Patras held the status of a Roman colony — Colonia Aroe Augusta Patrensis — since Augustus resettled it with veterans around 14 BC, making it one of the oldest and most thoroughly Romanized cities in Greece proper. Provincial bronzes struck there under Marcus Aurelius reflect an administration still loyal to that Augustan colonial identity, which is why the colony formula dominates the coinage long after such designations had faded elsewhere in Achaea.
The dating narrows to before 169 because Lucius Verus, co-emperor until his death that year, is absent from this issue.
Patras held the status of a Roman colony — Colonia Aroe Augusta Patrensis — since Augustus resettled it with veterans around 14 BC, making it one of the oldest and most thoroughly Romanized cities in Greece proper. Provincial bronzes struck there under Marcus Aurelius reflect an administration still loyal to that Augustan colonial identity, which is why the colony formula dominates the coinage long after such designations had faded elsewhere in Achaea.
The dating narrows to before 169 because Lucius Verus, co-emperor until his death that year, is absent from this issue.