some historical coins of hadrian / by harold mattingly

SOME HISTORICAL COINS OF HADRIAN.1

By HAROLD MATTINGLY.

(Plates xxxii, xxxiii.)

In the absence of a full and satisfactory record in literature of the reign of Hadrian, we turn with more than ordinary expectation to his large and varied coinage. We are at once confronted with a formidable difficulty: most of Hadrian's coins bear no other sign of date than COS fI -that is to say, they can only be dated to the long period from A.D. II9 to I38. This problem, then, must be faced at the outset. To save space, we will at once set out the system of dating we shall follow, adding only the few notes absolutely required to justify it:

A.D. I I7. Coins dated COS. A.D. i i8. Coins dated COS * II A.D. I I9-I38. Coins dated COS * III

A. A.D. I19 - early I28. Without title P * P

(I) A.D. II9-I2I/2. The gold and silver has P M * TR P COS III on

rev. The Aes has first PONT* MAX* TR* POT COS

III on rev. (A.D. II9), then P* M * TR P. COS III on obv. (A.D. II9-I21), finally P * M TR - P COS * III on rev. (A.D. I2I-2).

(2) A.D. I25 (late)-I28 (early). HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS on obv., COS * III

on rev.

B. Early A.D. 128-I38, with title P * P. (I) C. A.D. 132-I34.

HADRIANVS AVGVSI VS on obv., COS III PJ P on rev.

(2) C. A.D. I34-I38. HADRIANVS * AVG * COS * III P * P on obv.

1 This paper, in a somewhat different form, was read before the Oxford Philological Society in Noxember, 1924: to the President of that Society,

Professor H. Stuart Jones, and to several of the members the author is indebted for some valuable suggestions.

2IO SOME HISTORICAL COINS OF HADRIAN.

(3) A.D. I38-posthumous coinage, perhaps extending intO A.D. 139.

HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P* P on obv., COS III on rev.

A large part of this system may be accepted as certain and will readily commend itself to any one who studies the coins and such modern works as Henderson's Life a-nd Principate of the Emperor Hadrian (especially pp. 283 ff.) or Laffranchi's important article in Rivista Italiana di Numismatica (I906), Pp. 329 ff. One or two points, however, call for further justification. Two breaks in the coinage are indicated-A.D. I22-I25 and I28-132-and one issue is placed after the death of Hadrian. Let us begin with the first break, A.D. 122-

25. A rare coin of A.D. I21 (bearing the date of the city, 874) shows us Hadrian's portrait of that year. In the series to which it belongs there is little further development of obverse and there are few later reverses. We very soon come to the new coinage of A.D. 125, with new legends and types, celebrating Hadrian's return from his first great voyage. It is certain, then, either that coinage between A.D. I22

and I25 was very scanty and unprogressive, or else that there was a complete cessation during the Emperor's absence: the second hypothesis is, perhaps, the simpler. This lull in the coinage during Hadrian's first voyage predisposes us to look for a similar lull during his second. Some further justification, however, is required for transferring the group with HADRIANVS JVGVSTVS P * P * on obv. and COS * III on rev., from its more obvious place in the period A.D. I28 to 132 to the end of the reign. The relevant facts may be summarized thus: (a) the reverse types are in part peculiar to this group, in part shared

with A (2) and B (i) above. Of the reverses peculiar to it, two- the Roma, Hadrian and Senator group, and the PATIENTIA JV'GVSTI (plate XXXIII, 4 and I5)-seem definitely to refer to events of A.D. 138-the adoption of Antoninus Pius and the fortitude of Hadrian in his last illness.

(b) the obverse legend of Hadrian is almost exactlv the same in form as that adopted by Antoninus Pius in A.D. I39-ANTONINVS XVG * PIVS * P . P .. After Hadrian's death Antoninus Pius at first bore the name HADRIANVS in his own title and declined the title of ' Pater patriae.' The new title, modelled on the latest of Hadrian, seems to come in just after the consecration of Hadrian. There is some reason for thinking that the use of the title P.P., in close attachiment to the name of Hadrian, was felt to be more honourable than its use as part of his title on the reverse. If this is so, the use on the obverse is clearly later than that on the reverse. 1

1 See Brit. Alus. Catal. Enipire, I, p. cli, note on use of title P.P. by Claudius.

SOME HISTORICAL COINS OF HAI)RIAN. 211

(c) the radiate head on the dupondius occurs hiere and in group A (i),

(2) above, not in group B (i), (2).

