Æ34 - Gordian III CAES ANTIOCH COL, S R

Antioch of Pisidia was a Roman colony of particular strategic importance — Augustus had planted it as one of a string of veteran settlements designed to pacify the Anatolian interior, and it retained its colonial status and Latin civic identity well into the third century. The COL designation on this issue was not ceremony; it reflected an active political self-consciousness that distinguished Pisidian Antioch from the Greek-language cities surrounding it. Gordian III, elevated at just thirteen years old following the murder of Pupienus and Balbinus, had little direct hand in provincial policy — his coinage effectively operated under the guidance of his praetorian prefect and father-in-law Timesitheus.