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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;David Atherton, post: 3620384, member: 82616&quot;]Every once in a while a coin comes along that really excites me ... this is one such coin! The scene of the living emperor in a quadriga drawn by elephants had to have been a sight to behold - if indeed it ever happened! Perhaps Domitian&#039;s mint master at Alexandria believed this fanciful reverse type would please the fragile ego of the emperor. He was a mint administrator who knew which way the wind blew.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]970407[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Domitian</b></p><p>Æ Drachm, 19.56g</p><p>Alexandria mint, 95-96 AD</p><p>RPC 2721 (11 spec.).</p><p>Obv: AVT KAI C ΘEOY YIOC ∆OMIT CEB ΓEPM; Head of Domitian, laureate, r.</p><p>Rev: No legend; Emperor in quadriga of elephants r., holding branch of laurel and sceptre; upon elephant&#039;s heads Nike r., holding wreath and palm; date LIE in exergue</p><p>Ex Forvm Ancient Coins, July 2019.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Alexandrian mint under Domitian around regnal year 10 or 11 experienced a &#039;dramatic improvement in style&#039; and the &#039;adoption of a wide range of new types&#039; (Milne). One of those new types was the flamboyant scene of Domitian in a quadriga drawn by four elephants struck for the drachm. This type is unique to Alexandria and does not show up elsewhere in the Flavian numismatic canon. However, the Arch of Titus once supported a bronze sculpture depicting such a scene and the Arch of Domitian described by Martial had two elephant quadrigae. Pompey the Great was the first Roman to employ an elephant quadriga in his triumph of 61 BC. The elephants were too big to fit through one of the gates leading up to the Capitol and they had to be switched out with a team of horses. The ancient authors thought it &#039;a piquant warning of the dangers of divine self-aggrandizement.&#039; (M. Beard). Yet, by the Flavian era the elephant quadriga was seen as a powerful symbol of triumphal glory - although, there is no evidence that Domitian ever rode in an elephant quadriga in any of his triumphs. After Hadrian&#039;s reign, the elephant quadriga on the coinage was soley the realm of the imperial Divi and not the living emperor.</p><p><br /></p><p>Please post your triumphal and/or Alexandrian coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sorry [USER=56859]@TIF[/USER], I couldn&#039;t pass this one up.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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