Trajan Silver Denarius, RIC II Trajan 119

Monetary Context

The emission of RIC II Trajan 119 belongs to the middle period of Trajan's reign, framed by the administrative consolidation that accompanied the conclusion of the First Dacian War in AD 102 and the decisive annexation of Dacia in AD 106. During his fifth consulship, which commenced in AD 103, imperial mint operations in Rome undertook an extensive output of silver coinage to fund public building initiatives, provide military pay along the Danubian frontier, and distribute imperial congiaria. The denarius served as the operational backbone of imperial state expenditure and inter-provincial commerce throughout the Roman Mediterranean. Trajan inherited the monetary system stabilized under Domitian and Nerva, yet ongoing military engagements demanded a vast volume of bullion. While the massive influx of Dacian gold and silver would soon augment the treasury, emissions struck early in Trajan's fifth consulship maintained an average weight standard around 3.2 to 3.4 grams with a fineness fluctuating between eighty and eighty-five percent silver. In this context, selecting Aequitas for the reverse type held substantial symbolic resonance. Aequitas personified not merely abstract justice, but specifically the fair distribution of resources, conscientious fiscal management, and fidelity to established standards of weight and measure. By deploying Aequitas on silver denominations, the imperial administration provided visual and symbolic reassurance to taxpayers, soldiers, and merchants that imperial monetary policy was sound, balanced, and guided by imperial benevolence.

Production and Mints

All standard numismatic corpora assign RIC II Trajan 119 exclusively to the central imperial mint at Rome. Although Trajan maintained subsidiary bronze minting operations in the eastern provinces and occasional emergency military issues have been hypothesized in earlier scholarship, extensive die studies have demonstrated that the main silver denarius series bearing the fifth-consulship legends emanated from Rome. The mint operated through an organized system of officinae, or workshops, utilizing manually carved intaglio steel or bronze dies. Production was executed by hot-striking prepared flans placed between an anvil die and a hand-held punch die. Analysis of surviving specimens indicates a high level of standardized die cutting, characteristic of the urban Roman workshops of the early second century AD. The flans for this issue were cast in spherical molds or cut from poured silver sheets before striking, occasionally producing slightly irregular edges or gentle oval contours under the blow of the hammer. The technical execution shows precise control over die alignment, typically adhering to an approximate six o'clock or twelve o'clock orientation. The sheer quantity of surviving dies for the fifth-consulship silver issues underscores an intensive, multi-year production cycle running in parallel across several workshop benches in the capital.

Obverse Design

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 119 features a right-facing portrait bust of Trajan wearing the laurel wreath, a traditional emblem of victorious imperium and civil authority. Trajan's likeness is rendered in the classicizing, mature style that emerged after his initial campaigns, characterized by a low, flat coiffure combed straight forward over the forehead, a prominent bridge to the nose, a firm chin, and a taut jawline. The laurel ties extend downward behind the nape of the neck, often terminating in two small fluttering ribbons. Nuances in the bust drapery constitute the primary stylistic variation attested for this catalogue type. The standard design presents the bust draped, with fabric gathered across the chest and shoulders, though many dies display a lighter treatment where the emperor's chest is shown primarily bare with drapery gathered only across the far left shoulder. Numismatic studies by Bernhard Woytek and earlier cataloguers treat these drapery nuances as internal workshop variants rather than distinct institutional typologies. The portraiture consciously departs from the dramatic Flavian baroque manner, projecting instead an image of stoic discipline, sobriety, and civic devotion aligned with Trajan's public persona as a soldier-emperor.

