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Sestertius - Vespasian HONOS ET VIRTVS S C, Honos and Virtus
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 71 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | Two standing figures facing one another in the field: at left, Honos (Honor), a draped male figure holding a branch or sceptre; at right, Virtus (Virtue), depicted as a helmeted, armed female figure standing in a martial pose and holding a parazonium or short sword. The two personifications are rendered in the classical Flavian style, conveying civic and military virtue. The legend HONOS ET VIRTVS is disposed around the periphery, with the senatorial authorization mark S C (Senatus Consultum) prominently placed in the lower exergual field, as required for aes coinage of the period. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
This issue belongs to a concentrated burst of HONOS ET VIRTVS coinage struck in 71 AD, the year Vespasian consolidated power following the chaos of 69 — the Year of the Four Emperors. The pairing of Honos and Virtus was a deliberate ideological choice, invoking the old Roman military virtues at a moment when the dynasty's legitimacy rested almost entirely on the army's loyalty and the recent sack of Jerusalem.
RIC II.1 79 is a Rome mint product of Vespasian's first full regnal year, part of the systematic Flavian rebuilding of imperial imagery after Vitellius.