Trajan, 98-117, Denarius

Trajan, Denarius, AR, emperor AD 98–117, Rome mint, AD 116–117; 2.77 g; 19 mm. Obv: IMP CAES NER TRAIAN OPTIM AVG GERM DAC; laureate head of Trajan right. Rev: PARTHICO P M TR P COS VI P P S P Q R; commemorative legend marking the assumption of the title Parthicus. Struck at Rome on the Parthian victory series. Reference: RIC II Trajan 332.

This issue belongs to Trajan’s late eastern campaign coinage. The obverse legend includes Optimus (granted in AD 114), while the reverse proclaims Parthicus (adopted in AD 116) and ends with S P Q R, indicating senatorial authority. The presence of COS VI (his sixth consulship of AD 112) with tribunician power dates the series to AD 116–117, when Trajan briefly annexed Armenia and Mesopotamia after the capture of Ctesiphon. The type documents the high-water mark of Roman territorial reach before Hadrian relinquished the new eastern provinces in AD 117–118.