Strata: The Other Side of the Coin

After the Romans destroyed the Temple and burned Jerusalem that effectively ended the First Jewish Revolt in 70 C.E., they issued the famous “Judea Capta” coins to celebrate their victory.^a

“Judea Capta” coins were issued in gold, silver and bronze—in huge numbers, far more than other Capta coins, such as Aegypto Capta, Germania Capta and Dacia Capta.^b The Romans were obviously very proud of their victory.

The Romans also issued a number of coins inscribed “Devicta” (defeated), as in “Armenia Devicta.” But these are rarer. Only a relatively few “Judea Devicta” coins have been recovered.

A third variant is the “Recepta” (received) coin, a somewhat gentler characterization of a Roman triumph. But this variant has never been found in connection with Judea—until now! Its first appearance is reported in a recent issue of Hebrew University’s Israel Numismatic Research by Gil Gambash of the University of Haifa, Haim Gitler of the Israel Museum and Hannah M. Cotton of Hebrew University.¹