Trajan Silver Denarius RIC II Trajan 356

Monetary and Historical Context

The issue of RIC II Trajan 356 falls squarely into the closing phase of Trajan's reign (AD 98 to 117), a period characterized by energetic imperial expansion, significant financial administration, and an unprecedented monumental building program in the capital. Following the conquest of Dacia (AD 101 to 102 and 105 to 106), vast quantities of captured bullion and regular revenue from the newly acquired gold and silver mines of the Carpathians flowed into the imperial treasury. This influx of precious metal enabled Trajan not only to fund monumental urban projects in Rome, including the massive Forum of Trajan, the Basilica Ulpia, and the famous commemorative column, but also to undertake extensive monetary restructuring. Between AD 107 and 108, Trajan recalled and melted down large volumes of worn pre-Neronian denarii and heavily debased Republican silver still circulating across the Mediterranean. This demonetization and subsequent recoinage yielded a uniform silver currency struck to a standardized fineness of approximately 80 to 85 percent silver, with a target weight hovering around 3.2 to 3.4 grams. By the time RIC II Trajan 356 was struck between AD 114 and 117, the imperial mint system had been placed under fresh logistical pressures due to the launching of the Parthian War (AD 114 to 116). Trajan required massive quantities of portable silver coinage to pay legions marching into Armenia, Mesopotamia, and the Persian Gulf. Denarii bearing architectural motifs of Rome served a dual function: they supplied essential liquidity for state expenditures while disseminating vivid visual proof of metropolitan Roman glory to legionaries and provincials serving on distant imperial frontiers.

Production and Mint Organization

The entire issue of RIC II Trajan 356 was struck at the central imperial mint in Rome. During the middle and late principate of Trajan, the Rome mint operated under a centralized, highly specialized administrative structure, traditionally organized into discrete workshops or officinae. Modern numismatic studies, particularly Bernhard Woytek's comprehensive corpus of Trajan's coinage (Moneta Imperii Romani 14), demonstrate that the mint operated with remarkable die-cutting discipline and standard operating procedures, ensuring uniform weight standards and coordinated reverse thematic programs. The production of these denarii involved hand-carving individual iron or bronze dies. The obverse dies, displaying the imperial portrait, were executed by senior engravers tasked with rendering the mature, dignified features of the emperor. Reverse dies, while technically demanding due to the intricate architectural lines of the spiral relief and the pedestal details, were often cut with subtle die variations by different workshop artisans. The silver flans were cast in spherical molds or cut from poured strips, subsequently heated to a malleable state, and struck between paired upper and lower dies. Surviving specimens across museum collections illustrate minor variations in blank diameter, typically ranging between 18 and 20 millimeters, alongside normal die-axis orientations clustering around the common six o'clock or twelve o'clock alignments standard for second-century imperial minting.

Obverse Iconography and Variations

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 356 features the laureate bust of Emperor Trajan, facing right, with drapery clearly indicated over his far shoulder or around the base of the neck. The portrait embodies the distinctive realistic gravitas of Trajanic iconography, abandoning the idealized Julio-Claudian aesthetic in favor of a commanding, unyielding militaristic visage. Trajan is shown with his characteristic low fringe of straight hair combed forward, a prominent brow line, a strong, angular jaw, and tight lips, reflecting the virtues of severitas, auctoritas, and modestia. Within this specific catalogue type, minor variations in the execution of the bust have been observed in modern corpora. While the standard formulation prescribes a laureate and draped bust, engravers occasionally varied the extent of drapery, showing it lightly folded on the left shoulder or more broadly displayed across the chest. The laurel wreath, symbolizing perpetual military victory, is tied at the nape of the neck with two ribbons extending downward. The arrangement of the obverse portrait provides a balanced, circular composition that frames the extensive circumferential inscription neatly within a beaded outer border.

