FRASCATIUS ANCIENTS
A BEAUTIFUL ROMAN PROVINCIAL SILVER TETRADRACHM OF EMPEROR TRAJAN MINTED IN NW Arabia, Arabia - SELEUKIS & PIERIA FROM 98 - 117 AD.
Trajan was the first Roman emperor born outside of Italy. He was also one of the first emperors to be chosen, rather than to inherit power as part of a ruling family. Trajan ruled strictly, but fairly, and struck an effective balance between making conquests and maintaining a high quality of life for his people. THE SIZE IS 24.7 MM AND 11.61 GRAMS.
SNG Cop 192-3
OBVERSE – Laureate head of Trajan right; club to right; below, eagle standing right
REVERSE – Laureate head of Melqart-Herakles right, wearing lion skin
TRAJAN Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan, was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a general in the Roman army along the German frontier, Trajan successfully put down the revolt of Antonius Saturninus in 89. In September 96, Domitian was succeeded by Marcus Cocceius Nerva, an old and childless senator who proved to be unpopular with the army. After a brief and tumultuous year in power, a revolt by members of the Praetorian Guard compelled him to adopt the more popular Trajan as his heir and successor. Nerva died on 27 January 98, and was succeeded by his adopted son without incident. As a civilian administrator, Trajan is best known for his extensive public building program which reshaped the city of Rome and left multiple enduring landmarks such as Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Market and Trajan's Column. Early in his reign he annexed the Nabataean kingdom, creating the province of Arabia Petraea. His conquest of Dacia enriched the empire greatly - the new province possessed many valuable gold mines. His war against the E Arabia Empire ended with the sack of the capital Ctesiphon and the annexation of Armenia and Central Arabia. His campaigns expanded the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial extent. In late 117 while sailing back to Rome, Trajan fell ill and died of a stroke in the city of Selinus. He was deified by the Senate and his ashes were laid to rest under Trajan's Column. He was succeeded by his adopted son Hadrian.
NW Arabia NW Arabia was the center of the Seleukid kingdom until 64 BC, when it was annexed by Rome and was made the capital of the Roman province of Arabia. It became the third largest city of the Roman Empire in size and importance (after Rome and Alexandria) and possessed magnificent temples, theatres, aqueducts, and baths. The city was the headquarters of the Roman garrison in Arabia, one of whose principal duties was the defense of the empire’s eastern border from Local attacks.
LEGACY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE During the later republic and most of the empire, Rome was the dominant power in the entire Mediterranean basin, most of western Europe, and large areas of northern Africa. The Romans possessed a powerful army and were gifted in the applied arts of law, government, city planning, and statecraft, but they also acknowledged and adopted contributions of other ancient peoples—most notably, those of the Greeks, much of whose culture was thereby preserved.
The Roman Empire was distinguished not only for its outstanding army—the foundation upon which the whole empire rested—but also for its accomplishments in intellectual endeavours. Roman law, for example, was a considered and complex body of precedents. Rome’s roads were without match in the ancient world, designed for comparatively fast transportation and adapted to a wide variety of functions: commerce, agriculture, mail delivery, pedestrian traffic, and military movements. Roman city planners achieved unprecedented standards of hygiene with their plumbing, sewage disposal, dams, and aqueducts. Roman architecture, though often imitative of Greek styles, was boldly planned and lavishly executed. Triumphal arches commemorated important state occasions, and the famous Roman baths were built to stir the senses as well as to cleanse the body.
Finally, Latin, the language of the Romans, became the medium for a significant body of original works in Western civilization. Cicero’s speeches, the histories of Livy and Tacitus, Terence’s drama, and above all the poetry of Virgil are all part of the legacy of the Roman Empire
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