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Roman
118 CE
Orichalcum
Mint of Rome
Yale University Art Gallery: Transfer from Sterling Memorial Library, Yale University Gift of Prof. Eduard Thraemer; 2001.87.6623
Obverse: Head of Hadrian, laureate, facing right.
Legend: IMP CAESAR TRAIANUS HADRIAN, or Imperator Caesar Trajanus Hadrianus Augustus, clockwise starting at seven o’clock.
Reverse: Hadrian seated, facing left, atop a high platform with his right arm extended. In front of the emperor, an attendant, of smaller stature and also facing left, is reaching out towards a citizen, repeating the emperor’s gesture and likely giving him a gift from Hadrian. The citizen stands on the steps that lead up to the platform, and he too is dwarfed by Hadrian.
Legend: PONT MAX TR POT COS II S C, or “Pontifex Maximus, endowed with tribunician authority, Consul for the second time, by decree of the Senate” clockwise starting at eight o’clock. In the exergue, LIBERALITAS AUG SC, or “The generosity of the Augustus; by decree of the Senate.”
This text was prepared by James Smith, Class of 2012.
Not on view
Additional views (1)
Obverse
Comparanda
BMC 296-301 (Pl. 52.4-7), BMC 1136, 1159 (Pl. 77.4, 10); RIC 552
