Denarius - Hadrian P M TR P COS III, Roma

Hadrian's early coinage as sole emperor coincided with his deliberate dismantling of Trajan's eastern conquests — Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Assyria were abandoned within his first year, a policy so controversial that the senate nearly refused him a triumph. The COS III designation places this issue after his third consulship began in 119, with the TR P notation incrementing annually, allowing these pieces to be dated with unusual precision relative to much Roman imperial coinage.

Roma as a reverse type carried pointed political weight under Hadrian, who was the first emperor to undertake systematic tours of the provinces and who founded or refounded dozens of cities across the empire.