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Æ43 - Commodus ΕΠΙ ϹΤΡ ΑΠΕΛΛΟΥϹ Β ΜΕΝΕΜΑΧΟΥ ΜΥΤΙΛΗΝΑΙ
| Issuer | Mytilene (Conventus of Pergamum) |
|---|---|
| Year | 180-182 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | Two deities arranged symmetrically about a central altar: at left, Tyche stands facing right, holding a Dionysiac herm; at right, a youthful Dionysus stands facing with head turned left, extending a cantharus over a lighted altar and resting on a long thyrsus. The composition reflects the religious and civic identity of Mytilene, combining the city's tutelary deity with the Dionysiac cult prominent on Lesbos. The magistrates' names and city ethnic are rendered in Greek legend surrounding the field. |
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| Additional information |
The magistrate name embedded in this coin's legend — Apellous, son of Menemachos — places it within Mytilene's civic coinage issued under the strategos system, where local magistrates competed for the honor of funding and overseeing coin production. The opening years of Commodus's sole reign, 180–182, coincide with his brief period of relatively stable government before the paranoid autocracy that defined his later rule.
At 43mm, this is among the largest bronze denominations Mytilene produced, issued for a city that had long punched above its political weight by leveraging its status as the leading polis of Lesbos.