Æ21 - Septimius Severus ΚΟΛΩΝΕΙΑ Λ ΑΥΡ

Carrhae needed little introduction to any Roman soldier — the site of Crassus's catastrophic defeat against the Parthians in 53 BC had become a byword for eastern vulnerability. Septimius Severus, who campaigned aggressively in Mesopotamia and sacked Ctesiphon in 197 AD, elevated Carrhae's strategic importance considerably, and the city's colonial coinage under his reign reflects that renewed imperial investment in the region.

The legend ΚΟΛΩΝΕΙΑ Λ ΑΥΡ references the Colonia Lucia Aurelia designation granted to Carrhae, likely under Severus himself.