DOMITIAN
AD 81-96
AE26. 7.16g, 25.7mm
MINTED: ACHAEA, Patrae, circa AD 81-96
REF: RPC 253; BCD Peloponnesos 551.5 var. (obv legend)
OBVERSE: IMP CAES DOM AVG GERM P M TR P V C P, laureate head right.
REVERSE: COL A A PATRENS, Pontiff, holding vexillum, driving yoke of oxen left, plowing pomerium.
 
Grade/Notes:
Good Fine. Coppery-brown surfaces, slightly speckled on reverse.
 
Historical Notes:
The port city of Patrae in western Greece served as Mark Antony's winter headquarters during his war with Octavian (the future emperor Augustus).  His 'legionary' denarii, struck to pay his troops prior to the fateful Battle of Actium in 32 BC, were likely minted at Patrae while Antony was there.  This provincial reverse type with the togate figure driving a yoke of oxen is a reference to Augustus's refounding of the city as a Roman colony after the war.