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Æ23 - Commodus ΚΑΡΗΝ ΔΕΙ[ (Α shaped as Υ)
| Issuer | Carrhae (Mesopotamia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 177-192 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 7.61 g |
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| Obverse description | Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Emperor Commodus facing right, wearing paludamentum over cuirass, rendered in the provincial style typical of Mesopotamian civic coinage. The emperor's effigy is presented with characteristic curled hair beneath the laurel wreath. A Greek imperial legend encircles the bust in the field, reading from left to right. The flan is irregular and slightly convex, consistent with hand-struck provincial production of the Antonine period. |
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| Obverse lettering | ΑΥΤ Κ Μ ΑΝΤΩ ΚοΜοΔοϹ ϹΕΒ (Translation: Emperor Caesar Marcus Antoninus Commodus Augustus) |
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Carrhae's numismatic output under Commodus is sparse and poorly documented — this piece belongs to a civic bronze series from a city whose name carried enormous psychological weight in Rome. It was at Carrhae in 53 BC that Crassus and seven legions were annihilated by the Parthians, a defeat that haunted Roman foreign policy for generations and left the city fixed in the Roman imagination as a place of catastrophe and shame.
The irregular alpha-as-upsilon ligature in the ethnic inscription points to local engraving practices with limited standardization — a known feature of eastern provincial workshops operating at some remove from metropolitan influence.