Dupondius - Domitian VIRTVTI AVGVSTI S C, Virtus

Domitian's VIRTVTI AVGVSTI dupondii belong to a coinage program that was deeply personal rather than conventional. By the early 90s, Domitian had grown increasingly autocratic, demanding to be addressed as *dominus et deus* — lord and god — a title his predecessors had carefully avoided. The Virtus type, projecting martial virtue, was part of a sustained effort to shore up his military image after campaigns in Germany and Dacia that produced more triumphs than victories.

He was assassinated in 96 AD, after which the Senate ordered his memory erased under *damnatio memoriae*. Coins bearing his name were sometimes defaced in circulation, making undamaged examples worth examining closely around the obverse field.