(d) hybrids composed of obverses of this group and reverses of groups A (i), (2) and B (i), (2), are not uncommon.

It will be seen that the group can only come after A (2) or, where we have placed it, after B (2). The evidence of the reverse types seems to be decisive for the later date.

Posthumous coinage, in the form of ' Consecration' coins, is of course familiar enough. It is the use of the lifetime titles of an Emperor after death that may seem hard to accept. There is, however, a small class of cases in which such coinage is naturally to be expected-cases where an Emperor's memory was not condemned, but where, for one reason or another, he was either not consecrated at once or not consecrated at all. An attempt at a posthumous coinage for Tiberius struck by Caligula," a posthumous coinage for Galba struck by Vespasian2 are already known. Other examples, perhaps, await discovery.3 In the present instance, Antoninus Pius, unable at first to overcome the resistance of the senate to the consecration of Hadrian, issues a large coinage in Hadrian's name recalling earlier types of the reign, and thus keeping his memory fresh in the public mind. This powerful method of publicity may have contributed not a little to Antoninus' final success.

The ground is now clear for a study of some of the coins of Hadrian that have a direct bearing on history. Our treatment will be mainly chronological; on one or two subjects it has seemed preferable to collect the evidence in one place. Detailed descriptions of obverses will not as a rule be necessary ; the group will be noted in each case.

The Adoption of Hadri'n. (I) Obv. IMP * CAES * TRAIAN * OPTIM A.NVG- GERM * DAC.

Head of Trajan, laureate. Rev. HADRIANO TRATANO CAESARI. Head of Hadrian,

laureate. A Cohen (Hadrian and Trajan), 5.

(2) Obv. As on no. i (but OPTIMO). Bust of Trajan, laureate, draped, r.

Rev. PROVID PARTHICO * P * M* TR P COS VI -P P - S - P Q- R. Providentia standing 1., leaning on column and holding sceptre ; at her feet, a globe.

AR Cohen (Trajan), 313 (plate xxxii, i).

I J.R.S. x, p. 37. Num. Chron. I922, pp. I86 ff.

e.g. for Gordian I and II or Trajan Decius.

212 SOME HISTORICAL COINS OF HADRIAN.

(3) Obv. IMP - CAES - TRAIAN - HADRIANO - OPT * A-VG - GER - DAC. Bust of Hadrian, laureate, draped, r.

Rev. ADOPTIO 'PARTHIC - DIVI TRAIAN * AVG * F *P-M- TR P COS P P. Trajan and Hadrian standing r. and 1., holding rolls and clasping r. hands.

A7 Cohen (Hadrian), 3 (plate XXXII, 2).

Is the evidence of these coins sufficient to dispel the doubts that hang about Hadrian's adoption ?

No. i presumes that Hadrian was already Caesar in the lifetime of Traj an: but, clearly, if Plotina was capable of planning a sham of adoption, she was equally capable of ordering the issue of a misleading coin. No. 3 simply shows that Hadrian chose to give full publicity to his adoption---however it may have been brought about. No. 2

provides more reliable evidence. The coin belongs to the last issue of Trajan and, if Providentid here, as normally, suggests the far- seeing wisdom that leads an Emperor to arrange for the succession, 1 we have definite evidence that Trajan in A.D. 117 was planning to appoint an heir. No serious rival to Hadrian can be suggested2; and why should we have difficulty in believing that Trajan did in haste on his death-bed at Selinus what he would have done with all due formality had he lived to reach Rome ?

Early policy of Hadrian: the conspiracy of the Marshals. The change of policy which Hadrian's accession brought with it

is soon felt in the general tone of the coinage. The stress is shifted from military glory to the civil virtues, ' Concordia,' ' Justitia,' ' Pax,'

Pietas.' The types 'Eagle and Standards' and ' Oriens' still point to the

Eastern wars, and Trajan's memory is duly honoured by consecration and celebration of a Parthian triumph in A.D. I I 8. But the new Emperor, whose return to Rome finds ample record on the coins (cp. ' Fortuna Redux,' 'Adventus Aug.') chooses to recommend his rule by his care for peace and the material welfare of his people (cp. 'Aequitas Aug.,' 'Annona Aug.,' ' Liberalitas Aug.'). A violent reaction against the new policy led to the conspiracy of Trajan's marshals. The suppression of this dangerous movement is hinted at, rather than actually commemorated, by the following coins

(4) Obv. of A.D. I I8. Rev. SALVS - AVG - P - M - TR - P * COS * II. Salus seated 1,

feeding snake coiled round altar. v Cohen, I 349.

