A superb denarius of Vespasian from his early reign, struck at Rome during his fourth consulship. The obverse presents a powerful, high-relief portrait of the Flavian founder, its sharp strike preserving fine details of the laurel wreath, hair, and facial features. The reverse type, featuring the priestly implements with the inscriptions AVGVR and TRIPOT, celebrates Vespasian’s sacred offices and religious legitimacy-a pointed message in the aftermath of the Year of the Four Emperors, emphasizing the emperor’s role as both political leader and pious guardian of Roman tradition. This coin was struck during the same years Vespasian rebuilt Rome’s sacred spaces, including the Temple of Peace, making this denarius a link to the emperor’s image and the restoration of religious tradition at the heart of Flavian legitimacy. 

The AVGVR / TRIPOT reverse type belongs to a broader Flavian program of legitimization through religious symbolism. Following the chaos of the Year of the Four Emperors (AD 69), Vespasian needed to present himself as a restorer of Roman stability, morality, and tradition.

The implements depicted-the simpulum (ladle for libations), lituus (curved augural staff), jug (for libations), and tripod (associated with sacrifices and Apollo’s oracle at Delphi)-are emblematic of the priestly functions of Rome’s highest magistrates. The inscriptions AVGVR and TRIPOT explicitly identify Vespasian as an augur (a member of the college responsible for interpreting the will of the gods) and as having a role linked to the tripod, a symbol of prophetic and sacrificial authority.

By featuring these symbols prominently, the Flavian mint aligned Vespasian’s reign with religious orthodoxy and divine sanction, contrasting sharply with the perceived impiety and instability of Nero’s later years and the civil war that followed. In Flavian ideology, the emperor’s legitimacy was not only military but also sacral, binding his authority to the ancient religious institutions that underpinned the Roman state.