The East is not my special
field, but a large
part of
Roman Mesopotamia and
Syria including
Antioch was conquered and heavily devastated by the
Sassanian king Shapur in 253 AD (for a discussion of the debated chronology, see Udo Hartmann, Das Palmyrenische Teilreich, Stuttgart 2001, p. 70-73, also footnote 28. For a dating of Shapur's attack to 256 AD see
Prieur, the Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachms and their Fractions, Lancaster PA and
London 2000, p. 84). It seems plausible to me that the minting of the
Antioch Tetradrachms was ceased due to the heavy turmoil following the
Roman civil wars and the Persian invasions. When
Valerian I. arrived in the east in late 253 or early 254, the imperial
mint of
Antioch started issuing large numbers of imperial coins, apparently replacing the former "
Provincial" coins.
One interesting phenomenon is the "usurper"
Uranius Antoninus, probably a high priest of the temple of
Elagabal at
Emesa (
his original name is reported as Sampsigeramos by one source), who was raised to the rank of
Augustus in
his city as a reaction to the Persian threat and who continued issuing silver Tetradrachms (and bronze coins) until late 253 or maybe early 254,
cf. Hartmann p. 73-75,
Prieur p. 125 and mainly Hans
Baldus,
Uranius Antoninus, Münzprägung und Geschichte, Bonn 1971, and same,
Uranius Antoninus of
Emesa, A
Roman Emperor from Palmyra's Neighbouring-City and
his Coinage, in: Palmyra and the Silk Road,
Damascus 1996, p. 371-377.
His coins to my knowledge form the latest Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachms.
Lars
