Titus augustus, 79 – 81. Sestertius 80-81, Æ 34 mm, 25.82 g. IMP T CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS VIII Laureate r. Rev. IVD – CAP / S – C the personification of the mourning Judaea is seated on a pile of weapons at the l. side of a palm tree with two date clusters; a Jewish prisoner of war is standing on the r. side of the tree, his hands are bound behind his back, in front of him a big shield and a helmet. C –. BMC –. RIC 133 var. (IVDAEA CAPTA). CBN –. Hendin 6620a (this coin illustrated). An apparently unique variety of a very rare type. Struck on a very broad flan and with a lovely brown tone. Very fineGraded VF Strike: 5/5, Surface: 3/5 - Flan flaw, NGC photo certificate number 6029812-001 Ex Künker sale 334, 2020, 2340. On 1 July AD 69, when Vespasian was acclaimed as Augustus by the eastern legions in opposition to Vitellius, he immediately appointed Titus, his eldest son and colleague in the ongoing Jewish War (AD 66–73), as Caesar. In order to press his claims to the purple against those of Vitellius, Vespasian then departed from Judaea and left the conduct of the war in the hands of Titus. By 70, Vespasian had secured his place as the first Flavian emperor of the Roman Empire, and Titus was rolling back the Jewish rebels until they were forced to seek refuge behind the walls of Jerusalem. On 14 April, Titus placed the city under a close siege, which dragged on until August. During this time, the inhabitants of the overcrowded city suffered acutely from starvation and outbreaks of violence between the different rebel factions. When Jerusalem finally fell, the city was utterly destroyed along with its famous Temple. Its treasures and religious equipment were carried off to Rome to adorn a great triumph celebrated by Vespasian and Titus in 71. This attractive sestertius belongs to an extensive series of coins—the famous Judaea Capta series— struck in the aftermath of the Jewish War to advertise Vespasian and Titus as the authors of Roman victory. Many of these coins may have been thrown to the crowds as largesse during the triumphal procession and at subsequent celebrations of Flavian achievements in Judaea. Their metal content probably came from the melted-down plunder carried off from Jerusalem. Thanks to the large diameter of the sestertius denomination, the engraver has provided a more elaborate treatment of the standard denarius and aureus Judaea Capta reverse types featuring a palm tree with the weeping personification of Judaea and a captive. The date palm was prominent as a symbol of Judaea on the Judaea Capta coinage, representing the rich agricultural produce of the conquered province. While Judaean dates were a prized regional export, in Jewish tradition, the date palm was considered one of the Seven Species of plants native to the Land of Israel. It appeared as a decorative element on both the destroyed Second Temple and on synagogues, while its branches were used at the important Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot. To the left of the palm tree, the despondent personification of Judaea weeps atop a pile of shields and helmets taken by the Romans from the defeated Jewish rebels. The discarded weapons represent not only the rebels' defeat but also the vast plunder the Romans took with them once the fighting was over. The captive with bound arms who stands to the right of the palm tree also simultaneously represents the Jewish defeat as well as Roman plunder. According to Josephus, some 97,000 captives were carried off as slaves after the fall of Jerusalem. Many of these were sold throughout the empire or brought to Rome to work on monumental building projects, such as the great Flavian Amphitheater, more commonly known today as the Colosseum. Please find here the video of the coin