1 Cp. Vogt, Die Alexandrinischen Mlunzen, i, 109 ff., ' Hp6vota' type of A.D. 137, 8 (adoption of Antoninus Pis): Cohen (Albinus), 55, Provid. Aug. Cos. (adoption of Albinus by Septimius Severus).

2 Spartian, De Vita Hfadriani (Script. Hist. Aug.), iv, 8, mentions Neratius Priscus: but, if Trajan intended to pass over Hadrian. why did he leave him in such an important post as the command in Syria ?

SOME HISTORICAL COINS OF HADRIAN. 213

(5) Obv. of A.D. I I9. Rev. SECVR * AVG PONT * MAX TR * POT * COS * III

S C Securitas seated 1., holding sceptre and resting head on 1. hand.

Sestertius. Cohen, 1397.

(6) Obv. of A.D. II9-I2I.

Rev. CONCORDIA * EXERCITVVM S C: Concordia standing 1., holding standard in each hand (plate XXXII, 3).

Sestertius. Cohen, 268.

'Salus certainly suggests the escape of the Emperor from imminent danger; ' Securitas,' the next stage, freedom from anxiety about danger to come: 'Concordia Exercituum,' struck a little later, tells us discreetly that any trouble in the army which may have been stirred by the execution of the marshals has been satisfactorily quieted.

Britan artd the West.

(7) Obv. of A.D. 19. Rev. BRITANNIA PONT - MAX TR - POT COS - III

S C. Britain seated front, propping her head on her r. hand and lholding a spear, r. foot resting on a rock t on r. a large shield.

As. Cohen, I97 (plate xxxii, 4).

(8) Obv. of A.D. II9.

Rev. HERC - GADIT P M 1\41 TR- P * COS - III. Hercules, naked, standing r., holding club and apple: on 1. a prow, on r. a river-god reclining.

AI Cohen, 814 (plate XXXII, 5).

(9) Obv. of A.D. I19. Rev. P M- TR - P * COS *II. Hercules, naked, standing front

in distyle temple, holding club: below, a river-god reclining.

XV Cohen, 1083.

(io) Obv. of A.D. II9.

Rev. P - M - TR * P * COS * III. Hercules, naked, standing front in tetrastyle temple, holding club and apple: below, on 1. a face, on r. head of Jupiter (?).

A' Cohen, i088. (cp. Cohen, I087, where there are a head of Jupiter (?)

and a boat below (plate xxxii, 7, rev. only) ).

Cp. the ' Salus ' and ' Securitas ' types of Nero (Cohen, 313 ff-, 321 f.) struck after the conspiracy o f Pi so.


(ii) Obv. of A.D. II9.

Rev. P M1 TR' P * COS * III. Hercules, naked, holding club, standing front in distyle temple between two women: below, on 1. boat, on r. head of Jupiter (?).

AS Cohen, 1085. (cp. Cohen, 1084, river-god reclining r., below

(plate xxxii, 6) and Cohen, io86, fish and river- god reclining below.)

On no. 7 Britain is represented as a warrior at rest, in the attitude of Securitas-with head propped on hand. 1 This is the only provincial type struck before the great issue of A.D. 134-135 and certainly celebrates the restoration of peace in the North after the revolt under Trajan, in which the ninth legion was destroyed. The ' rock' on which Britannia rests her r. foot sometimes seems to show definite courses, like those of a wall: is it too fanciful to see in this type the first record of the great Wall by which Hadrian planned to assure peace for the future ? The types of Hercules (nos. 8 to i i) might seem at first to look forward to Hadrian's first voyage, but the early date is rather against this. The Hercules who is here celebrated is certainly the Hercules of Gades ; but we know too little of his worship to interpret details here with certainty. 2 The apple must suggest the garden of the Hesperides, and the women on the reverse of no. i i may be two of the nymphs. The head of Jupiter (?) may really be a head of Cronos, who also had a temple at Gades : the river-god, fish and boat suggest the island position of the town. What really concerns us here is the reason for the choice of type. The facts that Hadrian was a native of Spain and that Hercules 3 was a natural type of the great civilizer that Hadrian aspired to be no doubt help to explain it. But some special reason is needed for the appearance of the' traveller' type as early as A.D. I 19. Can we associate these types with the' Britannia ' ? The Romans thought that Ireland lay between Britain and Spain, 4 and evidently minimized the distance between the two. Hadrian, then, his thoughts drawn towards the task awaiting him in the western islands beyond Spain, thinks of the mythical adventures of Hercules in the far west.

