Trajan Silver Denarius, RIC II Trajan 122

Monetary Context and Imperial Policy

The emission of RIC II Trajan 122 occurred during a critical transformation of the Roman imperial monetary landscape. Between Trajan's entry into his fifth consulship in AD 103 and his assumption of the sixth in AD 112, the Roman treasury absorbed an unprecedented influx of precious metals resulting from the conquest of Dacia. Ancient accounts, notably those preserved by Cassius Dio through Byzantine epitomators, record that the subjugation of King Decebalus yielded vast quantities of gold and silver from Dacian mines and royal hoards. This sudden wealth financed ambitious public works across the capital, spectacular games, and a profound expansion of the currency supply across the empire. Simultaneously, Trajan instituted a decisive currency reform around AD 107. As reported by later legal texts and attested in numismatic hoard records, the emperor recalled, melted down, and re-coined obsolete, worn Republican and early imperial silver denarii that had remained in circulation for generations. Scientific metallurgical analyses confirm that Trajan slightly lowered the intrinsic silver content of the denarius during this period, establishing a standard alloy near eighty to eighty-five percent silver. In doing so, the state extracted a fiscal surplus while creating a standardized, uniform monetary mass. RIC II Trajan 122 represents this broad post-reform standard, functioning as a primary vehicle for military pay, imperial administrative expenditure, and large-scale market transactions throughout the Mediterranean world.

Production and Mint Organization

The entire issue of RIC II Trajan 122 was produced exclusively at the imperial mint in Rome. During the middle years of Trajan's reign, the Rome mint operated at maximum output to handle the processing of Dacian bullion and the re-coinage of recalled silver. The mint facility, organized into distinct workshops or officinae, demonstrated an exceptionally high level of technical proficiency and stylistic uniformity. Although the coins of this period do not carry explicit officina marks, detailed die studies conducted by modern scholars, particularly Bernhard Woytek, have identified cohesive stylistic groups and die linkages that indicate synchronized operation across multiple engraving benches. Production methods relied on hot-striking hand-engraved bronze or iron dies onto cast silver planchets. The flans for denarii of this issue typically weigh between 3.0 and 3.4 grams, with median diameters ranging from 18 to 20 millimeters, though natural production tolerances generated slight variations among individual specimens. The mint maintained strict quality controls over centering, strike quality, and alloy consistency, resulting in sharp, durable impressions capable of prolonged circulation throughout both civil and frontier provinces.

