Trajan's Parthian Victory

204, Lot: 89. Estimate $500. Sold for $635. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Sestertius (34mm, 21.72 g, 7h). Rome mint. Struck AD 116-117. Laureate and draped bust right / Trajan, laureate and in military attire, standing facing, head right, holding reversed spear and parazonium; around feet, Mesopotamia seated left, in attitude of mourning, and the Tigris and Euphrates seated vis à vis, each holding reed and leaning on inverted urn from which water flows. RIC II 642; Banti 29. VF, green patina, scrape on neck, a few flan flaws, breaks in the patina around edge.

Ex Alain Lagrange Collection.

Trajan's final campaign against the Parthians was sparked by Parthia's replacement of the pro-Roman king of Armenia with one of their own in 114 AD. Armenia had been a strategic and semi-independent kingdom which served as an important buffer between Parthia and Rome. The last conflict over this region, during Nero's reign, resulted in a delicate balance that stabilized the situation for over fifty years. The move by Parthia now upset the balance and posed a threat to Rome's wealthy Syrian cities. Trajan’s campaign was swift and decisive; by 115 AD, Armenia was restored as a Roman client state. To secure the eastern frontier, he then moved southward through Mesopotamia, and captured the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon, in 116 AD. Although short-lived, these victories were celebrated on much of Trajan's later coinage.