Sestertius (Coin) Portraying Emperor Domitian (88): Artwork and History

Sestertius (Coin) Portraying Emperor Domitian (88) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Roman.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

This coin commemorates Emperor Domitian's celebration of the Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games) in Rome in 88 CE. The front (obverse) of the coin portrays the head of the emperor Domitian, facing right. On the back, Domitian is shown seated on a low platform inscribed SVF P D, reaching out to a standing citizen, who extends his hand; a child stands between them with hands raised and a tetrastyle temple is shown in the background. The scene depicts the distribution of suffimenta (materials for the ritual purification of private homes) at a tetrastyle temple.

Object facts

• Title: Sestertius (Coin) Portraying Emperor Domitian
• Date: 88
• Artist attribution: Roman
• Place of origin: Roman Empire
• Medium: Bronze
• Dimensions: Diam.: 3.6 cm (1 7/16 in.)
• Type: Coin
• Department: Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
• Reference number: 1923.1320

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. William Nelson Pelouze

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.