Æ26 - Marcus Aurelius AESCVLAPI ET SALVS C I C A D D

Apamea's civic coinage under Marcus Aurelius frequently invoked healing deities, and this issue — pairing Aesculapius with Salus — likely reflects the devastating Antonine Plague still grinding through the empire during these years. The epidemic, believed to have been smallpox or measles, killed an estimated five million people between 165 and 180 AD, and provincial cities turned to precisely these cults for relief. The legend C I C A (Colonia Iulia Concordia Apamea) confirms the city's colonial status, a grant traced to Julius Caesar or Augustus.