Hadrian, Rome mint, struck circa 120-122 AD.,
Æ Sestertius (33-34 mm / 25,95 g),
Obv.: IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIA[NVS AVG P M TR P CO]S III , laureate bust of Hadrian facing r., slight drapery on far shoulder.
Rev.: RELIQVA VETERA HS NOVIES MILL ABOL[ITA] / S C , lictor standing right, holding fasces and lighting pile of records with torch; three citizens standing left, raising right hands in approbation.
RIC II, 416, 592b (R3) ; BMC 1208 ; Coh. 1282 var. (no drapery) .
After the death of Trajan in 117, power formally transferred to his heir Hadrian, who was then governing Syria. In his new role Hadrian spent the following winter in Asia Minor. Early in 118 he moved 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 capital he tried to improve his popularity by making a donative to the people, making grants to the poor children of Italy and by holding a triumph in honor of Trajan. He also canceled 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
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.
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![120-122 AD., Hadrian, Rome mint, Sestertius, RIC 592b.
Hadrian, Rome mint, struck circa 120-122 AD.,
Æ Sestertius (33-34 mm / 25,95 g),
Obv.: IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIA[NVS AVG P M TR P CO]S III , laureate bust of Hadrian facing r., slight drapery on far shoulder.
Rev.: RELIQVA VETERA HS NOVIES MILL ABOL[ITA] / S C , lictor standing right, holding fasces and lighting pile of records with torch; three citizens standing left, raising right hands in approbation.
RIC II, 416, 592b (R3) ; BMC 1208 ; Coh. 1282 var. (no drapery) .
After the death of Trajan in 117, power formally transferred to his heir Hadrian, who was then governing Syria. In his new role Hadrian spent the following winter in Asia Minor. Early in 118 he moved 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 capital he tried to improve his popularity by making a donative to the people, making grants to the poor children of Italy and by holding a triumph in honor of Trajan. He also canceled 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
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.
Schlüsselwörter: Hadrian Rome Sestertius Lictor Torch Records](images/image.gif?id=242170649619 "Klicken für Bild in voller Größe
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120-122 AD., Hadrian, Rome mint, Sestertius, RIC 592b.
Hadrian, Rome mint, struck circa 120-122 AD.,
Æ Sestertius (33-34 mm / 25,95 g),
Obv.: IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIA[NVS AVG P M TR P CO]S III , laureate bust of Hadrian facing r., slight drapery on far shoulder.
Rev.: RELIQVA VETERA HS NOVIES MILL ABOL[ITA] / S C , lictor standing right, holding fasces and lighting pile of records with torch; three citizens standing left, raising right hands in approbation.
RIC II, 416, 592b (R3) ; BMC 1208 ; Coh. 1282 var. (no drapery) .
After the death of Trajan in 117, power formally transferred to his heir Hadrian, who was then governing Syria. In his new role Hadrian spent the following winter in Asia Minor. Early in 118 he moved 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 capital he tried to improve his popularity by making a donative to the people, making grants to the poor children of Italy and by holding a triumph in honor of Trajan. He also canceled 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
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.
Schlüsselwörter: Hadrian Rome Sestertius Lictor Torch Records")