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Denarius - Trajan S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Genius
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 103-111 |
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| Value | 1 Denarius |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | The Genius of the Roman People or of the Senate stands facing left in the reverse field, depicted nude save for a chlamys or short cloak draped around the waist and lower body. In his extended right hand he holds a patera over a lit altar at his feet, performing a libation, while his left hand bears a cornucopiae, symbol of abundance. The figure is rendered in a classical, idealised style with careful attention to musculature. The reverse legend is disposed in two lines within the field or around the periphery, dedicating the issue to Trajan as Optimus Princeps. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The legend OPTIMO PRINCIPI — "to the best of princes" — was not a flattering epithet coined by admirers but a formal title voted to Trajan by the Senate in 114 AD, though it appears on coinage several years before that official ratification, suggesting the mint at Rome was already using it by popular consensus during the Dacian war period. No emperor before or after Trajan held this specific designation as a permanent honorific.
RIC II 184 is among the more frequently encountered Trajanic denarii, produced across a long window tied to the administrative normalcy between the two Dacian campaigns.