The Silvae open with a poem on a public monument that traditionally expresses a ruler's military might and majesty, the equestrian statue. The statue in question – a colossal equestrian statue of Domitian in bronze, which stood in the Roman Forum in honour of his German victories – no longer exists. But aside from Statius' poem we have a likely image of it on a sestertius minted at the end of Domitian's reign in ad 95–6, which depicts on the reverse an equestrian statue. Text and image coincide in showing the emperor in triumphal pose, dressed in armour, right hand prominently outstretched; the horse is checked from galloping off by its rider, who thus reveals his supreme control; a figure, which Statius tells us is an allegorical representation of the Rhine, crouches subjugated beneath the horse's hoof (50–1). The statue reveals the close association between the Flavian dynasty and military victory.