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As - Vespasian S C, Spes
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 77-78 |
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| Currency | Denarius, Reform of Augustus (27 BC – AD 215) |
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| Obverse lettering | IMP CAES VESP AVG P M T P COS VIII (Translation: Imperator Caesar Vespasianus Augustus Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul Octavum. Supreme commander (Imperator) Caesar Vespasian, emperor (Augustus), high priest, holder of tribunician power, consul for the eighth time.) |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Spes — Hope — was a loaded word in Flavian propaganda. Vespasian deployed the personification deliberately after the catastrophic civil war of 69 AD, the Year of the Four Emperors, framing his dynasty as Rome's recovery from near-collapse. By 77–78, well into his reign, the message had shifted from emergency legitimacy to dynastic confidence — both Titus and Domitian were already being groomed as successors, and Spes carried the implicit promise of an ordered succession, something Rome had spectacularly failed to produce a decade earlier.