Reverse Design: Trajan's Column

The reverse of RIC II Trajan 356 presents an architectural depiction of the Column of Trajan, erected in the courtyard behind the Basilica Ulpia in Rome and dedicated in AD 113. Designed by the celebrated imperial architect Apollodorus of Damascus, the monument stood one hundred Roman feet tall, built from massive blocks of white Carrara marble. On this denarius type, the die-engraver translated the monumental column into a miniature design suited to a round, eighteen-millimeter flan. The column is depicted standing upon a square pedestal or plinth adorned with sculptural reliefs and corner moldings. Flanking the base of the column shaft are two prominent Roman eagles, symbols of Jupiter Optimus Maximus and the protective deities of the legions. The shaft itself is rendered with a series of winding spiral bands and delicate punctate dots, carefully mimicking the continuous helical narrative relief of over two thousand figures carved upon the original monument. Atop the Doric capital sits a viewing gallery or abacus, surmounted by a colossal bronze statue of Trajan standing facing left or forward, holding a spear and a globe or parazonium. This reverse design provided citizens and soldiers alike with an instantly recognizable miniature replica of one of the empire's greatest structural achievements.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The epigraphy of RIC II Trajan 356 provides essential chronological and political information regarding Trajan's constitutional titles and imperial honors. The obverse legend reads: IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC. This inscription expands as Imperatori Caesari Nervae Traiano Optimo Augusto Germanico Dacico. Unusually for Roman denarii, the imperial name is presented in the dative case (Traiano Optimo), signifying that the issue was dedicated to the emperor by the Senate and the Roman people. The appearance of the title OPTIMO is a crucial dating indicator: although the Senate had informally referred to Trajan as optimus princeps for years, the formal title Optimus was officially accepted by Trajan in the autumn of AD 114. The reverse inscription completes the imperial titulature and constitutional framework: P M TR P COS VI P P S P Q R. This expands to Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul VI, Pater Patriae, Senatus Populusque Romanus. Trajan held the chief priesthood (Pontifex Maximus) and the father of his country title (Pater Patriae) continuously from early in his reign, while his sixth and final consulship (COS VI) was assumed on 1 January AD 112. The final formula, S P Q R (Senatus Populusque Romanus), directly links the reverse imagery to senatorial decree, confirming that the monument depicted was authorized and dedicated by the Senate and people to their supreme leader.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard reference work The Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC II), compiled by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham, this type is catalogued as Trajan 356. In the updated and definitive classification system of Bernhard Woytek (MIR 14), it corresponds to type 514v. The precise chronology of RIC II Trajan 356 is tightly bracketed by epigraphic evidence between late AD 114 and Trajan's death in August AD 117. The lower date boundary of late AD 114 is firmly secured by the introduction of the title OPTIMO on the obverse. Earlier denarii displaying the Column of Trajan, struck between AD 112 and early 114, bear the obverse formula IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P, lacking the Optimo designation (for example, RIC II Trajan 292). The upper boundary is defined by the end of the reign in AD 117, though some scholars subdivide this phase further based on the subsequent acquisition of the title Parthicus in late AD 115 or early 116. While certain gold aurei and denarii incorporate PARTHICO into their legends during the final campaigns, RIC II Trajan 356 maintains the Optimo formulation without Parthicus, indicating that its primary production began in late AD 114 and continued extensively throughout AD 115, possibly overlapping with later parallel production runs.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Context

As an integral component of the high-volume precious metal currency issued under Trajan, RIC II Trajan 356 circulated widely across the provinces of the Roman Empire. Archaeological excavations and recorded numismatic hoards demonstrate that Trajan's silver coinage moved rapidly through military pay chains. Specimens of this specific type have been recovered from major hoards found throughout Britain, the Rhine and Danube frontiers, Gaul, and the eastern Mediterranean provinces. Because Trajanic denarii maintained a stable silver content relative to subsequent Antonine and Severan issues, they experienced remarkably long circulation lives. Hoards dating to the reigns of Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and even Septimius Severus regularly contain Trajanic denarii, often exhibiting substantial circulation wear from decades of daily transactions. When Septimius Severus debased the denarius to roughly 50 percent fineness in AD 194 to 196, earlier high-grade silver such as RIC II Trajan 356 was progressively hoarded, melted down, or lost, eventually disappearing from active circulation by the middle of the third century AD.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 104-105, nos. 452-455
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 356. ric.2.tr.356
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 268, no. 356
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (MIR 14). Moneta Imperii Romani 14, type 514v