Trajan Sestertius RIC II Trajan 667

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

During the High Roman Empire, the sestertius was the primary large-denomination base-metal coin, functioning both as an everyday workhorse of civic and commercial exchange and as an expansive artistic canvas for imperial messaging. Valued at one-quarter of a silver denarius or four copper asses, the sestertius was traditionally struck in orichalcum, an alloy of copper and zinc that possessed a radiant golden-yellow luster when freshly minted. This visual distinction separated the sestertius and dupondius from the redder, pure-copper asses and quadrantes circulating alongside them. Under Trajan, the sestertius played an indispensable ideological role. The generous module of the denomination, frequently spanning more than thirty millimeters in diameter and carrying an average weight standard around twenty-four to twenty-eight grams, accommodated intricate architectural vistas, military triumphs, and formal state ceremonies that could not fit legentially or pictorially on smaller silver or bronze denominations. RIC II Trajan 667 was produced within a broader monetary mobilization supporting the massive costs of the Parthian campaign and domestic distributions in Rome. It communicated major geopolitical accomplishments directly to the Roman public, the Senate, and provincial elites, framing the military subjugation and political restructuring of the east as an enduring triumph of Trajanic governance.

Production and Mint Organization

The entire production of RIC II Trajan 667 is securely attributed to the imperial mint at Rome. Although Trajan maintained operational branch mints and striking facilities in the east, such as at Antioch, to supply local silver drachms, tetradrachms, and regional aes during the Parthian war, the major celebratory brass coinage bearing the senatorial sanction S C was struck centrally in the capital. The production required refined metallurgical coordination: high-quality orichalcum blanks were cast in bevel-edged molds, heated, and struck between meticulously carved steel dies. Engraving dies for complex reverse compositions, such as the tribunal scene on RIC II Trajan 667, demanded exceptional skill from the mint's master celators (scalptores). Multiple individual human figures, architectural furniture, and regional attributes had to be balanced harmoniously within the circular confines of the die. Flans for sestertii in this period regularly exhibit traces of file preparation and minor centering cracks along the rims caused by the powerful hammer blows necessary to bring the dense, thick orichalcum metal into high relief. Die alignment for the issue typically adheres to a regular vertical (twelve o'clock) or near-vertical axis, consistent with the standardized mechanical workshops (officinae) operating in Rome under Trajan's mature administration.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Titulature

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 667 depicts a powerful right-facing bust of Trajan. The emperor is represented bare-headed or laureate, with drapery visible across his far shoulder or chest. Trajan's portraiture in his late reign represents the final phase of his official iconography, often categorized by art historians within the 'Decennalia' or late triumph portrait types. The features convey gravitas and maturity: his hair is combed forward in straight, low bangs characteristic of the Trajanic style, his brow is firm, his jaw squarely set, and his profile distinguished by a strong aquiline nose. The drapery provides a dignified civic and military hybrid tone, reminding the viewer of both his supreme imperium and his constitutional role as princeps. The obverse die is encircled by a dense, unabbreviated series of honors and offices that fill the perimeter. The die-cutters executed these letterforms in crisp, high-relief Roman capitals, framed neatly inside an outer pelleted border. Subtle artistic variants across surviving dies show slight differences in the fullness of the bust truncation and the arrangement of the laurel ties hanging behind the neck, but the central iconographic program remains uniform across the catalogue type.

