LYDIA. Stratoniceia. Hadrian (AD 117-138). AE (17mm, 2.60 gm, 12h). NGC AU S 4/5 - 5/5, Fine Style, adjusted flan. ΑΥ ΤΡΑΙ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟΝ, laureate, cuirassed bust of Hadrian right, seen from front / ΙΕΡΑ CΥΝ-ΚΛΗΤΟC, draped bust of Senate right, seen from front. RPC III, 1778. Charismatic portrayal of Hadrian. After donning the imperial purple in AD 117, Hadrian embarked on expansive travels that reached nearly every corner of the Roman Empire. These journeys were not mere royal expeditions; rather, they were calculated acts of leadership intended to reinforce the unity of his sprawling realm. The depiction of the Roman Senate on the reverse reflects Hadrian's conscious effort to respect the traditional heart of Roman governance, an understanding of power as seamlessly shared between the one and the many. Issued in distant Stratoniceia, this coin embodies the tactics used to extend the feelers of Roman rule into the provinces, fostering a sense of shared identity and governed stability. This harmonious duality of subjects rendered on the coin - the singular Emperor and the collective Senate - epitomizes the balance and interplay of power that characterized the sophisticated rule of the Roman world. HID09801242017 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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