HIadrian's ho rwe policy: finance, etc. (I2) Obv. of A.D. I20.5

Rev. LOCVPLETATORI ORBIS * TERRARVM S * C - 1 A similar attitude may be a sign of mourning, as

on Don.itian's ' Germania' type, Cohen, i, p. 486, type 7 (imperfectly described). For a fuller discussion, see article by Miss Toynbee in J.R.S. xiv.

2 F. Prichac in Rev. NIVm. 59.19, pp. I63 ff. con- nects these temple types with the legend of the priestess of the ' Bona Dea ' described in Propertius, iv, 9, and the rebuilding of a temple of Bona Dea by

Hadrian. Some connexion perhaps exists, but hardlv so direct a one as Prichac supposes. Perhaps Gades had a somewhat similar legend of Hercules.

3 See J.R.S. xiii, 91 ff. Commodus-Hercuiles in Britain ' (erp. p. 104).

' Cp. Tac. Agricola, 24, 1. 5 The group to which these obv. belong is to be

dated A.D. II 9 to IZI: nos. Iz and 14 show middle portraits of the group, no. I3 decidedly early ones.


Hadrian seated 1. on platform: before him, Liberalitas standing emptying her cornucopiae: below, two men standing r., one holding out his gown.

Sestertius. Cohen, 950 (plate xxxii, 8, rev. only).

(I3) Obv. of A.D. II9.

Rev. REIIQVA- VETERA HS - NOVIES MILL - ABOLITA- S C. Lictor standing r., holding fasces and setting fire to a heap of papers in the presence of two citizens.

Sestertius. Cohen, I2I3 (for variants of reverse, cp. 12IO-12I2) ;(plate xxxii, 9).

(14) Obv. of A.D. I20.

Rev. RESTITVTORI * ORBIS * TERRARVM S * C. Hadrian standing 1., extending r. hand to raise up woman, towered, kneeling r., holding globe.

Sestertius. Cohen, I285 (plate xxxii, io). (i5) Obv. of A.D. II9.

Rev. LIBERTAS - RESTITVTA * PONT. MAX * TR - POT. COS - III S - C. Hadrian seated 1. on platform, holding out r. hand to a woman, who stands r. before him, 1. foot on low base, offering a child in her arms to the Emperor and laying r. hand on the head of a second child at her side.

Sestertius. Cohen, 949 (plate XXXII, ii).

Nos. I2 to 14 celebrate the wise generosity shown by Hadrian in his financial administration. The central feature is the burning of bonds of old debts in the Forum Traianum (cp. no. I3).1 No. 12, a 'liberalitas' type, and no. 14, the model for the later series of provincial ' restoration ' types, should have a wider scope and must refer to measures of which we have no detailed knowledge. No. 12,

in particular, seems to imply the extension of the system of doles in one form or another beyond Italy.

The ' liberalitates ' or ' largesses ' of Hadrian deserve a word of attention. Seven in all2 are commemorated on the coins, A.D. II8,

I19, 12I, C. 126, C. I32, C. 134, c. I36. The types are monotonous- either Liberalitas standing with her tessera and cornucopiae, or Hadrian seated on platform superintending the distribution (plate XXXII, 12).3

The main interest lies in the definite policy which these largesses represent-a policy at once of inflation of the currency and of state support for the citizens. It was, of course, as old or older than the Empire, but Hadrian advances it a whole stage at one bound. The chronographer of A.D. 354 has preserved for us a valuable record of

1 Spartian, Vita Hadriani, vii, 6. 2 Cp. Spartian, Vita Hadriani, vii, 3, 4, xxiii,

iz f.

