Vespasian, 69 – 79. Sestertius 71, Æ 27.35 g. IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS III Laureate head r. Rev. PAX – AVGVSTI Pax standing r., setting fire to arms near lighted altar; to l., column surmounted by statue of Minerva, flanked by shield and lance. In exergue, S – C. C 336. BMC 553. RIC 241. CBN 518.
Extremely rare and a very interesting issue. A bold portrait of fine style and
a lovely brown tone. Minor areas of weakness and small metal flaws,
otherwise good very fine

When this remarkable sestertius was struck Vespasian had much to celebrate. The Roman world was finally at peace, with the emperor having scored victories over rebels in Judaea and Germany and brought an end to the enormously destructive civil war of 68-69. The reverse shows Pax raising an olive branch as she sets fire to a pile of enemy armour set beside a lighted, garlanded altar. In the background a shield and spear rest against a column topped by a statuette of Minerva, goddess of war, shown in her canonical pose, striding with raised shield and spear. Rome mint sestertii from 71 represent a turning point in Flavian propaganda, in which the themes shift from principally civil war rhetoric to an expanded range of ideas. The coinage was struck in a great variety, and on a massive scale that Carradice and Buttrey describe as overshadowing all subsequent issues. Mattingly recognized this as a special year for Rome-mint bronzes in which the designs celebrated the end of hostilities, the foundation of a dynasty, and the inauguration of a new political program. On this coin the inscription promotes Vespasian as a pacifier, to which end, in this same year, he began construction of his great temple of Pax, which was completed four years later. To some degree, a reference to the Jewish War must have been intended with this type. The hostilities had ended with Titus’ capture of Jerusalem in September, 70, and a few months later, in June, 71, the Flavian triumph was held in Rome: Jewish captives, war booty and treasures from the Temple were paraded through the streets. This sestertius would have entered circulation soon after the people of Rome had witnessed the triumph, and Jewish War commemoratives were struck alongside this type. The triumph had ended with a ceremony at the Temple of Janus, at which its doors were closed in a rare acknowledgement of universal peace in the empire. Though the most immediate connection for this coin type may have been the Jewish War, other extraordinary events must have been equally represented. The revolt of Batavians sparked by Julius Civilis late in 69 was a grave concern. During the conflict, two Roman legions in Germany had surrendered to the rebels, a third was massacred by its German auxiliaries, and the rebels destroyed all of the legionary fortifications along the Rhine as far south as Mainz. Vespasian was finally able to defeat Civilis late in 70, not long before this sestertius was struck. Perhaps most significant of all, however, was the end of the civil war of 68-69, which had nursed most every division within Roman society. The destruction of Roman life and property was on a scale unknown since the wars of Antony and Octavian a century before, and it was only with the accession of Vespasian that the war came to an end. With this Pax type, Rome’s new emperor momentarily pauses to commemorate peace in the empire before he, once again, turned his focus to the daunting task of rebuilding an empire that had been shaken to its very foundation.