Traianus. AD 98-117.

Denarius (Silver, 3.34 g 6), Rome, 114.

IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P Laureate and draped bust of Trajan to right.

S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI View of the Column of Trajan: showing his statue on top, the two eagles at its base, and the entrance below.

Bauten 50. BMC 452. BN 746. Cohen 558. Hill 618. RIC 292.

Sharp and attractive with lustrous surfaces. Extremely fine.

Trajan’s column is one of the best known and most recognizable of all the monuments of Rome. Built to commemorate Trajan’s Dacian Wars, it was finished in 113 and commemorated by coins struck in 113/114. The sculptural frieze, illustrating the campaigns of 101-102 and 105-106, contain nearly 2500 figures (the emperor himself appears 59 times among his troops). The column was originally set between the Greek and Latin Libraries and the Basilica Ulpia at the northern end of Trajan’s Forum - viewers could have seen the reliefs from the balconies of those buildings. The statue of Trajan that was originally on top of the column disappeared at some point during medieval times: in 1587 Pope Sixtus V topped the column with a bronze statue of St. Peter. The model was made by the sculptors Leonardo Sormani (fl. c. 1551-c. 1590)and Tommaso della Porta (c. 1550-1606) and the final mold that was cast in bronze was by Bastiano Torrigiani (d. 1596).