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Aureus - Hadrian VENERI GENETRICI, Venus
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 130 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust of Emperor Hadrian facing right, viewed from the rear, with the paludamentum fastened at the shoulder; the emperor's characteristic curly hair and short beard are rendered in fine relief. The effigy fills the field with commanding presence, the muscular cuirass visible beneath the draping. The encircling Latin legend reads HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, separated by a beaded border along the coin's irregular flan edge. |
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| Obverse lettering | HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P (Translation: Hadrianus Augustus, Consul Tertium, Pater Patriae. Hadrian, emperor (Augustus), consul for the third time, father of the nation.) |
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The title "Venus Genetrix" — Venus as ancestral mother of the Roman people through Aeneas — had been politically loaded since Julius Caesar claimed her as the divine progenitor of the gens Iulia. Hadrian's revival of the epithet in 130 AD came amid his sweeping Hellenizing reforms and a broader effort to reframe Rome's divine genealogy in terms palatable to the Greek east. That same year saw the drowning of Antinous in the Nile and the founding of Antinoöpolis, suggesting a period of intense imperial activity on multiple fronts.
RIC II.3 1432 is among the less common Hadrianic aureus types, reflecting the diversity of reverse programs his mint pursued rather than any production shortfall.