DOMITIAN, as Caesar
AD 69-81
AR Denarius. 3.39g, 19.8mm
MINTED: Rome mint, AD 76-77
REF: RIC (Vespasian) 921; Cohen 47
OBVERSE: CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS, laureate head right.
REVERSE: COS IIII, Pegasus standing right.
 
Notes:
Struck on an oval flan.  
This type with the winged horse Pegasus, struck under Vespasian for his son Domitian, was amongst a variety issued by him that copied designs (in this case RIC I 297) of coins issued by Emperor Augustus. This intentional restoration of Augustan types allowed Vespasian to link himself with the first ruler of the Empire and appeal to the Roman sense of tradition and nostalgia. He thus used his coins to promote his own legitimacy and underscore his image as that of an emperor in the process of restoring peace and stability after the civil turmoil of the Year of the Four Emperors.
 
Historical Notes:
Domitian grew up in the shadow of his brother, Titus, and during the reign of his father, Vespasian, was given few of the responsibilities and honours accorded his elder brother. Perhaps as a result, he grew disaffected and bitter, and was said to have constantly plotted against Titus. Though he was must have been pleased when Titus died prematurely after a brief reign of two years, Domitian initially showed no inclination to rule with energy or virtue. Suetonius writes that early in his reign, he would spend many hours of each day locked up in his room alone just catching flies and stabbing them with a sharp stylus. He would later become a more productive emperor, though ancient historians were generally ambivalent about how well he ruled. Always arrogant and ill-tempered, when Domitian grew paranoid about threats to his person, he would respond with a savage cruelty that turned him into a hated and feared tyrant. He was eventually assassinated after a reign of 15 years, in a plot hatched by his own court officials and others close to him, including his chamberlain and private secretary. Upon his death, the Roman senators rejoiced and gleefully declared a damnatio memoriae on his memory.