Artemide Aste s.r.l.
Auction 51E 27-28 Jun 2020
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Trajan (98-117). AR Denarius, 112-113 AD. D/ IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P. Laureate bust right, slight drapery. R/ S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI VIA TRAIANA (in exergue). Via Traiana, bare to waist, reclinging left, head turned back to right, holding wheel of eight spokes on right knee and resting left arm on rocks, holding branch in left hand. RIC 266. AR. g. 3.04 mm. 18.70 Brilliant and lightly toned with warm hues. EF.
This evocative reverse celebrates Via Traiana, depicting the highway as reclining female figure holding a wheel. This could refer to the Italian Via Trajana, constructed at the emperor's expense from AD 109 to 113, which ran 205 miles from Brindisium to Beneventum and largely replaced the old Appian Way. A second major artery, the Via Traiana Nova, stretching from Syria to Egypt, was also constructed at about the same time as part of the runup to Trajan's offensive against the Parthian Empire (Triton XXIII, 720 note).
This evocative reverse celebrates Via Traiana, depicting the highway as reclining female figure holding a wheel. This could refer to the Italian Via Trajana, constructed at the emperor's expense from AD 109 to 113, which ran 205 miles from Brindisium to Beneventum and largely replaced the old Appian Way. A second major artery, the Via Traiana Nova, stretching from Syria to Egypt, was also constructed at about the same time as part of the runup to Trajan's offensive against the Parthian Empire (Triton XXIII, 720 note).