Patras held the status of a Roman colony — Colonia Aroe Augusta Patrensis — since Augustus resettled it with veterans after Actium in 31 BC, making it one of the oldest Augustan foundations in Greece. By Domitian's reign, the colony retained the right to strike its own bronze, a privilege increasingly rare among Greek cities under the Flavians. The tribunician power numeral placing this issue in 85–86 AD coincides with Domitian's Danubian campaigns against the Dacians, a period of intense military expenditure across the empire.
Patras held the status of a Roman colony — Colonia Aroe Augusta Patrensis — since Augustus resettled it with veterans after Actium in 31 BC, making it one of the oldest Augustan foundations in Greece. By Domitian's reign, the colony retained the right to strike its own bronze, a privilege increasingly rare among Greek cities under the Flavians. The tribunician power numeral placing this issue in 85–86 AD coincides with Domitian's Danubian campaigns against the Dacians, a period of intense military expenditure across the empire.