Hadrian. AD 117-138. AV Aureus (20mm, 7.08 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 118. IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / P M TR P • COS II, CONCORD in exergue, Concordia, draped, seated left on throne, holding patera in extended right hand and resting left arm on statuette of Spes; cornucopia below throne. RIC II.3 107; Calicó 1205a (same dies as illustration); BMCRE 59-60 var. (bust type); Adda 143 (same dies); Mazzini 252 (same dies). Short scratch on reverse, a few minor edge marks. Good VF.
Ex MACM inventory MMoCA46C; Lanz 145 (with Numismatica Bernardi, 5 January 2009), lot 97.
The theme of Concordia on this aureus is likely intended to smooth out relationships with the Roman Senate, which were strained at the time this coin was struck in mid-AD 118. Hadrian first arrived in Rome on July 9 of that year, nearly a year after his accession to the purple in August of 117, while he was commanding an army in Syria. In the interim, as Hadrian slowly made his way back to Rome, four important Senators of consular rank – Cornelius Palma, Publius Celsus, Avidius Nigrinus, and Lusius Quietus, a Moorish chieftain – had been put to death, allegedly for conspiring against the new ruler. Hadrian blamed these executions on the Praetorian Prefect Attianus, whom he induced to resign his post in AD 119. Relations with the Senate never fully recovered during Hadrian’s reign.
