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Tetradrachm - Trajan Decius ΔHMAPX EΞOYCIAC, Antioch

Issuer Antioch on the Orontes
Year 250-251
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Currency Drachm
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Obverse script Greek
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Reverse lettering ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ƐΞΟΥϹΙΑϹ S C
(Translation: Tribunician Power By decree of the Senate)
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Additional information

Issued during the sole reign of Trajan Decius, these tetradrachms from the Antioch mint fall squarely within the period of his empire-wide persecution of Christians — the first systematic, centrally organized campaign of its kind, requiring all residents to sacrifice to the Roman gods and obtain a signed certificate of compliance. The mint at Antioch was by this point the dominant producer of billon tetradrachms for the eastern provinces, having effectively absorbed the function of Alexandria's coinage in Syria.

The ΔHMAPX EΞOYCIAC reverse inscription references the tribunician power, a dating device that places this piece in a very narrow window before Decius was killed fighting the Goths at Abritus in June 251.

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