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| Issuer | Alexandria (Egypt) |
|---|---|
| Year | 83-84 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Reverse description | Draped bust of the syncretic deity Sarapis facing right, crowned with a modius (grain basket), the distinctive attribute of this Alexandrian god. The bust is rendered with characteristic detail including the modius atop the head and drapery at the shoulder, reflecting the Hellenistic artistic tradition of Alexandrian coinage. The Greek legend ΕΤΟΥΣ ΤΡΙΤΟΥ appears in the field, denoting the regnal year three of Domitian's reign in Egypt, corresponding to 83–84 CE. The reverse design reflects the prominent role of Sarapis as a patron deity of Alexandria and the Ptolemaic-Roman religious tradition. |
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| Mint | Alexandria |
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| Additional information |
Year Three of Domitian's reign fell within his early period of relatively stable administration, before the paranoid purges of the 90s that would earn him a damnatio memoriae from the Senate. Alexandrian bronzes were dated by regnal year — a Egyptian convention the Roman administration retained — making this piece precisely datable in a way that most provincial issues are not.
The Alexandria mint was among the most prolific in the eastern empire, yet surviving examples in any grade are frequently corroded due to the high-humidity delta environment in which they circulated and were eventually lost.