SYRIA, Decapolis. Nysa-Scythopolis. Pseudo-autonomous issue. AE (Bronze, 20 mm, 3.89 g, 12 h), struck under the proconsul, Aulus Gabinius, CY 19 = 46/5 BC. Bare head of Aulus Gabinius to right. Rev. ΓΑΒ / ΝΨ - L IΘ Dionysus standing front, head to left, holding kantharos in his right hand and thyrsos in his left; L IΘ (date). Barkay 6 corr. (attributed to Q. Caecilius Bassus). Rosenberger 2 corr. (date). RPC I 4828. Rare. Repatinated, otherwise, fine.



The head depicted on this coin may not represent Aulus Gabinius, as previously suggested. In a 2016 article in ARAM, Kenneth Silver argues that it is instead the head of Dionysos, adorned with an ivy wreath. Silver bases this interpretation on the myth that Dionysos was born in the region and founded the city of Nysa-Scythopolis.