Trajan Silver Denarius, RIC II Trajan 315

Monetary Context and Historical Background

During the principate of Trajan, the silver denarius functioned as the backbone of high-volume military expenditures and civil administration across the Roman Mediterranean. Trajan undertook significant monetary adjustments early in his reign, including the massive demonetization and recall of worn pre-Neronian silver denarii around AD 107. Following the acquisition of substantial bullion reserves from the conquest of Dacia, the imperial treasury maintained an intense minting program that financed monumental infrastructure projects in Italy and sustained legionary payrolls across the frontiers. By the midpoint of the second decade of the second century, Roman imperial foreign policy pivoted decidedly eastward toward conflict with the Parthian Empire over the client kingdom of Armenia. The issue of RIC II Trajan 315 in AD 114 coincided with the formal opening of this campaign. Denarii struck during this window conveyed urgent ideological themes through their reverse types, addressing both the civilian population at Rome and military forces assembling in the eastern provinces. Struck on an alloy that maintained Nero's reformed weight standard, the coin exemplifies how imperial finances and divine patronal messaging intersected directly before major campaigns.

Production Technology and Mint Attribution

The entire regular production of RIC II Trajan 315 is attributed securely to the imperial mint situated in Rome. Operating under the administrative oversight of the imperial treasury, the mint at Rome possessed multiple operational workshops (officinae) capable of outputting millions of denarii annually. Production utilized traditional manual striking techniques. Flans were cast in open or two-part molds from refined silver, cooled, and subsequently adjusted to standard weight batches before being brought to a workable temperature for striking between engraved iron or bronze dies. Metallurgical analyses of Trajanic silver from this operational period indicate a consistent silver content hovering near 80 to 82 percent purity, balanced primarily with copper to enhance die durability and resist abrasive wear during circulation. The dies for this issue demonstrate high artistic skill characteristic of the mid-Trajanic imperial engravers, featuring well-proportioned portrait modeling on the obverse and balanced spatial execution of the allegorical figure and lengthy circumferential legends on the reverse.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 315 presents an official imperial bust of Trajan facing right, characterized by a laurel wreath and classical drapery over the shoulder. Mid-Trajanic portraiture reflects a mature, veristic image of the emperor that departed from the idealized, youthful conventions of Julio-Claudian art in favor of a stern, civic-minded leader. The emperor is rendered with his distinctive hairstyle of low-hanging, straight bangs brushed forward across the forehead, deep-set eyes, an aquiline nose, and a firm, pronounced chin. The laurel wreath symbolizes continuing military triumph, while the addition of drapery emphasizes dignity and civic responsibility. In Bernardo Woytek's comprehensive classification of Trajanic coinage, this portrait arrangement corresponds to the standard mature military and civic bust variant utilized across the principal denomination groups of late AD 114.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse design of RIC II Trajan 315 features the personification Fortuna, draped and veiled, seated facing left on a backless chair or stool. In her right hand she holds a ship rudder set upright on the ground, while her left arm cradles a horn of plenty (cornucopia). The specific iconographic attributes identify her as Fortuna Redux, the divine patroness tasked with steering and safeguarding the safe journey and victorious return of travelers, particularly the emperor when departing on perilous military campaigns. The rudder underscores divine guidance through uncertain voyages and state governance, whereas the cornucopia promises agricultural abundance, material prosperity, and administrative stability resulting from imperial protection. Veiled in the traditional manner of Roman religious devotion, the goddess embodies an official prayer on behalf of the Roman people and the Senate for Trajan's welfare in the nascent conflict with Parthia.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The legends on RIC II Trajan 315 provide essential chronological benchmarks and ideological declarations. The obverse reads IMP CAES NER TRAIAN OPTIM AVG GERM DAC, expanding as Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Optimus Augustus Germanicus Dacicus. The inclusion of the honorific OPTIM (Optimus, 'the Best') reflects the formal award granted by the Roman Senate in the autumn of AD 114, marking a distinct epigraphic transition in the imperial titulature. The reverse inscription is exceptionally detailed, reading PARTHICO P M TR P COS VI P P S P Q R FORT RED. This expands as Parthico Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul VI, Pater Patriae, Senatus Populusque Romanus, Fortunae Reduci. The presence of PARTHICO in the dative, combined with the dedicated invocation FORT RED (Fortunae Reduci), demonstrates that the coinage served as an offering to Fortuna Redux on behalf of the emperor as conqueror of Parthia. Notably, this legend records Trajan's sixth consulship (COS VI), first entered in AD 112, alongside the conventional continuous powers of supreme pontiff and father of his country.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard reference work Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), this exact type is catalogued as RIC II 315. In modern scholarship, notably Bernhard Woytek's Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus, the issue is grouped within Trajan's fourteenth major emission, datable specifically to the autumn or late months of AD 114. The chronological bracket is strictly defined by epigraphic markers: it follows the Senate's official decree granting Trajan the title Optimus in August or September of AD 114, yet retains the earlier arrangement before the complete reorganization of imperial titles following the formal assumption of Parthicus as an established victory surname in AD 116. While RIC II catalogued the legend sequence under Trajan's sixth consulship, the precise positioning of Parthico in the dative indicates an anticipatory or early proclamation during the initial successes of the Armenian and Mesopotamian campaigns. Minor die variations occur primarily in the precise spacing of the reverse legend breaks and subtle details of the stool structure, but the iconographic composition remains uniform across verified examples of the type.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Survival

Denarii of type RIC II Trajan 315 circulated extensively alongside earlier Trajanic issues, as well as surviving Flavian silver, across both the western and eastern provinces of the empire. Hoard data from the European frontiers and Balkan regions demonstrate that Trajan's post-114 denarii remained in active monetary circulation well into the late second and early third centuries AD, regularly appearing in hoards buried during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus. The recall of older, heavier denarii in AD 107 meant that newly struck coins such as RIC 315 formed the dominant stratum of the empire's circulating medium for decades. Wear patterns observed on surviving specimens attest to prolonged transactional usage in regional markets and military stipends before withdrawal from circulation through hoarding or recoinage under subsequent imperial monetary reforms.

References

1. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan. pp. 215-240
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 266, no. 315
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 315. Type RIC II Trajan 315
4. Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117). Moneta Imperii Romani 14, emission 14, type 501