Arabia, Bostra
Trajan 98-117 CE
Struck 112-114 CE
Tridrachm AR 24mm, 9,47g
ΑΥΤΟΚΡ ΚΑΙС ΝЄΡ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟС СЄΒ ΓЄΡΜ ΔΑΚ Laureate head of Trajan to right, with slight drapery on his left shoulder.
Rev. ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ЄΞ ΥΠΑΤO ς Cult image of Artemis Pergaia within distyle temple on podium of four steps; in pediment, eagle standing left with wings open, head to right.
Ganschow X15b. RPC III 4069. SNG Copenhagen 206 (‘Caesarea’)
Bostra is the modern day city of Bosra, Syria, located on the border with Jordan. It was an important Nabataean city until it was conquered by a general of Trajan in 106 CE. It then became an important Roman center and the headquarters of the Legio III Cyrenaica. It also served as the capital of Arabia Petraea.
The Talmud mentions a sizable Jewish population there and the important scholar Shimon ben Lakish lived there.
This coin’s weight is odd, often called a “tridrachm” due to its weight – and sitting between the didrachm and the tetradrachm. The weight was likely to correspond more easily with the local tetradrachms, and its monetary value may have been the same.