3 Cp. Cohen, 908 ff: only iii, iv, vi and vii are actually numbered, but the others can be certainly identified.

2I6 SOME HISTORICAL COINS OF HADRIAN.

the sums given in largesses by the various Emperors. Augustus gave 3624 denarii per head, his successors to Domitian various amounts up to 200. Trajan gave 650, Hadrian I,000: not till Septimius Severus (i,ioo) was this figure beaten. 1 The normal figure for a congiarium appears to be either three or four aurei, 75 or I00 denarii. Hadrian's seven ' liberalitates ' total up to 40 aurei or I,000 denarii. His second ' liberalitas ' was a double one (cp. Spartian, vii, 3), and it would appear as if the doubled figure was kept for succeeding 'liberalitates.' We should then get 3 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 7 =4o aurei, allowing an extra aureus to the last ' liberalitas,' that in honour of Aelius Caesar.

The policy was carried on vigorously under Hadrian's successors and is the one feature of the Antonine age which is almost universally condemned. Before we condemn, however, we should understand. The chronic problem of Roman unemplovment was, perhaps, most simply met by the special employments provided by war. But what was a pacific emperor to do ? Had Hadrian reduced his issues and made conditions more stringent in the money market, there must have been very widespread distress. The trouble, of course, about these doles is that they did not touch the root of the evil: necessary thev may well have been.

No. iS raises a different problem of home administration. On other coins of this period, Hadrian shows the figure of ' Libertas Publica,' with her pileus and ' vindicta he claims to rank as a constitutional monarch. Here he refers to some definite measure. Two possibilities suggest themselves

(i) The reference is to Hadrian's refusal to accept legacies from men who left widows and children. 2 A widow here brings her children to Hadrian to thank him. The ' liberty restored' is, particularly, the free right of testation.

(2) The reference is to Hadrian's approval of the principle that children of mixed marriages should be free, even when the fatlher was a slave and the mother a citizen.3 ' Libertas ' is used in its strict sense, as meaning ' the status of a freeman.'

The Imperial Vows: Hadrian's departure on his first voyage.

At all times in the empire the undertaking and paying of vows for the Emperor, either at the quinquennial renewals or on special occasions, were important features of public life. From the early second century, if not earlier, 4 these occasions begin to leave very

1 See Mommsen in Abbar-d. der pbil.-bist. Klasse der kon. sdcbs. Gescllscbq't d r Wissenschalten, Leipsig, I850, pp. 645 ff.

2 Spartian, Vita Hadriani, xviii, 5. 3 Gaius, Institutionumn Comment. i, 30, 8I, 84.

For this suggestion I am indebted to Professor H. Stuart Jones.

4 For ' Vota ' in the earlier empire, cp. Brit. Mus. Catal. Empire, I, xvii ff., n. 6.


definite marks on the coinage: the vows are celebrated not merely by definite types, but by special issues of coinage. For Hadrian vows were undertaken in A.D. I I8, probably on his arrival in Rome (cp. Cohen, I475, VJOT - PVB * P AM - ER - P COS II, Pietas r.), and again in A.D. I2I for his return, when he left Rome on his travels (Cohen, 1485, V * S * PRO * RkD * P * M * ER * P - COS -III, Hadrian sacrificing-plate xxxii, I3). A special issue of divine types--Hercules, Janus, Jupiter, Mars, Minerva, Neptune, Roma, late in A.D. I2I, suggests that in that year the regular ' Vota quinquennalia ' were celebrated in advance (they were, of course, not due until A.D. I22) in view of Hadrian's imminent departure. Again in A.D. I26 or I27, a series of coins (Abundantia, Pudicitia, Roma, Victory, Stars and crescent-plate xxxii, I4; XXXIII, I)

linked by the mint-mark, globe in exergue, probably marks the 'Vota Soluta X Suscepta XV.' Then once more, in A.D. I32, a series of imperial ' Virtues ' (Clementia--plate xxxiii, 2 ; Felicitas, Indulgentia, Justitia--plate XXXIII, 3; Liberalitas, Pietas, Tran- quillitas) marks the 'Vota Soluta XV Suscepta XX.' Hadrian's return to Rome in A.D. I34 is celebrated by a sacrifice type (Cohen, I480, VOE - PVB), and finally the 'Vota Soluta XX Suscepta XXV ' are represented by the ' Vota Suscepta ' in an oak-wreath (Cohen, I486 ff.). In the posthumous series there is a deliberate echoing of types of the ' Vota X' (with globe in exergue) and the ' Vota XV ' (the imperial ' Virtues ').

