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Sestertius - Trajan S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI S C, Tiber and Dacia
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 103-111 |
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| Currency | Denarius, Reform of Augustus (27 BC – AD 215) |
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| Obverse lettering | IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P (Translation: Imperator, Caesar, Nervae Traiano Augustus, Germanicus, Dacicus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul Quintum, Pater Patriae. Supreme commander (Imperator), Caesar, of Nerva Trajan, emperor (Augustus), conqueror of the Germans, conqueror of the Dacians, high priest, holder of tribunician power, consul for the fifth time, father of the nation.) |
| Reverse description | The reverse depicts two allegorical figures in a dynamic composition: the reclining male figure of the river god Tiber, semi-nude and leaning upon an urn from which water flows, occupies the lower portion of the field, while a female figure representing the personification of Dacia is shown seated or kneeling in a posture of subjugation. Dacia holds a curved sica (falx) or branch, alluding to Trajan's Dacian conquests. The senatorial legend S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI is disposed in the upper field, with the senatorial authorization mark S C (Senatus Consultum) placed prominently in the lower exergual area, flanking the figures. The composition commemorates Trajan's Dacian victories and the submission of Dacia to Rome, rendered in the vigorous classicizing style of the Rome Mint workshops under Trajan. |
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Issued during the years spanning Trajan's two Dacian wars (101–102 and 105–106), this sestertius belongs to a sustained propaganda campaign celebrating the annexation of Dacia as Rome's newest province — a conquest that delivered staggering quantities of gold and silver from the Dacian royal treasury at Sarmizegetusa. The pairing of the Tiber with a Dacian captive directly frames the victory as a blessing conferred upon Rome itself.
RIC II 557 falls within a substantial emission series that continued well after active fighting ceased, keeping the Dacian triumph in public circulation through the reign's administrative middle years.