coins (also spelled , and, on many of the coins, ) were a series of commemorative coins originally issued by the Roman Emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

to celebrate the capture of Judaea and the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple by his son

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September AD 81) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, becoming the first Roman emperor ever to succeed h ...

in AD 70 during the First Jewish Revolt. There are several variants of the coinage. The reverse of the coins may show a female seated right in an attitude of mourning at the base of a palm tree, with either a captive bearded male standing left, with his hands bound behind his back, or the standing figure of the victorious emperor, or the goddess Victoria, with a

trophy A trophy is a tangible, decorative item used to remind of a specific achievement, serving as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most commonly awarded for sports, sporting events, ranging from youth sports to professional level athlet ...

of weapons, shields, and helmets to the left. At the bottom of some coins appear the initials SC which stand for 'by decree of the senate' - the emperor controlled gold and silver coins, and copper alloy coins were controlled by the senate to guarantee their value.

Inscription and imagery

The inscription appears in several versions, ("Judaea as beenconquered"/"conquered Judaea"), in rare cases the harsher or ("Judaea as beendefeated"/"defeated Judaea"), and also (" he bootyfrom the Judaeans") and ("Judaea"). The inscription may also be in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, IOYΔAIAΣ EAΛΩKYIAΣ (''Ioudaias Healōkyias''), a translation of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, or it may sometimes be absent, in which case the assessment on whether the coin belongs to the series is made based on the typical imagery used by the mint. The obverse of the coins typically featured portraits of either Vespasian or, more commonly, Titus. The reverse depicted symbolic imagery, including a mourning woman, representing the Jewish people, seated beneath a date palm, a symbol of Judaea. The palm tree can appear on the coin either in combination with the mourning woman, or without her. Andrea Moresino-Zipper contests that in the former case, it is the woman who symbolises the defeated Judaea and the palm stands for victorious Rome, while in the latter case the palm tree does represent Judaea.

History

The Judaea Capta coins were struck for 25 years under Vespasian and his two sons who succeeded him as Emperor - Titus and

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

. These commemorative coins were issued in bronze, silver and gold by mints in Rome, throughout the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, and in Judaea itself.''Handbook of Biblical Numismatics''
15
/ref> They were issued in every denomination, and at least 48 different types are known.Howard Brin, ''Judaea Capta Coinage''See Only bronze 'Judaea Capta' coins were struck in Caesarea, in the defeated Roman province of Judaea. These coins are much cruder than the Roman issues, and the inscriptions are in Greek rather than Latin. The designs seems to have modified the imagery to avoid offending the Jewish population, omitting provocative motifs such as a half-naked captive. They feature the goddess Nike writing on a shield,

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

with a spear, shield, trophy and palm tree, etc. Most such coins were issued during the reign of the Emperor Domitian (AD 81-96). Unusually, a 'Judaea Capta' coin was also minted by the Jewish ruler Agrippa II, the great-grandson of

Herod the Great Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...

. Brought up in Rome at the court of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

, Agrippa was thoroughly Romanised and was a close friend of

, whom he supported throughout the First Jewish Revolt. His bronze coin was minted at

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

and shows a portrait of Titus on the

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

with the Greek inscription (abbreviated for , in Latin: ), while the reverse depicted the goddess Nike advancing right holding a wreath and palm branch over her shoulder, with a star in upper right field and the inscription 'ETO - KS BA AGRI-PPA'.

References

External links

Titus coinage, including Judaea Capta coins
* ttp://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/vespasian/i.html Vespasian coinage, including Judaea Capta coinsbr>Domitian coinage, including Judaea Capta coins'Judaea Capta' coins on Jewish History.com

* ttp://www.garstang.us/judaean/firstrevolt.htm 'Judaea Capta' coinagebr>"Roman Coins Boast 'Judaea Capta'"
Biblical Archaeology Society
Coinage of the Flavian Dynasty Gallery featuring many 'Judaea Capta' coins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Judaea Capta coinage 1st-century artifacts Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire Coins of ancient Rome Historical currencies, List of Commemorative coins Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) Vespasian

Inscription and imagery

History

See also

References

External links