Hadrian's departure from Rome is usually placed in A.D. I2I and the coins strongly support this dating. The two special types, which bear on the event-EXPED - JAVG P - M- TR - P - COS - III. S C, Hadrian galloping 1., raising r. hand and holding spear (Cohen, 592), and VIRT -AVG - P M M@- ER - P - COS - *JJ- S C- Virtus standing 1., holding parazonium and spear (Cohen, I464)

must, from their style, begin in that year. The Emperor, leaving the city to travel abroad (' militiae '), takes the field as general. It is interesting to note, however, that, though the form of a military expedition is preserved, Hadrian actually travelled modestly and with little state. His journeys abroad are not accompanied either by local issues of imperial denominations or even by issues of the Roman mint. A single type of A.D. I2I is worth quoting, because it defines so accurately the policy which Hadrian proceeded to develop: Pax is seated 1., and holds a Victory on a globe and a branch-Pax, in fact, is Victrix and confers the blessings of Victory (Cohen, II47).

Hadrian as a founder of Rome. Ehe temple of Rom, and Venuts.

(i6) Obv. of A.D. I2I.

Rev. SAEC - AVR P - M - TR - P - COS - III. Hadrian (as


the Spirit of the Golden Age) standing r. in an oval frame, holding a phoenix on globe.

N Cohen, 13 21 (plate XXXIII, 5).

(i7) Obv. IMP - CAES - HADRIANVS - AVG - COS III. Bust laureate, draped, cuirassed r.

Rev. ANN - DCCCLXXIIII * NAT * VRB - P CIR R CON. Young male figure reclining 1., head r., holding wheel in r. hand and three obelisks in 1.

AN Cohen, i6z (plate XXXIII, 6).

(i8) Obv. of A.D. iz6 or 7. Rev. COS - III. She-wolf r. suckling the twins.

A7 Cohen, 420 (plate XXXIII, 7).

(I9) Obv. of A.D. iz6 or 7. Rev. COS - III. Capricorn r.

R (Quinarius) Cohen, 438 (plate XXXIII, 8.)

(zo) Obv. of A.D. 134 or 5. Rev. ROMA AETERNA Roma seated 1., holding Victory and

spear, or holding heads of sun and moon1 and spear. NV Cohen, I 299 and 1303 (plate

XXXIII, 9.)

(2i) Obv. of A.D. I37. Rev. ROMAE AETERNAE. Roma seated 1., holding Palladium

and spear. Al Cohen, 13II.

(22) Obv. of A.D. I 37. Rev. ROMVLO CONDITORI. Romulus, bare-headed, ad-

vancing r., carrying spear and trophy. JR Cohen, I3I6 (plate XXXIII, Io).

(23) Obv. of A.D. 137. Rev. VENERIS FELICIS. Venus seated 1., holding Cupid and

spear reversed. Ne Cohen, 1447 (plate XXXIII, i i).

(24) Obv. of A.D. 137. Rev. S * P - Q - R above; EX S - C in ex. Temple with ten

columns, with statues. Sestertius. Cohen, 1423 (variants (plate

XXXIII, i6), Cohen, 1420-1422).

1 Cp. Spartian, Vita Hadriani, xix, 13: ' trans- tulit et colossum stantem atque suspensum per Decrianum architectum de eo loco, in quo nunc templum urbis est, ingenti molimine, ita ut operi

etiam elephantos uiginti quattuor exhiberet, et cum hoc simulacrum post Neronis uultum, cui antea dicatum fuerat, Soli consecrasset, aliud tale Apollo- doro architecto auctore facere Lunae molitus est.'

SOME HISTORICAL COINS OF HADRIAN. 2I9

(25) Obv. AVGVSTVS - HADRIANVS P - P. Head, laureate r. Rev. COS - III. Neptune standing 1., sacrificing out of patera

over altar and holding trident. 'Cistophoric ' tetradrachm. Cohen, 3I4.

(plate xxxiii, I4).

(26) Obv. IMP- CAESAR AVGVSTVS. Head of Augustus, bare, r. Rev. HADRIANVS AVG- P P REN. Hadrian, veiled,

standing 1., holding corn-ears (not ' patera,' as in Cohen). 'Cistophoric' tetradrachm. Cohen (Augustus), 576

(plate xxxiii, I7).

