AR25 - Tiberius ΘΕΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ

Struck in regnal year 14 of Tiberius at the Alexandrian mint, this drachm belongs to a series honoring the deified Augustus — the ΘΕΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ legend reflecting the formal Egyptian cult of Augustus that operated quite separately from Rome's more cautious official position on imperial apotheosis. Egypt's status as a personal imperial province gave it unusual latitude in such matters; the prefect answered to the emperor alone, bypassing the Senate entirely, which meant divine titulature that would have been politically awkward on Roman coinage could appear here without controversy.