Roman Imperial Denarius under Titus 79-81 AD

The Judea Capta series is well known under Vespasian and his son Titus. Notice the leaping ram is now replaced by Capricornus leaping over the world. The Romans knew the world was spherical from the Greeks. As you will see in a later post, sphere below the animal is the Earth, sphere above the animal is the sun. This may be a tribute by Titus to Augustus with the recapture of Judea from the first Jewish Revolt. Capricornus is a mythical goat sea creature. Augustus was well known to be born under Capricorn. This may be symbolic for a Roman victory when Capricornus was in a certain astrologic position. The mediterranean or "Roman Lake" is now back under the control of Rome. The First Jewish Revolt in 66 AD resulted in the Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the deaths of over a million Jews. Photo by Athena Numismatics