Let us start with the temple of Roma and Venus. Diirr's suggestion that it was originally dedicated on April 2ISt, I2I, is extremely tempting1: as our coin (no. I7) tells us, Hadrian then celebrated, with games in the Circus, the foundation day of Rome, formerly called the ' Parilia,' under its new name of ' the birthday of the City.' In some sense, then, he is a re-founder of Rome, and, as such, undertakes the building of a temple to Rome and her great divine ancestress. With this auspicious event opens a new age of gold (no. i6). The same theme is continued and developed, when Hadrian returns to Rome: we are reminded now of Romulus and Remus. Finally, on Hadrian's return from his second voyage, several successive types of ' Roma Aeterna ' keep the temple before our minds. The latest of these, with its companion ' Veneris Felicis,' certainly points to the completion of the work in A.D. I37. The ' Romulo Conditori' type takes up the motive of nos. I7 and i8. Finally, the temple itself is shown on a sestertius, but hitherto it has been impossible to recover much of its detail.

Is anything more involved in the circle of ideas that we have been discussing ?

No. i6 shows us that Hadrian claims to open a new golden age for the world: nos. I7, i8 and 22 point to him as a second founder of Rome. Did he also emphasize his character as a second Augustus, a re-founder of the Empire ? Apparently there is sufficient evidence that he did. No. I9 has on the reverse the capricorn, natal sign and coin-type of Augustus. No. 25 seems by its obverse legend2 to identify him with Augustus. No. 26 probably tells us directly that

Imperator Caesar Augustus ' is re-born as ' Hadrianus Augustus Pater Patriae.' ' Renatus ' seems to be the right interpretation of REN; ' renovavit ' (' restruck the old coinage ') is not really approp- riate: such formulae occur, if at all, on all ' restoration ' coins, not merely on one or two rare specimens, with exceptional types.

1 Cp. Henderson, Li/e and Principate of Hadrian, p. 284, who quotes the evidence, but fails to see its drift. Bricks of the temple of the years I23 and 134 are known; it was inaugurated then before 123, and April 21st, i21, is the only probable date that can be suggested.

2 We could read Hadrianvs P.P. Avgvstvs; but only bv beginning in an unusual place: and the form of legend would be almost, if not quite, unparalleled at this time.


Hadrian, then, in building the temple of Roma and Venus, claims to rank with Romulus as founder of Rome and with Augustus as founder of the Empire.

Hadrian's last years in Rowe.

We have no space here for a detailed discussion of the magnificent series of coins by which Hadrian celebrated the completion of his life-work in the Empire. That would demand a study to itself. All we can do here is to indicate the place of these issues in the coinage of the reign. The four great series-Provinces, 'Adventus,' 'Exercitus ' and ' Restitutor '-were all struck in a verv short time after Hadrian's return from his second voyage A.D. I34-135. They are neither the announcement of a new policv nor a running com- mentary upon one: they serve rather to crown an achievement. The Empire is seen as no mere domain of Rome, but as a family of sister peoples. Everywhere the local characteristics are selected for emphasis. Even the armies are allowed to bear local names. The series make a mighty impression and force us to realize that the Roman Empire might have run a very different course had Hadrian been more than one isolated genius. Almost every province in the Empire appears in one or more of the series, Hispania actually in all four. Pannonia is unrepresented, but finds a place on the coinage of Aelius: Dalmatia is, perhaps, to be included with it. Sardinia and Corsica and Galatia nowhere appear.

A few further types throw light on the history.

(27) 0EV. of A.D. I35. Rev. VICTORIA AVG. Victory advancing r., drawing out

fold of dress and holding branch. AR Cohen, 1454 (plate xxxiii, I2).

(28) Obv. L AELIVS- CAESAR Head of Aelius, bare, r. Rev. TR- POT* COS II * S C Fortuna-Spes standing

front, head 1., holding flower, cornucopiae and rudder. Sestertius Cohen, 63.

(29) Obv. of A.D. I 36-7. Rez'. SECVRITAS AVGC Securitas seated r. on chair with

cornuacopiae as arms, resting head on hand. AN Cohen, 1402 (plate xxxiii, I3).

