Denarius - Trajan P M TR P COS V P P, Hercules

Trajan's fifth consulship, held continuously from 103 AD, coincided with the period bracketing both Dacian Wars — the first concluded in 102, the second launched in 105. The Herculean iconography on issues of this period was deliberate political currency: Trajan actively cultivated association with Hercules, whose labors mapped conveniently onto a conquering emperor's ambitions in Dacia and beyond. RIC II 79 falls within a heavily produced tribunician series, yet individual die studies have shown considerable variation across the COS V run.