Denarius - Hadrian P M TR P COS III, Genius

Hadrian's early coinage after assuming the consulship for the third time in 119 AD reflects a deliberate program of legitimizing his reign following the contentious executions of four senior senators — an act that had nearly cost him ratification by the Senate. The Genius type belongs to a broader religious iconographic campaign Hadrian deployed across multiple denominations in these years, projecting pietas and divine favor at a moment when his relationship with the senatorial class remained genuinely fragile.

RIC II.3 #532 was part of the comprehensive re-cataloguing under the revised second edition, which substantially reorganized and renumbered Hadrianic issues from the earlier RIC II classification.