Trajan Bronze Sestertius RIC II Trajan 553

Monetary Context and Denominational Function

Under the Principate, the sestertius was the premier base-metal coin of the Roman Empire, functioning both as the standard accounting unit of public and private finance and as an indispensable denomination for daily medium-value market transactions. Valued at one quarter of a silver denarius or four copper asses, the sestertius had been struck in orichalcum, a golden-toned copper-zinc brass alloy, since the monetary reforms of Augustus in the late first century BC. The denomination possessed substantial intrinsic metal value, but its broad physical diameter, typically ranging from 32 to 35 millimeters, and heavy weight standard, averaging approximately 25 to 28 grams, gave it exceptional utility as an instrument of state communication. During Trajan's reign (AD 98 to 117), the volume of imperial coinage increased enormously, fueled by revenue and bullion acquired following the conquest of Dacia. The vast expenditures required for public building programs in Rome, provincial infrastructure, military pay, and domestic relief programs necessitated continuous sestertius emissions. RIC II Trajan 553 was introduced as part of this monumental expansion during Trajan's protracted fifth consulship, a period characterized by an unprecedented thematic variety in Roman bronze coinage.

Production, Alloy, and Mint Attribution

The entire production of RIC II Trajan 553 is securely attributed to the centralized imperial mint at Rome. While provincial mints and branch workshops occasionally struck bronze or silver denominations for regional circulation during the Dacian campaigns, standard orichalcum sestertii carrying the mark S C (Senatus Consulto) were exclusively manufactured at the capital under official senatorial auspices. The coin was produced by hot-striking prepared orichalcum cast flans between hand-engraved bronze or iron dies. The execution of this specific reverse required die engravers of the highest skill due to the extraordinary density of human figures, architectural elements, and symbolic attributes compressed within the circular border. Striking such deep and elaborate relief across a broad surface required multiple heavy hammer blows, resulting in slight die shifts on surviving examples. Analyses of contemporaneous Trajanic orichalcum indicate a zinc content generally fluctuating between 12 and 18 percent, which imparted a vibrant golden luster when newly struck, setting the sestertius apart visually from the redder pure copper of the lower-denomination as and quadrans.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 553 bears a laureate portrait of Trajan facing right, notable for its refined classicizing style and inclusion of the aegis. The aegis, traditionally an attribute of Zeus and Athena consisting of a protective goatskin adorned with the head of Medusa or snake fringes, appears draped over the emperor's neck and shoulder. This heroic feature elevated the princeps into the realm of divine protection and military invincibility. Numismatists distinguish this bust variety from simple laureate head types, noting that the aegis was reserved for selected prestige dies within the Roman workshop. Trajan's physiognomy displays the characteristic traits of his mature portraits: straight, neatly combed hair falling across the forehead, a firm jawline, a prominent aquiline nose, and an expression of gravitas. The surrounding legend, arranged clockwise starting from the lower left, forms an unbroken circular frame around the bust, presenting Trajan's full administrative and military titulature in finely cut, balanced Roman capital lettering.

Reverse Iconography: Civic Allegory and Architecture

The reverse of RIC II Trajan 553 presents one of the most crowded and multi-layered compositions in the Trajanic corpus. On the right, the emperor stands bare-headed and dressed in the civil toga on a low platform (suggestum), extending his right arm forward in the classic gesture of adlocutio or benevolent address. Directly behind him stands a companion figure in military or administrative dress, usually identified as the praetorian prefect. Below the platform, four civilian men or recipients are depicted facing right toward the emperor with their arms and hands outstretched in gratitude or petition. In the foreground, a female personification reclines toward the right, resting her hand or arm upon a chariot wheel. On the left side of the scene stand three tall, tapering obelisks or conical columns resting on high plinths. This composite iconography combines references to the Circus Maximus and civic beneficence. The three columns represent the metae, the turning posts at the ends of the circus spina, while the reclining woman with the wheel personifies either the Circus itself, the Via Traiana, or vehicular transport. Scholars have interpreted the scene as a celebratory depiction of the major renovations completed on the Circus Maximus, where seating capacity was greatly increased to accommodate the populace during imperial games, alongside imperial grain or cash handouts.

Epigraphy and Titulature Analysis

The obverse legend reads IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, standing for Imperatori Caesari Nervae Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate, Consuli Quintum, Patri Patriae. This dedication is formulated in the dative case (Traiano Augusto), indicating that the coinage was issued by the Senate and the Roman people as an offering of honor to the emperor. The sequence documents Trajan's victory titles of Germanicus (assumed under Nerva in AD 97) and Dacicus (adopted late in AD 102 following his first Dacian triumph). His fifth consulship (COS V) serves as the primary chronological boundary, while the final honorific, Pater Patriae (Father of his Country), had been accepted early in his reign. The reverse legend carries the celebrated formula S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, expanding to Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi (The Senate and the Roman People to the Best of Princes). Trajan was informally hailed as Optimus Princeps from early in his rule, an epithet that became ubiquitous across reverse dies of his fifth consulship before being officially adopted as a formal imperial title in AD 114. Flanking the lower composition are the large letters S C for Senatus Consulto, affirming the constitutional authority of the Senate in sanctioning the bronze coinage.

Typological Classification and Chronological Placement

In the standard reference work Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), Harold Mattingly placed this type under number 553 within the extensive bronze issues of Trajan's fifth consulship. More recently, Bernhard Woytek's exhaustive corpus Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (MIR 14) refined the chronology of Trajan's reign by analyzing die sequences, portrait progression, and titulature phases. The fifth consulship began on January 1, AD 103, and Trajan did not enter his sixth consulship until January 1, AD 112, making the interval of AD 103 to 111 the longest single dating bracket of his reign. Within this broad nine-year span, the specific legend configuration without reference to the second Dacian triumph or the annexations of Arabia and Dacia as settled pacified provinces suggests that the creation of this reverse occurred during the middle of the period, around AD 105 to 108, coinciding with the dedication of Trajan's restored Circus Maximus. RIC II Trajan 553 is distinct from simpler contemporary types depicting only the Circus Maximus facade (such as RIC 571) or the standard adlocutio and congiarium scenes, standing as a hybrid commemorative issue of restricted output.

Circulation, Wear Patterns, and Archaeological Evidence

As high-value base-metal currency, orichalcum sestertii circulated actively throughout Italy and the western provinces of the Roman Empire, including Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and the Danubian frontier. Because of their heavy mass and valuable copper-zinc content, sestertii frequently remained in daily use for several decades, accumulating substantial mechanical wear, countermarks, and smoothed surfaces before being lost, hoarded, or retired from the monetary pool during the monetary debasements of the late second and third centuries. However, the specific reverse type of RIC II Trajan 553 was evidently struck in very limited quantities compared to common Trajanic reverses featuring Victoria, Felicitas, or Pax. Few specimens have been identified in large archaeological hoard deposits or stray river finds, suggesting that this complex design was produced for a short, targeted ceremonial distribution in Rome rather than prolonged mass production. Surviving museum specimens show varying states of preservation, with high-relief details of the metae and reclining figure frequently softened by circulation wear.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. London, 1936, Trajan sestertii section
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 553. ric.2.tr.553
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 283, no. 553
4. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil I: Die Reichspragung zur Zeit des Traian. Stuttgart, 1931
5. Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117). Moneta Imperii Romani 14, Vienna, 2010