Trajan Decius - Dacia






Emperor Trajan Decius
Mint Rome
Date 249AD
Size (mm) 22
Weight (g) 3.79
Die Axis 180
Tariff Antoninianus
Ob. Leg. IMP TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG
Ob. Desc. Radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right
Meaning (Imperator Traiano Decius Avgvstvs). Comander of the Army, Trajan Decius, is your Emperor
Rev. Leg. DACIA
Rev. Desc. Personification of Dacia stands left, holding a staff surmounted with the head of a dragon
Meaning We have conquered Dacia
References; Collection; RIC 2b, RSC13
Notes: Gaius Messius Quintus Decius was born in a village near the Danube River. He married well, to the aristocratic Etruscilla, and later became Senator, then Consul. Decius served the usurper, Philip I, then became (perhaps unwillingly) a usurper himself when his troops proclaimed him Augustus. After he defeated Philip and executed him, the Senate quickly flattered him with Trajan's respected name. At the time, Rome was beleaguered by the Goths, and the Christian church was seen as a secondary threat. Decius attacked both Christianity (executing Pope Fabianus) and the Goths. Though devastatingly successful against the former, the Goths defeated his army, and Decius became the first Roman Emperor to be killed by a foreign army.
Note the allusion that this is a male is due to worn dies - the robes and other attributes all indicate this is female