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As - Augustus CAESAR
| Issuer | Sabratha (Africa Proconsularis) |
|---|---|
| Year | 27 BC - 14 AD |
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| Value | As (1⁄16) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Sarapis facing right, wearing the characteristic modius (kalathos) headdress atop his head, rendered in a Hellenistic provincial style. A Phoenician legend is inscribed in the left field, reading as an abbreviation for Sabratha. The portrait conveys the syncretic Egyptian-Greek deity associated with fertility and the underworld, reflecting the strong Punic and Hellenistic cultural influences prevalent at Sabratha. The coin field shows a beaded border partially visible along the rim. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ??????? ? (Translation: Sabratha R) |
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| Additional information |
Sabratha was one of the three cities of Tripolitania — the region that gave the later province its name — and issued its own bronze coinage during the Augustan period under a degree of civic autonomy that was already eroding by the mid-first century AD. These local bronzes circulated alongside Roman imperial issues but served a distinctly municipal function, likely tied to market activity in one of North Africa's busiest ports on the Mediterranean grain and trade routes.
MAA 43a places this piece within a small, documented group. The series is thin enough that die links between surviving specimens have been studied to estimate original output — almost certainly in the low thousands.