Trajan augustus, 98 – 117

Sestertius circa 103-111, Æ 36 mm, 29.04 g. IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI S C Triumphal arch with central passage with elaborate decoration composed of Victories underneath; sides decorated with registers composed of horses, arms, and figures; elaborate tripartite superstructure, ornamented with animals and six-horse chariot set upon frieze inscribed I O M. C 547. BMC 845. RIC 573. CBN 219. Woytek 187f.
Very rare and in unusually fine condition for this interesting issue. A bold portrait and
a finely detailed reverse composition. Lovely brown-green patina, a flan crack
at eight o’clock on obverse, otherwise good very fine / about extremely fine

Ex Nomos sale 11, 2015, 172. Privately purchased from Harlan J. Berk. From the Peter Bowe collection.
The beautifully engraved and exquisitely preserved reverse of this sestertius has been variously described as a triumphal arch or the monumental gateway to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill. This was the most important temple in Rome, containing separate inner chambers dedicated to each deity of the so-called Capitoline Triad: Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno Regina, and Minerva. The original temple was said to have been dedicated on 13 September 509 BC—the year in which the Roman Republic was established—and consecrated three years later in 507 BC. It subsequently became the final destination for victorious generals, and later emperors, on triumphal processions through Rome. If the edifice on the reverse of the present coin is indeed the gateway of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus it does not belong to the original temple, but rather to later building. The original temple burned down in 83 BC as part of the civil war between Marius and Sulla. It was rebuilt by 65 BC but suffered destruction by fire again in AD 69 as the forces of Vespasian fought to enter Rome and depose Vitellius during the bloody Year of the Four Emperors. The temple was quickly rebuilt for a second time in splendid style by Vespasian and dedicated in AD 75, only to burn yet again in AD 80. Domitian rebuilt the temple for the last time in AD 82, reportedly used 12,000 talents of gold to gild the bronze roof tiles alone. If the reverse depicts a triumphal arch, it is unclear which one it may be. RIC suggested that it is the arch erected at the entrance to the Forum of Trajan, but this arch looks very different in labelled depictions found on other coins of Trajan. More importantly this arch is not likely to have existed yet in AD 103-104, when this coin was struck. Construction of the Forum of Trajan did not begin before AD 105 at the earliest and was not complete until AD 112. As either a triumphal arch or the gateway of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus the dating of the coin places it in the period after the emperor’s triumph at Rome for his victory in the first Dacian War (AD 101-102).