Reverse Design: The Investiture of Parthamaspates

The reverse design of RIC II Trajan 667 presents one of the most historically significant tableau compositions found in Roman imperial numismatics. Trajan is depicted in military uniform (paludamentum and cuirass), seated facing left upon a raised platform (suggestum or tribunal) placed on the right side of the field. Accompanying the emperor on the platform stands an attendant officer, widely identified in scholarship as the Praetorian Prefect or a senior military legate, holding a parazonium or spear. Trajan extends his right arm in an authoritative gesture of investiture toward King Parthamaspates, who stands on the ground facing left in regal Eastern attire. Before the platform, a female personification of Parthia kneels humbly in supplication, turning toward the Roman emperor. Parthia is distinguished by her native costume, typically including trousers and a peaked oriental cap, holding out her hands to receive the appointed king or to acknowledge Roman suzerainty. The entire composition is grounded upon a distinct groundline or platform base, beneath which the senatorial decree formula S C appears. This multi-layered figurative scene translates a live diplomatic ceremony into permanent relief, visually asserting that the crown of the Arsacid Empire was held and bestowed solely at the pleasure of the Roman princeps.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The obverse inscription of RIC II Trajan 667 provides an exhaustive catalog of the emperor's official titles: IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PARTHICO P M TR P COS VI P P. Transcribed and expanded, the legend reads Imperatori Caesari Nervae Traiano Optimo Augusto Germanico Dacico Parthico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate, Consuli Sextum, Patri Patriae. This epigraphic formula is remarkable for its historical precision. The inclusion of 'OPTIMO' highlights Trajan's official senatorial epithet 'Optimus Princeps' awarded in AD 114, while 'GER DAC' recalls his earlier conquests of Germania and Dacia. The crucial chronological anchor is 'PARTHICO', an honorific title formally accepted by Trajan in the spring of AD 116 following the capture of Ctesiphon. The reverse bears the succinct, programmatic legend REX PARTHIS DATVS, accompanied by S C in the exergue. The phrase translates literally to 'A King Given to the Parthians'. Formulated in the nominative case with a perfect passive participle, the legend functions as a definitive proclamation of geopolitical fact. The formula S C (Senatus Consulto, 'by decree of the Senate') reinforces the traditional legal authority under which bronze and brass denominations were struck, confirming that the Roman Senate endorsed the elevation of Parthamaspates and the symbolic subjugation of Rome's greatest imperial counterpart.

Typology and Chronological Sequence

In the standard reference classification of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC II Trajan 667 represents the primary sestertius type for the 'Rex Parthis Datus' series with the draped bust variant. While related gold aurei, silver denarii, and brass dupondii share this thematic reverse, RIC 667 represents the full-scale medallion-like bronze manifestation struck exclusively toward the very end of Trajan's reign. Although the broader catalogue parameters for late Trajanic issues span from AD 114 to 117, the specific numismatic sequence for RIC 667 can be narrowed securely to late AD 116 or early 117. Trajan did not adopt the title Parthicus on his central coinage until mid-116. Furthermore, the historical event depicted—the coronation of Parthamaspates at Ctesiphon—occurred after the capture of the Parthian capital and the suppression of the subsequent Babylonian revolt in AD 116. The issue continued in production until the death of Trajan in August of AD 117. Bernhard Woytek's comprehensive die analysis in Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (MIR 14) catalogs this type under number 590, demonstrating that the issue was struck across a dedicated set of obverse and reverse dies produced in rapid succession as news of the eastern settlement arrived in Rome.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Distribution

Unlike smaller base-metal denominations that circulated heavily within local regional orbits, Trajanic sestertii functioned as empire-wide currency. Specimens of the 'Rex Parthis Datus' series have been documented across diverse archaeological contexts, including military encampments along the Rhine and Danube frontiers, urban deposits in Italy, and major commercial hubs in the western provinces of Gallia and Hispania. The high metallic value of orichalcum and the heavy weight of the sestertius ensured that these coins remained in active circulation for decades. Hoard evidence indicates that sestertii struck under Trajan frequently circulated well into the Antonine and Severan eras, often continuing in commercial use for fifty to one hundred years until their high-relief designs were worn almost smooth. Due to their overt political nature, coins of RIC II Trajan 667 served as enduring monuments to Roman military supremacy long after the political settlement in Parthia had collapsed. Indeed, almost immediately after Trajan's death in AD 117, his successor Hadrian abandoned the direct territorial annexations in Mesopotamia and allowed Parthamaspates to be expelled from Ctesiphon, leaving coins like RIC 667 as the most tangible and permanent records of Trajan's eastern enterprise.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 222-224, nos. 1045-1049
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 667. ric.2.tr.667
3. Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil I: Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Traian. Type no. 475
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) - Moneta Imperii Romani 14. MIR 14, no. 590