Pre-Long Beach Auction #90

Vespasian. Æ Sestertius (26.22 g), AD 69-79. 'Judaea Capta' type. Rome, AD 71. IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS III, laureate head of Vespasian right. Reverse: IVDAEA CAPTA, S C in exergue, palm tree; to left, emperor standing right, foot on helmet, holding spear and parazonium; to right, Jewess in attitude of mourning seated right on cuirass. RIC 167; BMC 543; BN 497-8; Hendin 1504. Beautiful dark green patina. A magnificent specimen! Superb Extremely Fine.

The elements of the reverse type include a palm-tree flanked on the left by the emperor, with his foot on a helmet, and on the right, by the personified Judaea, seated to right on a cuirass. In the scene, the emperor is representative of the vast power of Rome. His foot on a helmet of the defeated enemy and his large parazonium symbolize the might of the dominant victor. The emperor is drawn on a much larger scale than is the much more diminutively wrought personified Judaea. The downcast Judaea is seated upon a cuirass, which here represents the spoils of her defeated army. Her pose connotes the humiliation of destruction, captivity and exile. This image was designed both as an exultation of the empire and as a warning to any other province that might be contemplating rebellion.
Estimated Value $30,000-UP.
Ex NAC 40 (16 May 2007), 679.