Ave!

Domitian, Denarius, First among the Young Men reverse

AR; 17mm/3.03gm    Rome Mint - Struck under Titus, c. 80 AD

Con/ Soft strike on the reverse with a worn die, otherwise, about Very Fine with mint luster.

Obv/ CAESAR DIVI F DOMITIANVS COS II; laureate head right (legend counter-clock wise)

Rev/ PRINCEPS IVVENTVTIS (= First among the Young Men); goat standing left, within laurel wreath. This legend refers to Domitian as the heir-apparent

Ref/ RIC Vol II, 267 (Titus) rated Scarce

Seller's Note/ You may be asking yourself about the goat on the reverse. Was Titus insulting his younger brother by comparing him to a goat? Not! The goat within the wreath is the famous Cretan goat,Amalthea.

Just in case your not familiar with Greek/Roman mythology, Amalthea was the she-goat nurse of the god Zeus (Roman Jupiter) who nourished him with milk in a cave on Mount Dikte (Dicte) in Krete (Crete). When the god reached maturity he created his thunder-shield (the aigis) from her hide and the horn of plenty (cornucopia or keras amaltheias) from her crown. According to some Amaltheia was a nymph rather than a goat. Amaltheia was placed amongst the stars as the constellation Capra--the stellar group surrounding Capella on the arm (ôlenê) of the Auriga the Charioteer. The "goat on the arm" no doubt represented the stormy aigis-shield of Zeus which in classical art was sometimes depicted as a tasseled hide slung across his arm. The rising of Capella marked the onset of stormy weather for the Greeks. The word aigis means both "stormy weather" and "goat-skin" in ancient Greek which explains the close connection between the two in myth.

And now you learned something new!