Diocletian's first regnal year in Egypt — Year 1 of his reign, running from August 284 into summer 285 — marks the opening of one of the most administratively transformative periods in Roman Egypt's history. He would later, in 296–297, crush a revolt there and fundamentally restructure the province, ending the long tradition of a separate Alexandrian currency system entirely. This tetradrachm belongs to the last chapter of that tradition, struck just as the man who would eventually kill it took power.
Diocletian's first regnal year in Egypt — Year 1 of his reign, running from August 284 into summer 285 — marks the opening of one of the most administratively transformative periods in Roman Egypt's history. He would later, in 296–297, crush a revolt there and fundamentally restructure the province, ending the long tradition of a separate Alexandrian currency system entirely. This tetradrachm belongs to the last chapter of that tradition, struck just as the man who would eventually kill it took power.