Mestrius Florus served as proconsul of Asia in 87–88 AD, and his tenure is noteworthy partly because he was a close personal friend of Plutarch — the biographer credits Florus with introducing him to Latin literature during an early visit to Rome. The coin's obverse legend naming him reflects the standard provincial practice of dating issues by the sitting proconsul, making his friendship with one of antiquity's most important writers an incidental footnote to a routine administrative mintage.
Mestrius Florus served as proconsul of Asia in 87–88 AD, and his tenure is noteworthy partly because he was a close personal friend of Plutarch — the biographer credits Florus with introducing him to Latin literature during an early visit to Rome. The coin's obverse legend naming him reflects the standard provincial practice of dating issues by the sitting proconsul, making his friendship with one of antiquity's most important writers an incidental footnote to a routine administrative mintage.