Dupondius or As - Hadrian CLEMENTIA AVG P P COS III S C, Clementia

Clementia — imperial clemency — was not a passive virtue for Hadrian; it was a deliberate political posture. After the executions of four ex-consuls early in his reign, which he publicly blamed on Trajan's orders and for which the Senate remained skeptical, Hadrian spent years rehabilitating his reputation for mercy. This issue, struck in his third consulship, falls squarely within that campaign of image repair. The CLEMENTIA AVG legend was a direct address to senatorial anxiety, not an abstract ideal.