Tetrassarion - Gallienus COL CAES ANTIOCH

Antioch of Pisidia was a Roman veteran colony founded under Augustus, and its mint remained active through the third century precisely because the city retained both administrative importance and a loyal, Romanized population. Gallienus ruled during one of the most fractured periods in Roman history — his reign saw the empire simultaneously threatened by Shapur I in the east, breakaway Gallic emperors in the west, and no fewer than a dozen usurpers across the provinces. Colonial bronze issues like this one filled a purely local need; the central imperial mint output was erratic and rarely reached interior Anatolia in usable quantities.