Obverse Portraiture and Style

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 122 presents a mature, classicizing profile portrait of Trajan facing right. In the typological classification of Trajanic portraiture established by Paul L. Strack and expanded in the Moneta Imperii Romani system, this type displays the 'decennalia' or post-Dacian portrait model. The head features realistic facial contours, a strong jawline, a prominent aquiline nose, and hair combed straight forward onto the forehead in typical early imperial military fashion. The laurel wreath crowns the emperor's head, tied behind the neck with ribbons trailing downward. A key defining characteristic distinguishing RIC 122 from neighboring variants is the precise treatment of the bust. Unlike issues showing a completely bare neck or an elaborate military cuirass, RIC 122 features light drapery gathered specifically upon Trajan's left shoulder, visible just beneath or around the lower base of the neck, while leaving the majority of the neck bare. This subtle drapery element is often combined with the tip of the aegis in minute variations, though cataloguers universally isolate the draped-on-left-shoulder presentation as the diagnostic criterion for this specific type.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse iconography of RIC II Trajan 122 centers upon the personification of Fortuna, one of the most prominent divine guarantors of Roman imperial stability and civic welfare. She is depicted standing facing left, dressed in a long chiton and himation that drape gracefully to her feet. In her right hand, Fortuna grasps an upright steering oar or rudder, the lower blade of which rests securely upon the prow of a vessel positioned beside her feet. Cradled securely within her left arm is a brimming cornucopiae, overflowing with fruits and ears of grain. This specific combination of attributes carried rich ideological resonance for Trajan's subjects. The rudder and ship prow emphasized Fortuna's nautical and directional power (Fortuna Redux and Fortuna Navalis), alluding to the safe passage, victorious return, and providential guidance of the emperor across land and sea. Concurrently, the cornucopiae served as an unambiguous proclamation of abundance, public prosperity, and state stability resulting from the emperor's stewardship. By deploying this traditional allegorical language during the height of the Dacian triumphs, the regime assured the Roman citizenry that territorial expansion would translate directly into civic peace and economic plenty.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The epigraphic program of RIC II Trajan 122 reflects the fully developed imperial titulature of Trajan's middle reign. The obverse legend reads IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, an abbreviated Latin string transcribing to Imperatori Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate. This inscription addresses the emperor in the dative case ('To the Emperor Trajan Augustus...'), a distinctive syntactical convention introduced under Trajan that cast the coinage as an honorary dedication by the Roman state rather than a simple proclamation by the ruler. The titles Germanicus (conferred in AD 97) and Dacicus (assumed in late AD 102) proclaim his paramount military achievements on the northern frontiers. The reverse legend, reading COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, translates to Consuli Quintum, Patri Patriae, Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi. It records his fifth consulship (entered in AD 103) and the venerable title Pater Patriae ('Father of the Fatherland'). The concluding formula, Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi ('The Senate and the Roman People to the Best of Emperors'), represents the definitive slogan of Trajan's regime. Awarded formally by the Senate in late AD 103 or early 104, the epithet Optimus Princeps became a permanent fixture of Trajanic silver reverse legends throughout the remainder of his fifth consulship, serving as both political praise and constitutional justification for his absolute authority.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Within the Roman Imperial Coinage framework, RIC II Trajan 122 is part of an extensive group of denarii sharing the COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC reverse legend struck between AD 103 and 111. The type is differentiated from RIC 119 and 120, which feature Fortuna seated left on a chair or throne, and from RIC 121, which shares the identical standing Fortuna with rudder, prow, and cornucopiae design but presents a completely bare-necked, undraped portrait. Further distinction exists between RIC 122 and later issues where Fortuna holds an olive branch or patera, or where Trajan's titular consulship advances to COS VI in AD 112. In his comprehensive classification of Trajanic coinage, Bernhard Woytek contextualizes RIC 122 within his emission phases (specifically MIR 14, issues 271 through 281). Woytek's chronological refinements suggest that the standing Fortuna types with draped-shoulder portraits were initiated following the victory celebrations of the second Dacian campaign, roughly AD 107 to 108, coinciding with the massive recoinage of earlier silver. Consequently, while the broad cataloguing bracket of the fifth consulship encompasses AD 103 to 111, the actual striking period of this specific draped bust variant may represent a concentrated window in the middle to late portions of that decade.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Evidence

Denarii of the RIC 122 type circulated widely throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire and along its frontier military bases. Because this type formed part of the immense monetary disbursements following the Dacian Wars, it appears regularly in major European hoards buried between the early second and mid-third centuries AD. Significant deposits uncovered in Britannia, the Rhine and Danube limes, the Iberian peninsula, and the Balkan provinces consistently contain Trajanic COS V silver. Hoard analyses demonstrate that post-reform denarii like RIC 122 possessed exceptional commercial longevity. Because their silver fineness (approximately eighty to eighty-five percent) was slightly lower than pre-Neronian or Domitianic issues, Gresham's law dynamics and state recall campaigns resulted in older, purer silver being removed from circulation while Trajan's denarii circulated actively for over a century. Specimens of RIC 122 frequently exhibit moderate to heavy wear when recovered in third-century hoards, such as those buried during the Antonine plague or the Marcomannic Wars, confirming that they served as durable workhorses of everyday Roman commerce well into the Severan era.

References

1. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan. pp. 450-485
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 252, no. 122
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 122. ric.2.tr.122
4. Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil I: Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Traian. pp. 110-128
5. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (Moneta Imperii Romani 14). MIR 14, no. 271b / 281b