Pupienus and Balbinus ruled jointly for just 99 days in 238 AD — the Year of the Six Emperors — before being tortured and murdered by the Praetorian Guard in the street. Provincial mints like Heraclea Pontica had almost no time to receive, interpret, and act on imperial portrait mandates, making dual-emperor issues from this city exceptionally rare products of an administrative system working under extreme political pressure.
Pupienus and Balbinus ruled jointly for just 99 days in 238 AD — the Year of the Six Emperors — before being tortured and murdered by the Praetorian Guard in the street. Provincial mints like Heraclea Pontica had almost no time to receive, interpret, and act on imperial portrait mandates, making dual-emperor issues from this city exceptionally rare products of an administrative system working under extreme political pressure.