Æ Teruncius

Venusia — modern Venosa — was established as a Latin colony in 291 BC, planted by Rome on the border between Apulia and Lucania as a garrison point against the Samnites. By the time this teruncius was struck, the city had survived Hannibal's catastrophic victory at nearby Cannae in 216 BC, one of Rome's worst military disasters, after which many surrounding communities defected to Carthage. Venusia held. That loyalty, and the city's continued operation of a local bronze coinage into the early second century, reflects an autonomous civic identity Rome permitted among faithful allies.