Æ26 - Trajan Decius ϹΕΠ ΚΟΛ ΡΗϹΑΙΝΗϹΙωΝ L III P

Rhesaena sat on the Khabur River in northern Mesopotamia, a strategically awkward position that placed it squarely between Roman ambition and Sasanian pressure. The city held colonial status under Rome — the ΣΕΠ in the legend abbreviating Septimia, the colonial title granted under Septimius Severus — and continued issuing civic bronzes into the reign of Trajan Decius, one of the last emperors under whom Mesopotamian colonial mints were still active. Decius died at the Battle of Abritus in 251, the first Roman emperor killed in battle against a foreign enemy, and civic coinage from the region effectively ceased shortly after.