Watch List notes:

Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Sestertius (34mm, 24.96 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 116-117. IMP CAES N[ER TRAIA]NO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PART[HIC]O P M TR [P COS VI P P], laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / ARMENIA ET MESOPOTAM[IA IN PO]TESTATEM P R REDACTAE, Trajan, laureate and in military attire, standing right, holding reversed spear and parazonium; around feet, Mesopotamia seated left, head right, and the Tigris and Euphrates seated right, look at one another, each holding reed and leaning on inverted urn from which water flows. RIC II 642; Woytek 590v; Banti 29. VF, rough green surfaces, a few cleaning marks.

Trajan's final campaign against the Parthians was sparked by Parthia's replacement of the pro-Roman king of Armenia with one of their own in AD 114. Armenia had been a strategic and semi-independent kingdom which served as an important buffer between Parthia and Rome. The last conflict over this region, during Nero's reign, resulted in a delicate balance that stabilized the situation for over fifty years. The move by Parthia now upset the balance and posed a threat to Rome's wealthy Syrian cities. Trajan's campaign was swift and decisive; by 115, Armenia was restored as a Roman client state. To secure the eastern frontier, he then moved southward through Mesopotamia, and captured the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon, in 116. Although short-lived, these victories were celebrated on much of Trajan's later coinage.