Nummus - Theodosius I GLORIA ROMANORVM, Thessalonica

Thessalonica's mint was one of the eastern workshops brought to full production capacity after Theodosius I's elevation in 379, when the death of Valens at Adrianople had left the eastern empire without an Augustus. The city sat close enough to the Danube frontier that its output carried immediate logistical significance — these bronzes were struck partly to pay the federate Gothic troops Theodosius was simultaneously recruiting and, uneasily, settling within imperial territory.

RIC IX 44B is distinguished by its officina and mintmark combination within the SMTES sequence. The 383–388 bracket opens with the settlement of the Gothic federates formalized at the 382 treaty and closes just before Theodosius marched west against Magnus Maximus.