Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
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Hadrian AV Aureus. Rome, AD 117. IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIANO AVG DIVI TRA PARTH F, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / DIVI NER NEP P M TR P COS, radiate head of Sol to right, ORIENS below. RIC II.3 50; C. 1003; BMCRE 35, pl. 46, 16 (same obverse die); Calicó 1293. 7.24g, 19mm, 6h.
Good Extremely Fine; superbly struck from dies engraved in the finest style, and among the finest known specimens of the type.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Baldwin's Auctions Ltd - Dmitry Markov Coins & Medals - M&M Numismatics Ltd, The New York Sale XXXII, 8 January 2014, lot 18 (hammer: USD 50,000);
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 38, 21 March 2007, lot 56;
Ex Bank Leu AG, Auction 10, 29 May 1974, lot 140;
Ex Adolph Hess AG - Bank Leu AG, Auction 9, 2 April 1958, lot 329;
Ex Münzen & Medaillen AG Basel, Auction 12, 11-13 June 1953, lot 811.
Struck in AD 117 at the beginning of Hadrian's reign and shortly after the death of Trajan on his return journey from the campaign against Parthia, this stunning aureus contains layers of symbolism hidden within its splendour.
The murky circumstances surrounding Hadrian's accession needed to be legitimised. He had, officially, been adopted by Trajan on his deathbed. Yet whether this was actually the case, and whether it was Trajan's uninfluenced will, were subjects of whispered debate. It was rumoured that Plotina might have compelled the dying emperor to adopt her favourite, Hadrian, or even perhaps that Trajan had died leaving no successor and that Plotina had afterwards forged Trajan's will herself. Hadrian was therefore required to cement his own position as well as to consolidate the vast territorial gains of his predecessor, tasks that he undertook quickly and decisively.
Realising the untenable position that the annexation of Mesopotamia had created, Hadrian withdrew the legions stationed there and effectively abandoned this province, also later giving up Armenia to a local king, who was soon defeated by Parthia. Unpopular as Hadrian's abandonment of his predecessor's conquests in Mesopotamia would have been, it did help to stabilise the empire. These tactical withdrawals also left him able to concentrate on quelling the last pockets of resistance left over from the Kitos War, the second great Jewish-Roman war which had begun under Trajan and which was estimated by contemporaries to have cost the lives of many hundreds of thousands of Greeks and Roman citizens. As a result of the insurrection, the Legio VI Ferrata was also moved to a new permanent station at Caesarea Maritima in Judaea.
The rumour of a falsified adoption carried little weight, but in any case Hadrian was keen to emphasise the legitimacy of his position, and therefore we see on his coinage legends proudly proclaiming the deified Trajan and Nerva as his father and grandfather.
The reverse type of Oriens may be understood to have several meanings. At the time it was struck, Hadrian remained in the East consolidating the frontiers of the empire and assisting in the restoration of Egypt, Cyprus, Cyrene and Judaea. Thus it may refer to the new emperor who had arisen in the East, yet it might also be viewed as a celebration of the end to the Jewish rebellion that had so ravaged the eastern provinces. One may also see in this type a melancholic marking of the conclusion to Trajan's glorious conquests on that most distant border of the Roman empire, a demanding campaign that had ultimately claimed the life of this great and wise emperor.
Good Extremely Fine; superbly struck from dies engraved in the finest style, and among the finest known specimens of the type.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Baldwin's Auctions Ltd - Dmitry Markov Coins & Medals - M&M Numismatics Ltd, The New York Sale XXXII, 8 January 2014, lot 18 (hammer: USD 50,000);
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 38, 21 March 2007, lot 56;
Ex Bank Leu AG, Auction 10, 29 May 1974, lot 140;
Ex Adolph Hess AG - Bank Leu AG, Auction 9, 2 April 1958, lot 329;
Ex Münzen & Medaillen AG Basel, Auction 12, 11-13 June 1953, lot 811.
Struck in AD 117 at the beginning of Hadrian's reign and shortly after the death of Trajan on his return journey from the campaign against Parthia, this stunning aureus contains layers of symbolism hidden within its splendour.
The murky circumstances surrounding Hadrian's accession needed to be legitimised. He had, officially, been adopted by Trajan on his deathbed. Yet whether this was actually the case, and whether it was Trajan's uninfluenced will, were subjects of whispered debate. It was rumoured that Plotina might have compelled the dying emperor to adopt her favourite, Hadrian, or even perhaps that Trajan had died leaving no successor and that Plotina had afterwards forged Trajan's will herself. Hadrian was therefore required to cement his own position as well as to consolidate the vast territorial gains of his predecessor, tasks that he undertook quickly and decisively.
Realising the untenable position that the annexation of Mesopotamia had created, Hadrian withdrew the legions stationed there and effectively abandoned this province, also later giving up Armenia to a local king, who was soon defeated by Parthia. Unpopular as Hadrian's abandonment of his predecessor's conquests in Mesopotamia would have been, it did help to stabilise the empire. These tactical withdrawals also left him able to concentrate on quelling the last pockets of resistance left over from the Kitos War, the second great Jewish-Roman war which had begun under Trajan and which was estimated by contemporaries to have cost the lives of many hundreds of thousands of Greeks and Roman citizens. As a result of the insurrection, the Legio VI Ferrata was also moved to a new permanent station at Caesarea Maritima in Judaea.
The rumour of a falsified adoption carried little weight, but in any case Hadrian was keen to emphasise the legitimacy of his position, and therefore we see on his coinage legends proudly proclaiming the deified Trajan and Nerva as his father and grandfather.
The reverse type of Oriens may be understood to have several meanings. At the time it was struck, Hadrian remained in the East consolidating the frontiers of the empire and assisting in the restoration of Egypt, Cyprus, Cyrene and Judaea. Thus it may refer to the new emperor who had arisen in the East, yet it might also be viewed as a celebration of the end to the Jewish rebellion that had so ravaged the eastern provinces. One may also see in this type a melancholic marking of the conclusion to Trajan's glorious conquests on that most distant border of the Roman empire, a demanding campaign that had ultimately claimed the life of this great and wise emperor.