AR16 - Trajan ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞ ΥΠΑΤ Γ

Cyrenaica and Crete were administered as a single senatorial province from roughly 27 BC, an awkward pairing of geographically distant territories that persisted into Trajan's reign. Provincial silver of this weight and module from Cyrenaica is exceptionally scarce — Rome had long suppressed local silver coinage across most eastern provinces, and issues that did emerge tend to reflect specific municipal or ceremonial needs rather than routine circulation. The tribunician and consular titulature in the legend dates this piece to Trajan's third consulship, placing it precisely in 100 AD, the same year he delivered his famous Panegyricus before the Senate.