Thread by @DocCrom

Ancient Coin of the Day: A Flavian kick today, in particular the association that Domitian fostered between himself and the goddess Minerva, starting with this aureus of AD 82. #ACOTD #Domitian

Image: RIC 2.1 Domitian 138; British Museum (R.10756). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2_…

Domitian's association with Minerva is well known, with Dio (67.1.2) noting almost immediately that "of the gods, it was Athena (Minerva) that he most honoured". Indeed, Philostratos (Life of Apollonius of Tyre 7.24) goes so far as to note that Domitian suggested that he was...

...the son of Athena. Similarly, Martial (Epigram 14.179 - published ca AD 84/5) speaks of the fact that both Minerva and Domitian sport an aegis - the Gorgon's head - on their armour. As a goddess of wisdom and warfare, Minerva was a fine choice for a close affinity.

The Obverse of this coin shows a laureate head of Domitian, with the relatively modest Legend IMP CAES DOMITIANVS AVG P M - 'Emperor Caesar Domitian Augustus, Pontifex Maximus' - the explicit reference to his pontificate perhaps alluding to the 'wisdom' and 'auctoritas' .

The Reverse has a bust of Minerva, with helmet, aegis, and sceptre over the right shoulder, although the Legend TR POT IMP II COS VIII DES IX P P - 'Tribunician Power, hailed Imperator twice, Consul for the eighth time and designated so for the ninth, Father of the Fatherland'...

...simply continues the raft of official titles and positions that Domitian wished to advertise near to the beginning of his reign. But the association with Minerva was one that would endure throughout Domitian's reign.

As late as AD 95/6 Domitian continued to issue coinage with Minerva as a focal image, such as this denarius which seems to allude to a particular Temple of Minerva, showing a statue of the goddess in a tetrastyle temple.

Image: RIC 2.1 Domitian 814. Link -numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2_…

Similarly, on this bronze semis of AD 88/89, we see both a bust of Minerva and a Reverse featuring an owl - Minerva's sacred bird - again linking the emperor to this deity.

Image: RIC 2.1 Domitian 651. Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2_…

We should not be surprised by this, however, given Minerva's associations with warfare, wisdom, as well as the arts and culture, she was the most natural choice of a patron deity for a Princeps who pursued those self-same endeavours.

For more on Domitian and Minerva, see:

TOOHEY, PETER. “Jason, Pallas and Domitian in Valerius Flaccus' ‘Argonautica.’” Illinois Classical Studies, vol. 18, 1993, pp. 191–201.

jstor.org/stable/23064445

#ACOTD #Domitian