Æ19 - Elagabalus ΙΛΙΕΩΝ

Ilium — the ancient city claiming direct descent from Troy — leveraged that mythology aggressively under Roman rule, and civic bronzes like this one were part of that effort. The city had no strategic or economic significance by the Severan period; what it had was a story, and Roman emperors indulged it. Julius Caesar had visited, Augustus had considered making it a capital of the eastern empire, and Caracalla made a theatrical pilgrimage to Achilles' tomb there just years before Elagabalus took the throne.

Production at Ilium was modest and intermittent, which keeps survival numbers low for the entire civic series.