Æ23 - Septimius Severus ϹΚΑΜΑΝΔΡΟϹ, ΙΛΙΕΩΝ

Ilium — the Roman city built over the ruins of Troy — leveraged its mythological pedigree aggressively under the Severan dynasty, and Septimius Severus was a willing audience. The emperor traced his family's divine lineage through Aeneas and actively cultivated ties with cities that could reinforce that narrative. Scamander, the river god of the Troad, appears on civic bronzes from Ilium precisely because the city was marketing its Homeric geography to imperial patrons who had strong reasons to care.