Hadrian, 117-138. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 32 mm, 23.40 g, 12 h), Rome, circa 130-133. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P Bare-headed and draped bust of Hadrian to right, seen from behind. Rev. ADVENTVI AVG IVDAEAE / S C Hadrian, togate, standing right, raising his right hand in salute and holding scroll in his left, facing Judaea, standing left, sacrificing out of patera with her right hand over lighted altar and holding incense box in her left; at her feet, two children standing left, holding palm fronds with both hands; at foot of altar, recumbant bull left. BMC 1655. Bromberg -. Cohen 54. Hendin 6635a. RIC 1769. Samel -. Shoshana -. Strack 753. Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Somewhat smoothed and with a thin flan crack, otherwise, good very fine.



Hadrian’s extensive travels through the Roman Empire formed one of the defining features of his reign, and his great series of provincial and adventus coins gave these journeys a permanent place in imperial imagery. The present sestertius commemorates his arrival in Judaea during his second great eastern tour, which brought him to the province around 130 CE. The revised RIC dates the type to 130-133 CE, placing its issue in the remarkably narrow interval between Hadrian’s visit and the opening phase of the Bar Kokhba War in 132 CE.

The reverse presents the imperial visit as an ordered ritual encounter between ruler and province. Hadrian stands facing the personification of Judaea, who participates in a sacrifice before an altar, while the bull and accompanying children add unusual richness to the scene; the legend ADVENTVI AVG IVDAEAE explicitly celebrates the emperor’s arrival in the province. The contrast with the Flavian Judaea Capta imagery of some sixty years earlier is striking: the province that had once been shown seated and mourning beneath the symbols of Roman victory now stands before the emperor as a participant in a ceremony of welcome. The image is therefore one of integration rather than conquest, presenting Judaea as a peaceful and loyal part of the Roman world.

History was soon to make this image deeply ironic. During or around Hadrian’s visit, plans were made to refound Jerusalem as the Roman colony Aelia Capitolina, and the Bar Kokhba revolt broke out in 132 CE. Cassius Dio directly connected the foundation of the new city and the establishment of a temple of Jupiter with what he called a war 'of no slight importance nor of brief duration' (Roman History 69.12.1), although the precise causes of the uprising remain debated and probably involved a wider combination of religious, political and social tensions. The conflict that followed was among the most serious provincial wars of Hadrian’s reign, requiring major Roman reinforcements and leaving large parts of Judaea devastated.

Few coins illustrate more clearly the distance that could separate the ordered world of imperial representation from the events that followed. At almost the very moment when Judaea was shown ceremonially welcoming Hadrian, relations between the province and Rome were approaching their most violent rupture since the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.