Vologases IV ruled the Parthian Empire through one of its most fractious periods, contending simultaneously with Roman aggression under Lucius Verus and persistent dynastic challenges from rival claimants. The bronze dichalkous, the smallest denomination in the Parthian bronze hierarchy, circulated at the street level of Mesopotamian commerce — markets, toll points, small transactions that silver drachms were too valuable to absorb. Sellwood 84.136 places this piece late in the Vologases IV sequence, a reign that stretched from roughly 147 to 191 AD and left more surviving bronze than almost any other Parthian king.
Vologases IV ruled the Parthian Empire through one of its most fractious periods, contending simultaneously with Roman aggression under Lucius Verus and persistent dynastic challenges from rival claimants. The bronze dichalkous, the smallest denomination in the Parthian bronze hierarchy, circulated at the street level of Mesopotamian commerce — markets, toll points, small transactions that silver drachms were too valuable to absorb. Sellwood 84.136 places this piece late in the Vologases IV sequence, a reign that stretched from roughly 147 to 191 AD and left more surviving bronze than almost any other Parthian king.