I recently won this Trajan sestertius in an Agora auction: Roman Empire. AE sestertius (34 mm, 23.56 g). Trajan (98-117 AD), issued 116 AD. Obverse: Laureate and draped bust right, IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PARTHICO P M TR P COS VI P P. Reverse: Trajan seated left on platform with two standing officials, reaching out to three kings standing before him, REGNA ADSIGNATA SC. RIC 666. This coin: Agora Auctions Sale 74, lot 238 (from the Tom Buggey collection of Trajan, ex Tom Hardy collection, ex CNG sale 130, lot 346.) Trajan was one of the more militarily successful Roman emperors. His Dacian conquest is today the most famous of his wars (partly due to the commemorative column he built in Rome which still draws tourists today), but more interesting to me is his Parthian campaign. Trajan may have had underlying economic motives for the war in wanting to secure Mesopotamian river routes to the Persian Gulf and thus the sea trade from India; or perhaps it was just Rome's long-standing dislike of its powerful neighbor. The excuse for the war came in 113 AD, when the Parthian king Osroes I installed a pro-Parthian ruler, Axidares, on the Armenian throne, displacing the pro-Roman occupant and thus disrupting the delicate balance of power. Trajan protested, and the Parthians offered a different pro-Parthian candidate, Parthamasiris, which did nothing to placate the Romans, and Trajan moved into Antioch with considerable military backup. In 114, Parthamasiris met personally with Trajan to plead his case, but somehow got killed shortly after leaving his audience with the Roman emperor. Trajan then entered Armenia and declared it a Roman province, while sending additional forces east into Media Atropatene. Trajan next moved down the Mesopotamian heartland while his forces to the east helped complete the pincer move, and he captured Osrhoene and other parts of northern Mesopotamia; Abgar VII of Osrhoene voluntarily submitted to Trajan. In 116, Trajan led the troops in conquering most of Mesopotamia, including the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon, forcing Osroes I to flee east. After installing Parthamaspates as a puppet king of Parthia, Trajan proceeded down to the Persian Gulf, where the king of Characene, Attambelos (number unknown), offered his submission. However, Trajan had to backtrack due to revolts in the recently-conquered territories, as well as a Jewish uprising in other parts of the empire, plus his own failing health, and he died in 117 AD. The Roman conquests in Parthia would not last long beyond his death. This interesting sestertius bears the reverse legend Regna Adsignata (Kingdoms Assigned) and shows Trajan apparently doing just that to three kings. None of the sources I have found tries to assign names to the three kings, but based on my historical reading I think they are most likely Abgar VII of Osrhoene, Attambelos the Somethingth of Characene, and Parthamaspates of Parthia. (The kings cannot include Armenia, as Trajan made it a Roman province rather than a client kingdom.) I would be interested in hearing any alternative interpretations of who the three kings represent. This type is fairly scarce, so I was happy to acquire it despite the relatively low grade; fortunately the reverse scene is still pretty clear. Please post your related coins, and any theories on king ID are also most welcome.
Great coin @Parthicus and a type I have never seen before. In style and motivation it resembles a medallion more than a sestertius. Thanks, also, for the history lesson.
This thread died too soon and that's a shame. That reverse is amazing and one of this type will definitely be in my collection one of these days. Great coin and write up @Parthicus I haven't studied this part of Trajan's wars as much as his first Dacian campaign but I think you are probably right about at least Abgar VII and Parthamaspates. Dio mentions a ceremony to crown Parthamaspates specifically and earlier talks about Abgar VII submitting to Trajan in person. It's interesting that Dio attributes Trajan's good treatment of Abgar VII to the beauty of his son and his "barbarian dance." ...Dio loved to gossip.
Good coin! Artistic motives and good conservation. I saw one recently in an auction but it was in a very bad shape so I skipped it.
