Trajan Silver Denarius, RIC II Trajan 245

Monetary and Historical Context

During the middle and later years of Trajan's reign (AD 98-117), imperial coinage was systematically deployed to celebrate Roman administrative achievements, extensive public building programs, and military triumphs. In AD 106, Roman forces led by Aulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus, governor of Syria, annexed the client kingdom of Nabataea following the death of its last monarch, Rabbel II. The annexed territory was reorganized as the Roman province of Arabia, centered administratively around Bostra and Petra. This strategic move brought lucrative Red Sea and caravan trade routes connecting Southern Arabia, the Levant, and the Mediterranean under direct Roman jurisdiction. Although the province was organized in AD 106, prominent imperial commemorations of this achievement were issued in multiple phases. The denarius catalogued as RIC II Trajan 245 belongs to an intensive celebratory series struck at Rome several years after the initial annexation, datable to Trajan's sixth consulship which began in AD 112. The historical label ARAB ADQ represents 'Arabia Adquisita' (Arabia Acquired), a phrasing carefully chosen to emphasize territorial accession and integration rather than brutal subjugation, in contrast to traditional 'capta' formulas such as Iudaea Capta. Within the broader imperial economy, this denarius was struck alongside bronze sestertii and provincial silver drachms bearing related regional iconography, circulating in a bimetallic and trimetallic currency system that supported expanding state expenditures, veteran settlements, and military preparations for Trajan's subsequent Parthian campaigns.

Production, Weight Standards, and Mint Attribution

The entire regular production of RIC II Trajan 245 is attributed to the primary imperial mint operating in the city of Rome. Engravers at the capital adhered to strict stylistic conventions and standardized administrative oversight overseen by the procurator monetae. Around AD 107, Trajan had demonetized older, worn pre-Neronian and Republican silver denarii that still circulated with higher silver content, utilizing the bullion recovered from these coins alongside vast quantities of captured Dacian gold and silver to supply massive recoinage efforts at the Rome mint. Denarii of the RIC II Trajan 245 type were struck to the prevailing Trajanic weight standard. This standard called for an average finished weight typically ranging between 3.10 and 3.40 grams, with a theoretical target near 3.25 to 3.30 grams (approximately 1/96th of a Roman pound, or roughly 96 denarii struck per libra). The silver fineness of Trajan's denarii during this period stood at approximately 80 to 85 percent, with the balance consisting primarily of copper alloyed to improve striking hardness and wear resistance. Die axes at Rome were consistently aligned, typically exhibiting a regular six o'clock (180 degree) or occasionally twelve o'clock orientation. Dies were hand-carved using hardened iron punches and chisels, producing crisp raised relief on circular, manually cast flans.

Obverse Iconography and Epigraphy

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 245 features a realistic portrait bust of Emperor Trajan turned in profile toward the right. He is shown wearing a laurel wreath (corona triumphalis), with the ribbon ties (taeniae) falling behind his neck. Consistent with the specific typology of this issue, Trajan's bust is draped lightly across the far left shoulder, an artistic touch conveying military readiness and imperial gravitas while maintaining focus on the emperor's mature, unyielding facial features. Trajan's portraiture under his sixth consulship exhibits the hallmarks of the established 'Decennalia' style, characterized by a low, straight forehead, combed-forward hair in neat straight locks, a prominent aquiline nose, a strong chin, and thin, set lips. The surrounding obverse legend begins in the lower left periphery and reads clockwise in continuous Latin capital lettering: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P. The design presents Trajan not merely as a monarch, but as the supreme magistrate and commander honored by Senate and people alike.

