Trajan Gold Aureus RIC II Trajan 373

Monetary Context and Imperial Policy

During the principate of Trajan, the gold aureus functioned as the anchor of the Roman imperial monetary system. First systematically regulated under Augustus and later recalibrated by Nero in 64 AD, the aureus retained a theoretical weight standard of approximately one forty-fifth of a Roman pound, yielding an average struck weight around 7.25 to 7.30 grams of high-purity gold. This denomination sat atop the Roman tri-metallic currency structure, with a fixed exchange tariff of twenty-five silver denarii or one hundred brass sestertii per aureus. By the late phase of Trajan's reign (114 to 117 AD), the empire's fiscal resources had been swelled by the substantial gold spoils seized during the conquest of Dacia in the previous decade. These bullion reserves financed extensive civic architecture, civic subventions, and the logistical demands of Trajan's eastern offensive against Parthia. Gold coinage played a dual role in this monetary economy: it served as the principal vehicle for major state disbursements, including military donatives and veteran pensions, while simultaneously functioning as a potent conduit for official imperial communications disseminated across Italy and the provinces.

Production Standards and Mint Attribution

RIC II Trajan 373 was produced exclusively by the central imperial mint operating in the city of Rome. Although some secondary provincial mints operated in the eastern Mediterranean during Trajan's Parthian campaign to strike local silver and regional bronze coinages, central imperial gold aurei of standard typology remained firmly concentrated under the urban mint's jurisdiction. Die engraving at Rome in this period achieved exceptional sculptural refinement, displaying high-relief obverse busts and balanced reverse compositions executed within meticulously centered borders of dots. Flans were cast in nearly pure gold, individually weighed to conform closely to imperial weight targets, and struck hot between heavy bronze dies. Analysis of Trajanic gold emissions demonstrates rigorous quality control, with minimal weight dispersion among well-preserved specimens. The coordination between the imperial chancellery and the monetary magistrates ensured that major political events, such as the conferral of the title Parthicus in 116 AD, were rapidly translated into updated die legends and distributed to the striking workshops (officinae).

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Titulature

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 373 features a heroic right-facing bust of Trajan. The emperor is depicted wearing the laurel wreath of victorious imperator, with formal drapery gathered over a cuirass. This mature portrait typifies the so-called decennalia and late-reign portrait style of Trajan, characterized by a furrowed brow, firm jawline, straight Roman nose, and hair combed forward across the forehead in neat, disciplined strands. The combination of cuirass and paludamentum emphasizes his active command in the field as supreme commander of the legions, directly resonating with his presence on the eastern battlefields. The bust is surrounded by the continuous legend IMP CAES NER TRAIAN OPTIM AVG GER DAC PARTHICO, an expansive dative or nominative formula celebrating his divine lineage, military conquests in Germany and Dacia, the exalted senate-awarded title of Optimus, and his ultimate military victory over the Parthian kingdom.

Reverse Iconography: The Vow Sacrifice

The reverse of the coin illustrates a solemn public religious rite rooted in Roman state religion. On the left stands a Roman senator, dressed in a traditional toga, holding a sceptre or scroll, and extending a patera to perform a libation over a lighted tripod altar. Facing him on the right stands the Genius of the Roman people (Genius Populi Romani), depicted as a youthful, semi-draped figure holding a cornucopiae laden with fruits in his left arm and gesturing toward the altar. The juxtaposition of the Senate and the Genius reflects the harmonious relationship between the traditional governing class and the guardian spirit of the Roman populace, unified in religious piety. This ritual scene specifically articulates the undertaking of vows (vota suscepta). In Roman imperial tradition, vows were undertaken at regular quinquennial and decennial intervals, or upon special occasions such as an emperor's departure for or anticipated return from perilous foreign campaigns (pro reditu et salute). By offering sacrifice over the altar, the state secured divine favour for Trajan's personal preservation and the enduring fortune of the empire.

Epigraphic Analysis and Titular Nuance

The legends on RIC II Trajan 373 represent an intricate synthesis of constitutional offices and military honors. The obverse legend reads: IMP CAES NER TRAIAN OPTIM AVG GER DAC PARTHICO, resolving as Imperatori Caesari Nervae Traiano Optimo Augusto Germanico Dacico Parthico. The inclusion of the dative form PARTHICO is particularly critical for dating, as Trajan accepted the title Parthicus in the spring or summer of 116 AD following the capture of Ctesiphon. The reverse legend circumscribes the sacrificial tableau: P M TR P COS VI P P S P Q R VOTA SVSCEPTA. This inscription abbreviates Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul VI (sextum), Pater Patriae, Senatus Populusque Romanus, accompanied by the explicit phrase VOTA SVSCEPTA. The iteration of his sixth consulship (COS VI), assumed in 112 AD, remained unchanged through the end of his life, while the explicit invocation of the Senate and the Roman people (S P Q R) underscores that these sacred vows were undertaken collaboratively by the state institutions on the emperor's behalf.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard classification systems of Roman imperial numismatics, RIC II Trajan 373 is assigned to the concluding phase of Trajan's coinage, spanning from 114 to 117 AD, with the terminal issues constrained more precisely between mid-116 and August 117 AD due to the appearance of PARTHICO. Bernhard Woytek's comprehensive monograph 'Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus' (MIR 14) categorizes this emission within the final chronological groups of the reign. Related typological variants within Trajan's contemporary gold and silver issues share the VOTA SVSCEPTA reverse concept, yet RIC II Trajan 373 is specifically distinguished by the exact composition of the togatus (senator) sacrificing opposite the Genius of the Roman people, paired with the fully developed titular formula. Distinguishing this specific gold type from closely parallel denarius types or earlier vow issues (such as VOTA SOLVTA) is essential for charting the escalating ceremonial and military anxieties that marked Trajan's final months in Cilicia.

Circulation, Hoarding, and Preservation

As high-denomination gold currency, aurei of this series did not circulate in the high-velocity, daily marketplace frequented by low-value bronze coins. Instead, gold specimens were hoarded as long-term stores of value, accumulated by elite citizens, or used in substantial financial transfers such as property transactions and military pay. Hoard evidence from across the Western empire, the Danubian limes, and the Near East indicates that aurei struck in the late Trajanic period circulated over decades, occasionally persisting in hoards into the Antonine and Severan eras. Because of gold's resistance to chemical corrosion, surviving specimens often retain crisp surface details, exhibiting light mechanical wear, adjustment marks from mint weight regulation, or minute die wear accrued before withdrawal from active circulation. Today, specimens of RIC II Trajan 373 are dispersed across major institutional numismatic cabinets, preserving a crucial primary record of late Trajanic state ideology.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian. Trajan, Gold Aurei
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 373. RIC II Trajan 373
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 270, no. 373
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117). Moneta Imperii Romani 14