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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;David Atherton, post: 2251492, member: 82616&quot;]For the issue no, but for this particular series yes ( I hope that makes sense!). When Domitian raised the fineness of the denarius in early 82 the portrait style changed as well. It was much finer in style than what came before and became ever increasingly more elaborate into 84 and 85. The appearance of the aegis (rarely draped) on the portrait busts was common during this time period. Sometime during mid 85 he reduced the fineness by 5%, which was still a higher standard than the one he inherited upon his accession. The aegis disappeared as a regular part of the bust on denarii in the fifth issue of 85 (although it would appear on a few exceedingly rare denarii in 88 and toward the end of the reign).</p><p><br /></p><p>In regards to the rumours surrounding his niece Julia, the Flavian historian Brian Jones has called the supposed affair between Domitian and Julia (some ten or eleven years younger) and the subsequent forced abortion which killed her as &quot;implausible&quot; and &quot;nonsense&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p>Further he wrote &quot;Scholars seem not to have stressed one of the most significant factors in assessing the rumour&#039;s accuracy - Martial&#039;s epigram 6.3, written not long after Julia&#039;s death and deification. In it, he expresses the hope that Domitian will produce a son, implies that the baby&#039;s name will be Julius (6.3.1) and states that (the now deified) Julia will be able to watch over him (6.3.5). Martial was neither a hero or a fool. Had there been the slightest hint of an affair between emperor and niece, he would hardly have written those lines; had Julia&#039;s recent death been caused by an abortion forced on her by Domitian, would Martial have so far neglected the bounds of &#039;safe criticism&#039; and common sense as to humiliate Domitia publicly, urging her to become pregnant, to give the child a name reminiscent of her husband&#039;s mistress and finally to remember that same mistress, now dead and deified (thanks to her husband), would be able to protect the child?&quot;[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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