Reverse Design

The reverse of RIC II Trajan 119 presents the figure of Aequitas seated facing left upon a backless curule stool or bench. She is dressed in a long, draped stola with folds falling gracefully to her feet, often paired with a mantle wrapped around her lower body. In her outstretched right hand, Aequitas suspends a pair of balance scales, the preeminent attribute of honest weight, precise auditing, and equitable adjudication. In her left arm, she cradles a cornucopia overflowing with fruits and grain, symbolizing the abundance, prosperity, and civic welfare that arise from fair governance. The backless seat signifies an active, accessible judicial posture rather than detached monarchical enthronement. In imperial Roman visual language, Aequitas was closely linked with the Moneta concept, emphasizing that the intrinsic worth and purchasing power of the coinage were maintained under the emperor's guardianship. The spatial balance of the reverse composition, with the scales extending toward the left field and the curving cornucopia filling the right, exemplifies the aesthetic maturity of Roman die engraving during the early second century AD.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The inscriptions on RIC II Trajan 119 form a continuous grammatical sentence that bridges the obverse and reverse fields, a standard epigraphic practice during Trajan's middle principate. The obverse legend reads IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, which expands to Imperatori Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate. This formula presents Trajan's name in the dative case, signifying that the coinage is dedicated to the emperor by the Roman Senate and people. It lists his high victory titles, including Germanicus, awarded under Nerva in AD 97, and Dacicus, assumed in late AD 102 following his first northern campaign, alongside his supreme religious office as Pontifex Maximus and his tribunician authority. The reverse inscription continues this dedication with COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, expanding to Consuli Quinto, Patri Patriae, Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi. This segment dates the issue to Trajan's fifth consulship, which began on January 1, AD 103, and records his honorific title Pater Patriae. Crucially, it incorporates the title Optimus Princeps, meaning Best of Princes. While this title was officially accepted as a formal cognomen only in AD 114, its usage in descriptive dative legends began around AD 103 to celebrate Trajan's civil virtue and harmonious partnership with the Senate.

Typology and Chronological Sequences

In the structural framework of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC II Trajan 119 is grouped within the prolific fifth-consulship issues spanning AD 103 to 111. Because Trajan did not enter a sixth consulship until AD 112, the consular mark COS V appears on Rome mint denarii across a span of nearly nine years. Modern scholars, notably Paul Strack and Bernhard Woytek, have established tighter chronological sequences for this extensive period based on portrait development, reverse iconographic programs, and changes in legend arrangements. In Woytek's Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus, issues with the dative obverse formula combined with the OPTIMO PRINC reverse begin around AD 103 and continue through the successful culmination of the Second Dacian War and the annexation of Arabia. RIC 119 forms part of an allegorical virtue series that accompanied historical and martial victory types, providing moral framing for imperial expansion. Aequitas appears across several parallel issues, standing or seated, on both silver and bronze denominations. Within the specific seated Aequitas type, minor variants exist in die carving, such as the extent of drapery on Trajan's shoulder, the ornamentation of the stool legs, and the exact placement of line breaks in the reverse inscription, reflecting the work of multiple engravers over successive emission phases.

Circulation and Monetary Impact

Denarii of the RIC II Trajan 119 type saw immediate and prolonged circulation across the Roman Empire. Struck in large numbers, these coins were dispersed throughout the western provinces, including Gaul, Britain, and the Germanies, as well as the heavily garrisoned Danubian frontier zones of Moesia, Pannonia, and the newly created province of Dacia. Hoard evidence demonstrates that Trajan's fifth-consulship silver formed the core of Roman imperial currency during the second quarter of the second century AD. Following the Dacian Wars, Trajan undertook a sweeping demonetization of worn pre-Neronian republican and early imperial silver, as documented by Cassius Dio and confirmed by hoard structures. The freshly struck fifth-consulship issues, including RIC 119, effectively replaced the older currency pool. Due to their consistent intrinsic silver content, these denarii circulated for decades, remaining common components of currency hoards deposited during the reigns of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. Wear patterns on recovered specimens range from pristine, lightly circulated examples found in savings hoards to heavily abraded coins recovered from frontier camps, attesting to their enduring utility in daily military payrolls and civilian market exchanges.

References

1. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 254, no. 119
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 119. ric.2.tr.119
3. Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil I: Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Traian. pp. 110-125
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (Moneta Imperii Romani 14). MIR 14, type 281