ABSTRACT
Nerva was determined to set himself apart from his predecessor through a series of government measures. Many of these were fiscal reforms: he either suspended the collection of the Jewish tax or altered the mode of its collection, he instituted further exemptions from the five per cent inheritance tax, and he set up a new economic commission staffed by five senators. Many measures were commemorated on Nerva's coinage, such as the move to eliminate contributions to the imperial post in Italy. In reality, the administration of Nerva was probably little different from that of Domitian. But unlike the last of the Flavians, Nerva recognized the importance of crafting a public persona that drew a veil over imperial autocracy. The imperial palace on the Palatine was renamed the ‘Public House’ (aedes publicae), despite the fact that the imperial residence had always been open for administrative purposes, while coins proclaimed ‘Public Freedom’ (libertas publica).
