Denarius - Trajan COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, Felicitas

Trajan's "Optimus Princeps" titulature — formally conferred by the Senate in 114 AD but already appearing on coinage well before that date — reflects a calculated program of ideological positioning after the Dacian wars. The title had no precedent in Roman constitutional practice. Felicitas on the reverse aligned neatly with that messaging: military success recast as divinely sanctioned prosperity for the Roman people, not merely the emperor's personal glory.

RIC II 120 falls within the third issue of Trajan's coinage as classified by Woytek, struck between the two Dacian campaigns.