TRAJAN (98-117). Denarius. Rome

TRAJAN (98-117). Denarius. Rome.

Obv: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P.
Laureate bust right, with slight drapery.
Rev: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI.
Trajan's Column: column surmounted by statue of Trajan left, with patera and sceptre, and set upon podium decorated with eagles.

Woytek 425b; RIC 293.

Trajan's Column, designed by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus, was inaugurated in 113 AD in Trajan's Forum to commemorate his victories in Dacia. It is one of the finest examples of Roman art that can still be admired today. The magnificent frieze, which winds its way upward along the entire shaft of the column, consists of a sequence of reliefs 180 meters long, featuring approximately 2,000 figures. The emperor appears in about 60 scenes depicting Trajan’s two military campaigns against the Dacians, led between 101-102 and 105-106 AD. The monument, made of Parian marble, rises 42 meters high. Originally, a statue of an eagle stood atop the column, but after Trajan’s death, it was replaced with a six-meter-tall gilded bronze statue of the emperor himself. His ashes and those of his wife Plotina were placed in the burial chamber at the base of the column.

Condition: Near extremely fine.

Weight: 3.42 g.
Diameter: 19 mm. Estimate: € 500