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Triton XXV 11-12 Jan 2022
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Hadrian. AD 117-138. AV Aureus (19.5mm, 7.23 g, 10h). "Travel series" issue - the Province alone. Rome mint. Struck circa AD 130-133. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, bare head left / HISP ANIA, Hispania, draped, reclining left, holding up olive branch in right hand and resting left arm on rock; to left, a rabbit right. RIC II.3 1530 (same dies as illustration); Strack 3031/θο; Calicó 1273 (same dies as illustration); BMCRE 844 (same dies); Biaggi 615 (same dies); Jameson –; Mazzini 828 (same dies). Lustrous fields. Near EF. Struck from dies of marvelous style.
From a Southern California Collection.
Hadrian is considered a Spaniard, like his predecessor Trajan. His family, the Aelii, had risen to prominence in Italica, a city in Roman Spain near modern Seville. Hadrian spent much of his youth on family estates in Baetica and enjoyed the aristocratic lifestyle there. But upon entering public life, his peers laughed at his Latin, inflected as it was with a provincial Spanish accent. He responded by working hard on his pronunciation to erase any hint of provincial origins. Upon becoming emperor, Hadrian never felt comfortable in Rome and spent most of his 21-year reign traveling. This aureus of circa AD 130-133 recalls his visit to his homeland in AD 122-123, where he financed the restoration of Tarraco's great temple of Divus Augustus.
From a Southern California Collection.
Hadrian is considered a Spaniard, like his predecessor Trajan. His family, the Aelii, had risen to prominence in Italica, a city in Roman Spain near modern Seville. Hadrian spent much of his youth on family estates in Baetica and enjoyed the aristocratic lifestyle there. But upon entering public life, his peers laughed at his Latin, inflected as it was with a provincial Spanish accent. He responded by working hard on his pronunciation to erase any hint of provincial origins. Upon becoming emperor, Hadrian never felt comfortable in Rome and spent most of his 21-year reign traveling. This aureus of circa AD 130-133 recalls his visit to his homeland in AD 122-123, where he financed the restoration of Tarraco's great temple of Divus Augustus.