Æ29 - Trajan Decius ϹΤ ΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΩΡΟΥ ΤΗΙΩΝ

Teos, the Ionian coastal city best known as the birthplace of the lyric poet Anacreon, issued bronze coinage under local magistrates well into the third century — the inscription naming Artemidoros identifies him as the sitting strategus responsible for this emission. Trajan Decius ruled for barely two years before dying at the Battle of Abritus in 251 AD, making him the first Roman emperor killed in battle against a foreign enemy. Provincial bronze from his reign is consequently compressed into a narrow window.