2021-06-23 Wed

Emperor Vespasian was the fourth and last in the ‘year of the four emperors’. He founded the Flavian dynasty and ruled the Roman Empire for nearly 9 years.

In 69CE, the Vespasian army defeated the armies of Vitellius. This event ended the simultaneous accession of the four kings on the Roman throne. After, Vespasian’s accession to the throne, the civil war in Rome came to an end.

The coinage of Vespasian consists of various denominations i.e. Sestarius, AS, Drahma, Denarius, Dupondius, Didramn, etc. The above-shown gold Aureus depicts the laureate head of Domitian facing right with a legend "CAES AVG F DOMIT COS II”. The reverse of this coin depicts the goddess, Fortuna.

Vespasian devalues the denarius during his reign. He reduced the silver purity from 93.5 to 90 percent. Thus, the weight of the silver coin was reduced from 2.97 grams to 2.87 grams. Emperor Vespasian helped rebuild Rome after the civil war. He constructed monuments like the statue of Apollo, Theater of Marcellus, he also began the construction of the Colosseum.

After Vespasian's death, his son Titus became the second king of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire for 27 years.

Image Source: Wikipedia.org