Nero AR Tetradrachm, Alexandria, AD 66-67, Poseidon Isthmios

Nero, Tetradrachm, Silver, reign AD 54–68; Alexandria, AD 66–67; 12.80 g; 25 mm. Obverse: ΝΕΡΩ ΚΛΑΥ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ ΓΕΡ ΑΥ, L ΙΓ; radiate bust of Nero left, wearing aegis; regnal year L ΙΓ (year 13) in field. Reverse: ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝ ΙΣΘΜΙΟΣ; head of Poseidon right with drapery on left shoulder; trident to right. Struck at Alexandria with die axis 12h. Reference: RPC I 5300.

Struck in Nero’s regnal year 13 (AD 66/67), this Alexandrian issue belongs to the series linked to his tour of Greece. The inscription ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝ ΙΣΘΜΙΟΣ identifies Poseidon of the Isthmus, patron of the Isthmian Games at Corinth, which Nero attended and in which he competed; in the same year he proclaimed the freedom of the Greeks at Corinth and ceremonially began the Corinth Canal. The dated reverse type records the promotion of these Greek themes on Egyptian provincial currency.