Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIII 23 March 2017
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Hadrian AV Aureus. Rome, AD 125-128. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / COS III, Hadrian on horseback galloping right, holding couched lance, cloak billowing out behind. RIC 186; Calicó 1226. 7.34g, 21mm, 6h.
Extremely Fine. Well struck on a broad flan; beautiful lustre.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex H.D. Rauch 86, 12 May 2010, lot 763.
Though not a warrior emperor in the same manner as his predecessor Trajan, the iconography of this coin immediately recalls the similar types issued under Trajan, and also the ancient denarii of the Republic which featured the Dioscuri in similar posture with couched lance. Despite the militaristic theme of this coin and others issued during his reign (which are almost as common as coins with peaceful themes), Hadrian's policy was peace through strength, or threat of strength, with an emphasis on discipline. His skills as a military administrator were well applied during his reign, and aside from the consolidation of the empire's frontiers, Hadrian also made a great many beneficial reforms to the Roman military system, including the introduction of the first regular unit of auxiliary, mailed cataphract cavalry, the ala I Gallorum et Pannoniorum cataphractata, whose primary armament was a heavy lance far more effective than a regular cavalry spear, capable of puncturing two layers of chain mail.
Extremely Fine. Well struck on a broad flan; beautiful lustre.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex H.D. Rauch 86, 12 May 2010, lot 763.
Though not a warrior emperor in the same manner as his predecessor Trajan, the iconography of this coin immediately recalls the similar types issued under Trajan, and also the ancient denarii of the Republic which featured the Dioscuri in similar posture with couched lance. Despite the militaristic theme of this coin and others issued during his reign (which are almost as common as coins with peaceful themes), Hadrian's policy was peace through strength, or threat of strength, with an emphasis on discipline. His skills as a military administrator were well applied during his reign, and aside from the consolidation of the empire's frontiers, Hadrian also made a great many beneficial reforms to the Roman military system, including the introduction of the first regular unit of auxiliary, mailed cataphract cavalry, the ala I Gallorum et Pannoniorum cataphractata, whose primary armament was a heavy lance far more effective than a regular cavalry spear, capable of puncturing two layers of chain mail.