Dupondius Trajan - Arabia annexed
TRAJAN. Æ Dupondius. Rome, 112-115 AD
Obv. IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI PP Radiated bust right
Rev. SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI, in exergue ARABIA ADQ Arabia standing facing, head left, holding branch and bunch of cinnamon sticks?; to left, forepart of camel standing left.
RIC 613; Cohen 31 (3 F)
'the Senate and Roman people to the best prince'
Natural dark green patina.
Scarce.
Nabataea had been of strategic and economic importance to Rome because it controlled the trade routes bringing myrrh and other luxury items from Yemen and India. Consequently, its kings experienced some degree of autonomy and acquired a great deal of wealth and influence. When the last of these kings, Rabbel II, either died or became incapacitated, in 106 AD, Trajan, fearing a disruption in trade, sent in the Roman army under A. Cornelius Palma Frontonianus and took the Nabataean capital of Petra. They subsequently annexed (ADQ[visita]) the territory as the province of Arabia Petraea, fortified the frontier and, by 114 AD, completed the Via Nova Traiana, linking Bostra to Aqiba, and thereby ensuring the trade routes be kept open and Arabian goods continue to flow into Rome.[CNG]
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