Semis - Hadrian COS III P P

Hadrian's third consulship began in 119 AD and he held it continuously — unusually — for the remainder of his reign, making the COS III designation alone insufficient to narrow a precise date within his coinage. The 129–130 window reflects the period of his return from his second great eastern tour, during which he visited Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt. Roman senatorial tradition strongly discouraged emperors from holding perpetual consulships, and Hadrian's doing so was read by some contemporaries as a further sign of his Hellenizing ambitions and distance from Republican convention.