Description:
This ancient silver denarius coin was minted in Rome during the rule of Hadrian, who was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. The obverse side features the head of Hadrian, wearing a laurel wreath, with the legend IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG translated to “Emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus.” The reverse side depicts Hadrian standing and wearing military dress, while holding a rudder on a globe in his right hand and a spear in his left hand. The Latin legend PM TRP COS III, translates to “Pontifex Maximus, Tribune of the People, Consul 3.”
Hadrian is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman territory in Britain. A significant portion of the wall still exists today and is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and almost two thousand years later, its dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.
During his reign, Hadrian traveled to nearly every province of the empire ordering the construction of libraries, aqueducts, baths and theaters. He spent extensive amounts of his time with the military; he usually wore military attire and even dined and slept amongst the soldiers. Hadrian was known as an intellectual and a patron of the arts. He is considered by many historians to have been a wise and just ruler, one of the finest of all Roman Emperors.
