The Forum Traiani

294, Lot: 661. Estimate $3000. Sold for $6500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Trajan. AD 98-117. AV Aureus (20mm, 7.19 g, 7h). Rome mint. Struck AD 112-113. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Arcus Traiani of the Forum Traiani. RIC II 257; Woytek 409f; Calicó 1031. Near VF. Rare.

Nearly every detail of the Forum Traiani was intended as a celebration and aggrandizement of the emperor’s Dacian victory, so it is fitting that the forum’s entrance doubled as Trajan’s triumphal arch. In typical fashion, the arch is surmounted by a statuary group with figures of the emperor and Victory in a chariot, here drawn by six horses, and flanked by soldiers, trophies, and additional Victories.