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Aureus - Trajan TRIVMPHVS PARTHICVS
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 117-118 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 19.5 mm |
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| Obverse description | Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of the deified Emperor Trajan facing right, depicted from the rear or side, conveying the posthumous honours awarded by his successor Hadrian. The portrait exhibits the idealised, robust treatment characteristic of Trajanic imperial coinage, with the laurel wreath signifying both military triumph and divine status. The surrounding legend frames the effigy and identifies Trajan with his honorific title as conqueror of the Parthians. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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Issued in the final months of Trajan's reign or — more probably — posthumously under Hadrian, this aureus commemorates the Parthian triumph that Trajan never actually celebrated. He died at Selinus in Cilicia in August 117 AD before returning to Rome, leaving Hadrian to formalize the victory honors. The TRIVMPHVS PARTHICVS legend was a political statement as much as a memorial, helping Hadrian legitimize a succession that many in the Senate viewed with suspicion.
Hadrian subsequently abandoned Trajan's Parthian conquests almost immediately, withdrawing from Mesopotamia and Armenia — making this coin a triumph commemorated for a war whose gains lasted less than two years.