Corinth's Roman colonial coinage occupies an awkward historical position: the original city was razed by Lucius Mummius in 146 BC and sat abandoned for a century before Julius Caesar refounded it as Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis in 44 BC, making it one of the few Greek cities whose Roman identity was not grafted onto a continuous civic tradition but built from scratch on rubble. By Hadrian's reign the colony was prosperous enough to mint a steady local bronze series, though output remained modest compared to the eastern provincial giants.
Hadrian visited Corinth in person during his Greek tour of 124–125 AD, and again around 128–129 — the probable spur for renewed civic bronze production during this window.
Corinth's Roman colonial coinage occupies an awkward historical position: the original city was razed by Lucius Mummius in 146 BC and sat abandoned for a century before Julius Caesar refounded it as Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis in 44 BC, making it one of the few Greek cities whose Roman identity was not grafted onto a continuous civic tradition but built from scratch on rubble. By Hadrian's reign the colony was prosperous enough to mint a steady local bronze series, though output remained modest compared to the eastern provincial giants.
Hadrian visited Corinth in person during his Greek tour of 124–125 AD, and again around 128–129 — the probable spur for renewed civic bronze production during this window.