(30) Obv. HADRIANVS *AVGVSTVS P P. Bust, laureate, draped, cuirassed 1.

Rev. COS III. Roma standing, holding spear, between the Genius of the Senate (?) and Hadrian, to whom she gives her hand.

N7 Cohen, 350.


No. 27 was struck in honour of the quelling of the Jewish revolt. The reverse is adapted from the type of Claudius (Cohen, 50 if., PACI AVGV[STAE), revived by Vespasian (Cohen, 285 ff.) and by Trajan on a ' restoration ' coin of Julius Caesar (Cohen, Julius Caesar, 55, 56). The figure, a Victory with the gesture characteristic of Nemesis, has on Claudius's coins a caduceus pointed at a snake preceding her : here branch replaces caduceus and there is no snake. This specialized type of Victory seems to imply respect for the Nemesis that attends ' Hybris,' i.e. Righteousness in Victory: the branch marks Victory as ' Pacifera,' ' Bringer of Peace '-just as Pax earlier was shown as ' Bringer of Victory.' No. 28 is one of a number of coins struck for the adoption of Aelius. In imperial symbolism Fortuna represents the fruition of Empire, Spes the prospect of it. The combined figure will symbolize Aelius, already sharing in the prize and marked out for more complete enjoyment of it. No. 29,

by emphasizing the' Security' of the Emperor, points to the supposed conspiracy of Servianus and Fuscus in A.D. I36. No. 30, which I have' described from Cohen, can hardly represent anything but the adoption of Antoninus Pius (plate xxxiii, I5). It only differs from. such a type as the JDOPTI-O of Hadrian in the fact that Roma appears as presiding deity and that the hands of the Emperor and his heir have not yet met in a clasp.

The attitude of Hadrian to ' Consecration.'

Hadrian's reign seems to present some exceptions to the normal practice of ' Consecration.' For Trajan consecration coins were duly issued in A.D. ii8. For Plotina, who probably died about A.D. I2I, no coins of the usual consecration pattern were struck : she and Trajan, however, appear together as ' Divis Parentibvs ' on reverses of twvo aurei of Hadrian, struck late in the reign (or posthumously ? Cohen, Hadrian, Trajan and Plotina, I-3). Matidia was consecrated by Hadrian in A.D. I20 (Arval Table, C.I.L. vi, 2080) and there are rare consecration coins in her name. On the fine medallion with reverse, temple, DIV/AE MATIDLAE SOCRVI S.C., Dressel has written in Corolla Nuwnismatica, pp. i6 ff. There are, however, inscriptions, dating after her death, wlhich do not give her the title of ' Diva ' (C.I.L. x, 3833, 4744-4747), and it is very difficult to understand whv there should be more evidence of posthumous honours for Matidia than for Plotina. There are no consecration coins of Aelius. The consecration coins of Sabina are not marked down to Hadrian's reign, and the account of the relations of the pair in Spartian (xi, 3, xxiii, 9) makes us question whether Hadrian ever paid her such an honour. Further, on all the issues of Hadrian from circa A.D. I32 to I38, the radiate crown with its suggestion of immortality is missing. The truth seems to be that Hadrian had little sympathy with the official


forms of Roman Emperor-worship and did not aspire to rival the ' Flavian ' heaven. He began in orthodox fashion by consecrating Trajan, Matidia and Plotina (?). Later his views became more decided or his resolution firmer. He abandoned the official practice, gave himself up rather to Greek speculations on the after-life, and honoured his favourite Antin6us in Greek faslhion as 't'Hp&0.' The party in the Senate that opposed Hadrian's consecration could, it seems, quote that Emperor's own authority. The consecration of Sabina, as well as that of Hadrian himself, and the revival of the honours of Plotina and M\'Jatidia, was the work of the pious-and orthodox-Antoninus.

J.R.S. vol. xv (1925,. PLATE XXXII.

L6 7

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HISTORICAL COINS OF HADRIAN (NO. I IS OF TRAJAN) (see pp. 211-2I7).

(Adoption. policy in West, finance, etc.)

J.R.S. vol. xv (19z5.) PLATE XXXIII.

5'8

4.@*

101 1

v'

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I05.

HISTORICA COINS O HADRIAN(see pp.2I7-219)

4 ~ ~~~~(o8 meilvrus epeo oaadVns t.

some historical coins of hadrian / by harold mattingly

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