Trajan Silver Denarius, RIC II Trajan 118

Monetary Context and Historical Background

The principate of Trajan (98 to 117 AD) represents one of the most prolific and transformative periods in Roman imperial monetary history. During this era, the denarius remained the bedrock of silver currency throughout the Mediterranean, functioning both as the primary vehicle for military pay and as an indispensable medium for administrative and market transactions. Between 101 and 106 AD, Rome conducted two major military campaigns in Dacia, culminating in the complete subjugation of the Dacian kingdom and the capture of substantial royal treasures, including vast quantities of gold and silver from the southern Carpathians. This wealth profoundly altered imperial finances, funding monumental building projects in Rome, extensive civic distributions (congiaria), and agricultural subsidies (alimenta). Concurrently, around 107 AD, the imperial administration undertook a structural reform and recoinage described by the historian Cassius Dio, wherein worn and older silver currency, particularly heavily circulated Republican denarii and worn Julio-Claudian issues, was demonetized, recalled, and melted down. The newly minted denarii of this phase, exemplified by RIC II Trajan 118, maintained a silver fineness of approximately 89 to 90 percent and a modal mass near 3.2 to 3.4 grams, representing an intentionally stabilized standard that facilitated widespread restriking of older bullion into unified imperial types bearing Trajan's comprehensive ideological messages.

Production Standards and Mint Organization

The entire regular production of RIC II Trajan 118 was concentrated at the imperial capital mint in Rome. Operational analysis indicates that the Rome mint during Trajan's reign operated with multiple workshops (officinae), often reconstructed as five or six distinct units sharing the burden of producing an immense volume of denarii and aes denominations. Striking was executed using hand-carved hardened iron or bronze dies, with flans prepared by casting spherical blanks that were subsequently flattened and hot-struck. While individual surviving specimens exhibit slight variability caused by manual flan preparation, die wear, and mechanical clipping in antiquity, the institutional weight standard for Trajanic denarii of the fifth consulship hovered around 3.25 to 3.35 grams, with typical diameters ranging between 18 and 20 millimeters. Die axes are predominantly oriented near 6 o'clock or 12 o'clock, reflecting careful mechanical handling by the mint staff (scalptores and signatores). The high output necessitated multiple duplicate obverse and reverse dies, resulting in subtle artistic divergences across different die pairs while strictly preserving the overarching compositional schema and epigraphic formula.

Obverse Iconography and Variations

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 118 features a right-facing portrait bust of Trajan. The emperor is depicted with a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck, with the ribbons falling gracefully behind. The portrait exemplifies the classicizing, dignified realism that defined middle Trajanic sculpture: a strong, linear profile, low forehead with straight fringe hair, prominent jaw, and determined expression, consciously moving away from the flamboyant or excessively naturalistic conventions of previous dynasties toward a stoic, commanding presence. Within the broader type designated by RIC 118, numismatists recognize minor drapery sub-variants. The standard configuration exhibits drapery visible over the emperor's left shoulder, often visible from behind, while other dies depict the bust with more extensive drapery across both shoulders or light paludamentum folds. Occasionally, specialized dies introduce an aegis, the mythic goatskin protective cape associated with Jupiter and Minerva, positioned at the base of the neck or across the shoulder. This symbolic attribute subtle reinforced Trajan's divine protection and piety without violating the traditional civic sensibilities expected of the princeps.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse depicts Aequitas, the personification of equity, fair distribution, and justice, standing facing left. She is clothed in a long stola that drapes to her feet, accompanied by an over-mantle (palla). In her right hand, outstretched before her, she holds a pair of balance scales (libra), suspended by a small cord or handle. Resting in her left arm is a large cornucopiae (horn of plenty), overflowing with fruits, grain ears, and foliage. The scales symbolize impartiality, precise measurement, and honest dealing, qualities essential both to civil jurisprudence and to the state's fiduciary duty in safeguarding the standard weight and fineness of coinage. The cornucopiae signifies the material prosperity, agricultural abundance, and widespread welfare that directly result from fair administration and imperial benevolence. On denarii of this series, Aequitas served as an explicit declaration that the imperial government managed the newfound resources of the Dacian conquest with balance, equity, and scrupulous concern for the welfare of the Roman citizenry and the provincial populace.

Epigraphic Formulae and Titulature

The legends of RIC II Trajan 118 represent one of the most cohesive epigraphic programs of the imperial period, seamlessly splitting Trajan's titles across the obverse and reverse faces to create a single syntactic proclamation. The obverse legend reads: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P. Expanded, this translates to Imperatori Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate ('To the Emperor Trajan Augustus, conqueror of the Germans, conqueror of the Dacians, Chief Priest, invested with the Tribunician Power'). The use of the dative case (Traiano) reflects a dedicatory format, casting the coinage as an offering or honorific tribute voted by the Roman authorities to their ruler. The victory titles Germanicus (conferred under Nerva in 97 AD) and Dacicus (adopted late in 102 AD) firmly situate the emission after the First Dacian War. The reverse inscription continues: COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC. Expanded, this denotes Consuli Quintum, Patri Patriae, Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi ('Consul for the fifth time, Father of his Country; the Senate and the Roman People [dedicated this] to the Best of Princes'). Trajan entered his fifth consulship on January 1, 103 AD, and did not assume his sixth until January 1, 112 AD. The prominent incorporation of OPTIMO PRINC reflects the official senate-bestowed accolade Optimo Principi, which became a cornerstone of Trajanic civic identity during the middle years of his reign.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard reference work Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham catalogued this issue under number 118 within Trajan's silver coinage bearing the reverse legend formula COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC. RIC assigned a broad chronological bracket of 103 to 111 AD, corresponding to the entire duration of Trajan's fifth consulship prior to his sixth consulship in 112 AD. Modern scholarship, led by Bernhard Woytek in Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (MIR 14), has provided a much tighter chronological phasing based on comprehensive hoard analyses, bust typology progressions, and die links. In Woytek's classification system, this type corresponds primarily to MIR 14, no. 278b (and related die groups). Woytek places the bulk of this issue around 107 to 108 AD, immediately following the conclusion of the Second Dacian War and the initiation of the great currency reform. RIC 118 is typologically distinct from parallel reverse types of the fifth consulship depicting Moneta (who holds scales and cornucopiae but is often accompanied by distinct attributes or mint-specific inscriptions) and Pax (who holds an olive branch and cornucopiae, occasionally setting fire to arms).

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Evidence

RIC II Trajan 118 was produced in substantial quantities and enjoyed an exceptionally broad geographical circulation throughout the empire. Archaeological find-spots and numismatic hoard inventories document its presence from Roman Britain and the Rhine frontier to the Danubian provinces, the Iberian peninsula, and the Levant. Because the mid-Trajanic recoinage removed a significant portion of older silver from general circulation, new issues such as RIC 118 became dominant components of the empire's active silver pool during the second quarter of the second century AD. Hoard evidence indicates that Trajanic denarii remained in active circulation for decades after his death. Because their silver fineness (approximately 89 percent) was maintained or only slightly lowered compared to Flavian issues, they were not immediately hoarded or culled under Hadrian or Antoninus Pius. They appear consistently in late Antonine and early Severan hoards across Europe, frequently showing substantial surface wear from more than half a century of continuous monetary circulation before the debasements of Septimius Severus and Caracalla gradually drove them out of everyday commerce.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 64-66
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 118. ric.2.tr.118
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 252, no. 118
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117 n. Chr.) (Moneta Imperii Romani 14). MIR 14, no. 278b