Trajano, Denario, SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI / VIA TRAIANA Roma Brundisium

Roman Empire - Trajan (98-117 AD), silver denarius from Rome mint, 112-114. A.D.

IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P, laureate bust right, slight drapery on far shoulder.
S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI / VIA TRAIANA, Via Traiana reclining left, holding wheel.
BMC 487. RIC II, 266.

Good very fine condition. Nicely toned. Complete legends, perfectly struck in flan, great exemplar !.

Built by Trajan at his own expense and commemorated with an arch at its beginning in Beneventum, as well as on his coinage, the Via Traiana was a quicker route for travellers from Rome to Brundisium on the coast. At 205 miles, despite being two miles longer than the Via Appia, the Via Traiana was a much less arduous and therefore faster option than the original Republican road because it traversed a significantly flatter route to the north. Strabo, in his Geography (6.3.7), indicates that the route of the Via Traiana, even though in his day little more than a mule track, saved the traveller a whole day's journeying.

Please see the photos for a better impression.

941037

2019-3449 (5278)