Provincial issue of the pentassarion denomination struck at Marcianopolis in Moesia Inferior under the authority of Furius Pontianus (legatus consularis) belongs to a short and clearly defined series produced during the joint reign of Macrinus and Diadumenian.
The obverse shows confronted heads of both rulers (vis-à-vis), with the extended legend AV K OΠΠEΛ CEVH MAKPEINOC / K M OΠΠEΛ AN / TΩNINOC ΔI / AΔOVME, arranged across multiple lines an epigraphic layout characteristic of Marcianopolis issues, allowing for the full rendering of imperial names and titulature despite spatial constraints.
The reverse depicts a river god seated on a rock facing left, holding a branch, with the legend VΠ ΠONTIANOV MAPKIANO / ΠOΛITΩΝ and the letter E in the field indicating the pentassarion denomination. Representations of river deities form a well-attested component of provincial iconography, particularly in the Danubian regions, where rivers played a central economic and strategic role.
The motif of a seated river god—often identified with the Danube (Ister) finds close parallels in other issues from Moesia Inferior as well as in provincial relief sculpture, confirming its established place within the local visual program.
Roman Provincial
Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, Macrinus and Diadumenian, Pentassarion
Obverse: busts of Macrinus and Diadumenian vis à vis
AV K OΠΠEΛ CEVH MAKPEINOC/ K M OΠΠEΛ AN / TΩNINOC ΔI / AΔOVME
Reverse: river god seated left, holding branch, in left field E (mark of value)
VΠ ΠONTIANOV MAPKIANO / ΠOΛITΩΝ
Diameter 26 mm, weight 9.73 g
