102 A. D., when Trajan received the designation of Dacicus, and 114, when Optimus was also added to his name. This latter would appear before AVG, as we shall see from the coin next to be discussed, so that there can be no question as to its absence from this obverse. As it does, however, appear on the reverse, the money doubtless belongs to the class already exemplified, wherein the official use of OPTIMVS was anticipated in popular usage. The reverse is too much worn to reveal the design. There are hazy outlines of a standing figure in the center, with suggestions of an oval shield on the left arm, or it may be a cornucopia. The letters INCIP, evidently part of the word PRINCIPI, are quite clear, proving it to belong to the "Best Prince" type. The eighth and last of our coins of Trajan (Pl. I, fig. 12), in which the corona radiata recalls us to the consideration of a dupondius, marks another step in the evolution of the coinage of this reign and the climax in Trajan's accumulation of titles. The inscription of the obverse reveals an increase by two new names: IMP.CAES.NER.TRAIANO. OPTIMO.AVG.GER.DAC.PARTHICO.P.M.TR.P.-and here the inscription becomes illegible. There remains but COS.VI.P.P. to fill out the complete formula in the style which we have learned to recognize in Trajan's coinage. Trajan had formally accepted the appellation of Optimus in 114 A. D. and invested it with even greater importance than the name Augustus. The position he gives it in his formula clearly reveals his sentiment towards it. It is the first instance in which Augustus suffers displacement in matters of titular precedence. Further proof of Trajan's preference may be deduced from the fact that Optimus never appears on the coins in abbreviated form, though the final O of the dative case is sometimes dropped, which is not very violent abridgement. Parthicus was the latest honorary name to be awarded the great soldier. Its place could only be determined by considerations of sequence. It was the culmination of a long succession of military achievements, expressed by an eloquent series, now reading Germanicus Dacicus Parthicus. Trajan's practice was to give the full form to each new name until the awarding of another tended to eclipse the former ones. Thus we find Parthicus given its unabridged form in the dative, while the earlier military titles are abbreviated. Neither Trajan nor the Senate were willing, as yet, when this coin was struck, to suffer the fullness of their satisfaction to be shortened even in name. Attention may be called in passing to the abbreviation NER for Nerva, the only instance of the kind in our series. The name Parthicus had been decreed between April and August of 116 A. D. As Trajan died in August of 117, the coin may date from the last year of his reign. The reverse (Pl. II, fig. 12) represents Trajan as Imperator, standing in animated posture between two trophies. His left leg is planted to the front, his body inclined toward the trophy on his left, which he grasps with that hand. But his head is turned toward the other trophy on the right which he is also seizing with his right hand. The moment caught seems to be that between two victories in rapid succession— he has gained one and, still in action, he lays hold upon another. The late date of the coin makes it probable that two victories in his sweeping Parthian campaigns are here commemorated. The inscription, usually represented by the initial letters, is here expressed in full, though the coin is broken on the right and the last half of the formula can only be conjectured, though of course with entire certainty. It reads: SENATVS.POPVLSQVE.ROMANVS. Eckhel lists the obverse as type A of the year 116, but does not mention the reverse. Ackerman. "Rare and Unedited Coins." cites the reverse. p. 223. No. 9. Vol. 1, |