AR23 - Elagabalus L Δ

Elagabalus's Alexandrian tetradrachm coinage of year four (220–221 AD) falls squarely within the reign of one of Rome's most controversial emperors, a Syrian priest-king whose religious reforms — centered on the solar deity Elagabal of Emesa — generated sufficient senatorial outrage to contribute directly to his assassination at eighteen. Alexandria's imperial billon tetradrachms continued under his rule as they had under his predecessors, the mint operating with characteristic efficiency under Roman provincial administration. The Köln and Dattari references for this type are well-established, with Milne 2787 placing it firmly in the year-four sequence.