Arpi was among the most powerful cities in Apulia before the Second Punic War, but its decision to defect to Hannibal after Cannae in 216 BC proved catastrophic. Rome retook the city in 213 BC through a combination of force and internal betrayal, after which Arpian autonomy collapsed rapidly. Bronze issues of this precise dating window — straddling the defection and reconquest — were struck under conditions of political rupture, making their civic authority ambiguous by the time many pieces entered circulation.
Arpi was among the most powerful cities in Apulia before the Second Punic War, but its decision to defect to Hannibal after Cannae in 216 BC proved catastrophic. Rome retook the city in 213 BC through a combination of force and internal betrayal, after which Arpian autonomy collapsed rapidly. Bronze issues of this precise dating window — straddling the defection and reconquest — were struck under conditions of political rupture, making their civic authority ambiguous by the time many pieces entered circulation.