AR23 - Gordian III L - Β

Gordian III came to power at thirteen years old following the violent deaths of Gordian I and II within weeks of each other — a dynastic collapse so swift that the Senate scrambled to legitimize the boy as sole Augustus in 238, the so-called Year of the Six Emperors. Alexandria's mint, operating under Roman administration but producing tetradrachms on the old Ptolemaic weight standard, dated this issue to regnal year 2 (L-Β), placing it in 238–239. The Alexandrian dating system is among the more reliable tools for sequencing Gordian's early provincial issues.