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Æ35 - Marcus Aurelius ΜΥΤΙΛΗΝΑΙΩΝ
| Issuer | Mytilene (Conventus of Pergamum) |
|---|---|
| Year | 164-165 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 22.30 g |
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| Reverse description | Two emperors, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, depicted standing facing one another in full military dress, each holding a sword and a spear. Between them stands a trophy of arms, beside which a bound captive is seated to the left, evoking the joint Armenian and Parthian victories of the co-emperors. The composition is a fine example of provincial civic imagery commemorating imperial military triumph, with the ethnic legend ΜΥΤΙΛΗΝΑΙΩΝ inscribed in the field or around the design identifying the issuing city of Mytilene on Lesbos. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Mytilene struck this issue in 164–165 during the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, the first co-emperorship Rome had seen since the disastrous experiment of the Tetrarchy's predecessors. The city had long cultivated imperial favor — its status as a free city, granted by Pompey and repeatedly confirmed, gave Mytilene unusual latitude in civic coinage decisions. Issues from this narrow window of the co-reign are chronologically tight; the death of Verus in 169 ended the pairing abruptly.
Within the Conventus of Pergamum, Mytilenean bronzes of this module were among the heavier civic issues, suggesting ceremonial or honorific distribution rather than routine commerce.