Roman Imperial period, mid - 2nd half 2nd c. CE
Found on the Torlonia properties on the Fucine Lake (see on Pleiades)
Photographed on display in the exhibit "L'istante e l'eternità. Tra noi e gli antichi" (The Instant and Eternity. Between us and the ancients"), Museo Nazionale Romano, Terme di Diocleziano, Rome (4 May- 30 July 2023)
museonazionaleromano.beniculturali.it/evento/tra-noi-e-gl...
In the collection of the Castello Piccolomini - Collezione Torlonia e Museo d'Arte Sacra della Marsica, Celano
Tags: Italy Italia Rome Roma instant eternity museum museo museu musée μουσείο müze artifact ancient antico antique archaeological archeologico archaeology archeologia Roman romano römisch romain Ρωμαϊκός relief rilievo sculpture scultura limestone calcare pleiades:findspot=432853 Lago Fucino Fucine Lake L'Aquila Torlonia city città territorio territory environs architecture architettura scene scena 2nd c. CE mid 2nd c. CE 2nd half 2nd c. CE late 2nd c. CE landscape cityscape paesaggio urbano rurale suburban
Hadrian augustus, 117 – 138
Sestertius circa 119-121, Æ 21.94 g. IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIANVS AVG P M TR P COS III Laureate bust r. with drapery on far shoulder. Rev. [RELIQVA VETERA H S] NOVIES MI – LL ABOLITA Lictor standing l., holding fasces in l. hand and firing with r. a heap of papers on l.; before him, three citizens. C 1211 var. (no drapery). BMC 1208. RIC 591 var. (no drapery).
Extremely rare and an issue of great fascination and historical interest. A realistic portrait and a lovely green patina, flan crack at nine o’clock on reverse and reverse slightly off-centre, otherwise extremely fine
Upon the death of Trajan in 117, power formally transferred to his alleged heir Hadrian, who was then governing Syria. In his new capacity Hadrian wintered in Asia Minor, and early in 118 marched westward to settle affairs along the Danube. He eventually arrived in Rome in July – nearly a year after he had been hailed emperor. Upon entering the Eternal City he bolstered his popularity by making a donative to the people, making grants to the poor children of Italy and by holding a triumph in honour of Trajan. He also cancelled debts and burned promissory notes in a general amnesty for tax arrears. This last act is celebrated on this rare and historical sestertius. The reverse shows Hadrian, or a lictor applying a torch to a heap of papers symbolic of the debts being cancelled. This rather elaborate version of this coin type shows three citizens with their arms outstretched in joy and gratitude. These documents (syngrafi) were burned in Trajan’s Forum, where Hadrian erected a monument that bore the inscription ”the first of all pincipes and the only one who, by remitting nine hundred million sesterces owed to the fiscus, provided security not merely for his present citizens but also for their descendants by this generosity”. The reverse inscription on this sestertius, RELIQVA VETERA HS NOVIES MILL ABOLITA, is of exceptional interest. It quite literally translates to ”nine times a hundred thousand sestertii of outstanding debts cancelled”. HS is a standard abbreviation for sestertii in Roman inscriptions, and, depending upon how it is referenced, it can refer to a single sestertius, a unit of one thousand sestertii, or a unit of one hundred thousand sestertii. In this case novies is an adverb meaning ‘nine times’, and thus it applies to the sestertius as a unit of one thousand sestertii. Some have logically suggested that in the context of this inscription the HS would have been an adjective with the thousand, or mille, being understood in terms of empire-wide taxes. If so, it would increase the named figure to ‘nine times a hundred thousand units of one thousand sestertii’, thus equating it to the figure of 900 million sestertii that is named on the monument inscription. In any case, this is a remarkable instance of the denomination of the sestertius being named on a Roman coin – especially since the coin is of that very denomination. The 19th Century historian S. W. Smith artfully describes this important coin type as ”…one of the most remarkable monuments of imperial munificence that can be found within the recording province of numismatic art.”
NAC72, 642
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Early Roman Imperial period, 1st c. CE
Found in a tumulus at Bizye/Vize (see on Pleiades), Thrace, Turkey
Photographed on display in the Istanbul Airport Museum
In the collection of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums
Tags: Istanbul Turkey Türkiye museum museo museu musée μουσείο artifact ancient antico antique archaeological archeologico archaeology archeologia airport Havalimanı Müzesi Roman romano römisch romain Ρωμαϊκός Roma romen Римская pleiades:findspot=511190 Vize Bizye helmet elmo bronze bronzo cavalry masked parade parata 1st c. CE relief rilievo Scylla Scilla Skylla Thrace Tracia Thracian tracio army military