Description:
This denarius coin was minted in Rome during the rule of Hadrian, who was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. The obverse side features the laureate head of Hadrian with the legend HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS PP, translated to “Hadrianus Augustus, Father of his country.” 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 and today 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 wise and just and one of the finest of all Roman Emperors.
The reverse side of this coin depicts the goddess Annona seated while holding a hook and cornucopia, with a modius at her feet. Annona was the divine personification of the grain supply to the city of Rome. She is presented as a theophany of the emperor's power to care for his people through the provision of grain.
