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Æ21 - Commodus Α ΑΥΡΗ
| Issuer | Carrhae (Mesopotamia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 177-192 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Laureate and cuirassed bust of Emperor Commodus, draped with paludamentum, facing right. The effigy is rendered in the provincial style characteristic of Mesopotamian civic coinage, with the laurel wreath visible atop the head. A partial Greek legend runs along the periphery of the flan, partially off-flan due to the irregular striking. The portrait, though worn, retains the characteristic features of the Commodan imperial type as adapted for eastern provincial issues. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Α ΑΥΡΗ (Translation: Emperor(?) Aure[---]) |
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| Additional information |
Carrhae occupies an uncomfortable place in Roman memory — it was where Crassus met his end in 53 BC, and where Caracalla would later be murdered in 217 AD. The city's civic coinage under Commodus belongs to a period when provincial mints across the eastern empire were asserting local identity through bronze issues, largely because Rome showed little interest in supplying the region with adequate small-change currency.
The abbreviated obverse legend Α ΑΥΡΗ — a compressed rendering of Marcus Aurelius — reflects the hurried, informal epigraphy typical of Carrhae's die-cutters, whose work was never refined.