Æ 17 - Mithradates III

Commagene occupied a strategically awkward position between Rome and Parthia, and its kings were practiced at performing loyalty to whichever power was closer and angrier. Mithradates III ruled during a period when Augustus was consolidating Roman influence across the eastern frontier, and Commagene's semi-autonomous status depended on careful diplomacy rather than military strength. The kingdom would be annexed outright by Vespasian in 72 AD, but these bronzes circulated in a polity that genuinely believed it might survive indefinitely as a buffer state.

The Alram and Kovacs references place this type among the poorly documented small bronzes of the dynasty — Kovacs cites it only in a note, suggesting the series remains incompletely catalogued.