Julia Titi was Titus's daughter, not his wife — yet Domitian elevated her to the rank of Augusta and had her deified following her death, probably in 91 AD, despite their relationship being the subject of persistent and damaging gossip in antiquity. This aureus, struck under Domitian in 82–83, belongs to a posthumous honors issue for Titus and appears to have served a dynastic purpose: legitimizing Domitian's rule by visibly championing his Flavian bloodline. Suetonius and Pliny the Younger both record the intimacy between Domitian and Julia as fact, though modern scholars treat it cautiously.
Julia Titi was Titus's daughter, not his wife — yet Domitian elevated her to the rank of Augusta and had her deified following her death, probably in 91 AD, despite their relationship being the subject of persistent and damaging gossip in antiquity. This aureus, struck under Domitian in 82–83, belongs to a posthumous honors issue for Titus and appears to have served a dynastic purpose: legitimizing Domitian's rule by visibly championing his Flavian bloodline. Suetonius and Pliny the Younger both record the intimacy between Domitian and Julia as fact, though modern scholars treat it cautiously.