Jochen and
Pat, two of the most knowledgeable of those among us here, thanks! So those objects are probably torches after all. I was certainly wondering what connection there might be between a basket of grain and
Dionysos. I hadn't come across ribboned torches before. It's
good to learn.
Pat has convincingly identified this basket as a
kalathos, from its shape and the very fact that it is a basket. Be it so, its use here is the same as a
modius on an
Italian coin. The grain ears and poppy heads are a common theme on coins showing
Annona, goddess of the annual
corn supply to
Rome, as well as quite a few which show just a
modius. Torches might imply a connection with
Ceres, who carries a tall torch on several
Roman coins, and sometimes carries a short torch in each hand. Given the coin's eastern origin, the connection might instead be to Demeter, the Greek equivalent of
Ceres; she carried similar torches. So, this
still might be an indication of the importance of a
corn dole or
corn supply to the city of
Alexandria.
Well, it's easy to tie things together with extended rationalisations and hypotheses! Unfortunately, that doesn't make it true. (Here's a game: name several random objects and ask someone to explain how they are all connected.)
Bill