep and goat to the Fates; the second day's dictating to the matrons by the emperor of the prayer to Juno; and third day's choral procession of unmarried young people in honor of Apollo and Diana. Some events remain uncertain. The locality of each of these events is indicated by the temple appearing in the background of most of the scenes, but only a few are identifiable with certainty.