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 counterclockwise)

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 you're 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 "goatskin" in ancient Greek which explains the close connection between the two in myth.

And now you learned something new!