Hadrian's early coinage presents a nomenclature puzzle: the retention of "Traianus" in the obverse legend reflects his deliberate effort to legitimize succession from Trajan at a moment when that succession was contested. Rumors circulated, even in antiquity, that the adoption papers were forged by Trajan's widow Plotina after the emperor's death in 117. The name was quietly dropped from the titulature within a few years.
Hadrian's early coinage presents a nomenclature puzzle: the retention of "Traianus" in the obverse legend reflects his deliberate effort to legitimize succession from Trajan at a moment when that succession was contested. Rumors circulated, even in antiquity, that the adoption papers were forged by Trajan's widow Plotina after the emperor's death in 117. The name was quietly dropped from the titulature within a few years.