Trajan Orichalcum Sestertius, RIC II Trajan 557

Monetary Context and Historical Setting

The sestertius occupied a central position within the high imperial Roman monetary structure. Cast in orichalcum, a golden-toned copper alloy rich in zinc, the denomination represented one-fourth of a silver denarius or four copper asses. Because of its large module and substantial surface area, the sestertius functioned not merely as everyday small change for civic commerce, but as the premier visual medium for state communication. Trajan's accession in 98 AD and his subsequent military campaigns across the Danube in the First (101 to 102 AD) and Second (105 to 106 AD) Dacian Wars transformed the financial and cultural landscape of the empire. Immense quantities of Dacian gold and silver flowed into Rome, replenishing imperial coffers and funding massive civic architecture alongside unprecedented base-metal coin issues. RIC II Trajan 557 belongs to the prolonged fifth-consular emission (103 to 111 AD), during which the Senate and the imperial administration celebrated the expansion of Roman sovereignty over the turbulent northern frontier through sophisticated mythological and geographical allegory.

Production Standards and Mint Attribution

During Trajan's fifth consulship, imperial aes production was concentrated entirely at the central mint in Rome. Standardized flans were cast from orichalcum and carefully adjusted to target the traditional Julio-Claudian and Flavian weight standard for sestertii, typically centering around 25 to 28 grams with a diameter spanning 33 to 35 millimeters, although individual surviving specimens show natural variation due to manual blank preparation and subsequent chemical leaching in archaeological contexts. The mint operated with dedicated officinae using paired hand-cut iron dies. Engravers at Rome exhibited exceptional plastic relief during this period, crafting deeply modeled figures and nuanced drapery. Striking was performed using heavy hand hammers, occasionally resulting in minor die shifts or edge cracks that are characteristic of large-flan Roman aes production. Metallurgical analyses of contemporaneous Roman orichalcum indicate that zinc contents were maintained between 12 and 18 percent, giving freshly struck sestertii a brilliant golden sheen that visually distinguished them from pure copper dupondii and asses.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 557 presents a dignified and mature bust of Trajan facing right. The emperor is depicted wearing the laurel wreath of a victorious commander, with ties falling down the nape of his neck, alongside combined drapery and military cuirass visible at the shoulder and chest. This combination of civic and military attire, often termed draped and cuirassed, balanced his roles as citizen magistrate and supreme imperator. The portraiture is typical of Trajan's second and third portrait styles developed during his fifth consulship, characterized by a low, flat-planed hairstyle combed forward over a prominent forehead, a firm jawline, sharp nasolabial folds, and an expression of gravitas and steady vigilance. Engravers dispensed with Flavian verism in favor of idealized stoic sobriety, presenting the princeps as an active, indefatigable general who led legions personally on the Danubian limes.

Reverse Allegory: Tiber Subduing Dacia

The reverse of RIC II Trajan 557 displays a rare and aggressive geographic allegory: the river god Tiber standing facing left, pressing his right knee into the back of a kneeling, conquered personification of Dacia, forcing her prostrate to the earth. River gods in Greco-Roman numismatic tradition were typically depicted as reclining, bearded figures pouring water from an urn or holding reeds. Here, Tiber is reconceived as an active, standing combatant, embodying the sovereign might of Rome itself. Dacia is shown in despairing subjugation, wearing traditional provincial costume consisting of tunic, trousers, and a pileus-like cap. Earlier numismatists occasionally debated whether the standing divinity represented the river god Danuvius (Danube) rather than Tiber. However, standard institutional authorities, including the Roman Imperial Coinage and modern corpora, confirm the figure as Tiber, the divine watercourse of Rome, physically suppressing the trans-Danubian foe under the mandate of the Roman people and emperor.

Epigraphic Formulary and Imperial Titles

The obverse legend reads IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, inscribed in the dative case (Imperatori Caesari Nervae Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate, Consuli Quintum, Patri Patriae). The dative case reflects a dedicated address from the Senate and people of Rome to their ruler. The titles Germanicus and Dacicus celebrate his earlier military victories on the Rhine and Danube, while COS V specifies his fifth consulship, assumed on January 1, 103 AD. The reverse legend carries the celebrated formula S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI (Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi), encircling the field, while S C (Senatus Consulto) is placed prominently across the lower field or flanking the figures. This reverse inscription declares Trajan to be the 'Best of Princes', a formal senatorial appellation awarded in roughly 103 AD that became the signature leitmotif of Trajanic coinage across all metals.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Under the system of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC II Trajan 557 represents an exact typological configuration restricted to the draped and cuirassed obverse bust combined with the standing Tiber subduing Dacia reverse. It forms part of an expansive thematic series celebrating the Dacian triumph struck between 103 and 111 AD, prior to Trajan assuming his sixth consulship (COS VI) in 112 AD. Bernhard Woytek's refined study of Trajanic numismatics places the type within the mid-reign emissions corresponding to the final settlement of the Second Dacian War around 106 to 108 AD. While closely related sestertius types depict standing Pax trampling a Dacian, Trajan riding down a Dacian cavalryman, or the Dacian trophy accompanied by captives, RIC II 557 remains distinctive for its divine riverine personification. Engraving dies show slight stylistic differences in the drape of Trajan's paludamentum and the position of Tiber's raised knee, but the primary typological elements remain strictly defined.

Circulation, Wear, and Archaeological Recovery

Sestertii of Trajan circulated heavily throughout the western provinces, including Italia, Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and the military camps along the Rhine and Danubian frontiers. Due to their high intrinsic alloy quality and substantial token value within the domestic economy, large aes coins remained in active commercial use for generations. Specimens of Trajan's fifth-consular bronze frequently appear in third-century hoard contexts and river deposits with substantial surface wear, indicating continuous circulation spanning more than a century until the collapse of the base-metal monetary system under Gallienus and Aurelian. Excavations in the Balkans and along the Danubian limes regularly reveal Trajanic Dacian triumph types, documenting how these coins served as both circulating cash and enduring imperial propaganda in the very territories whose conquest they depicted.

References

1. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 557. RIC II Trajan 557
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 283, no. 557
3. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil I: Die Reichspragung zur Zeit des Traian. Vol. I, Trajan
4. Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117). Moneta Imperii Romani 14