Reverse Iconography: Personification of Arabia

The reverse design of RIC II Trajan 245 presents an allegorical personification of the newly acquired territory. Arabia is depicted as a draped female figure standing facing, her head turned gently to the left. She wears a long chiton or stola falling in elegant classical folds to her feet, sometimes covered with an outer mantle. In her extended right hand, she holds an upright or outward-pointing plant branch, traditionally interpreted by numismatists as an aromatic sprig symbolizing frankincense, myrrh, or sweet-scented cane (calamus), the lucrative botanical commodities for which Arabia Felix and the Nabataean trade networks were famed throughout the Greco-Roman world. At her feet, standing beside her or resting near her hem on the left side of the field, is a small dromedary camel. The camel was a well-recognized geographic and zoological emblem of the Arabian caravan routes and the desert landscape, instantly identifying the province to coin handlers throughout the empire. In the exergue beneath the ground line, the clear inscription ARAB ADQ confirms the identity of the personification. The entire composition is encircled by the ongoing imperial legend, uniting the Senate's devotion with the tangible territorial gains of the empire.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The inscriptions on RIC II Trajan 245 are integral to its dating, political meaning, and religious authority. The obverse legend reads: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P. This expands into Latin as: Imperatori Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate, Consuli Sextum, Patri Patriae ('To the Emperor Trajan Augustus, conqueror of Germany, conqueror of Dacia, Chief Priest, invested with Tribunician Power, Consul for the sixth time, Father of the Fatherland'). Notably, the obverse dedicatory dative case (Traiano) frames the coin as an honorific dedication from the Roman state to the ruler. The reverse legend is divided between the outer circular field and the exergual register. Encircling the upper and lateral fields is: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, which expands to: Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi ('The Senate and the Roman People, to the Best of Princes'). This formula was granted as an exceptional civic and moral title to Trajan, celebrating his benevolence, civic moderation, and martial prowess. In the exergue at the base of the reverse, the legend reads: ARAB ADQ, an abbreviation for Arabia Adquisita ('Arabia Acquired'). This succinct epigraphic notice explicitly identifies the acquisition of the former Nabataean realm into the Roman administrative fold.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard classification of the Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC II Trajan 245 is catalogued among the denarii of Trajan's sixth consulship. Trajan entered his sixth and final consulship on January 1, AD 112, establishing a solid terminus post quem for the issue. In Bernhard Woytek's comprehensive monograph 'Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus' (MIR 14), this specific type is catalogued under number 396b. Woytek dates the issue to the period of AD 112 to 114, situating it within the fourth phase of Trajan's OPTIMO PRINCIPI coinages, prior to the widespread adoption of the title 'Optimus' directly into the imperial obverse titulature in the autumn of AD 114. Within this specific type scope, RIC II Trajan 245 must be differentiated from closely related varieties and companion issues. Neighboring denarius issues feature Arabia holding a bundle of incense canes in addition to the branch, or omit drapery on the obverse shoulder (such as the bare-necked portrait variants catalogued under RIC 244). Parallel issues in bronze, including sestertii (RIC 465-466) and dupondii (RIC 467), display similar iconographic schemes but often include a bundle of reeds or different subsidiary attributes. RIC II Trajan 245 represents the precise combination of Trajan's laureate bust with left-shoulder drapery, paired with Arabia holding a branch over the camel and the exergual legend ARAB ADQ.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Monetary Impact

Following its striking at Rome between AD 112 and 114, RIC II Trajan 245 circulated extensively throughout the Roman world. The primary conduit for the dissemination of newly minted silver denarii was the payment of legionary wages, civil service salaries, and public contracts. Consequently, specimens of this type traveled rapidly to the military frontiers along the Rhine and Danube, as well as eastward toward Syria and the newly organized province of Arabia itself, where Roman garrisons were stationed in key centers like Bostra and Gerasa. Numismatic hoard evidence reflects the heavy, sustained circulation of this issue. Specimens of RIC II Trajan 245 appear consistently in major second-century and early third-century silver hoards found across Britain, Gaul, the Balkans, and the Levant. For example, hoards buried during the Marcomannic Wars under Marcus Aurelius and the civil wars of the Severan era frequently contain Trajanic ARAB ADQ denarii, often displaying substantial honest circulation wear. Because Trajan's silver standard established a benchmark that remained relatively stable until the debasements of Septimius Severus in AD 194, denarii of this issue continued to change hands for several generations before being melted down or hoarded out of circulation.

References

1. Roman Arabia. pp. 76-85
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 262, no. 245
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 245. ric.2.tr.245
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (MIR 14). MIR 14, no. 396b