CILICIA. Anazarbus. Valerian I, 253-260. Triassarion (Bronze, 27 mm, 10.91 g, 5 h), year 272 = 253-254. ΑΥΤ Κ Π ΛΙK ΟΥ-ΑΛΕΡΙΑΝΟC CE Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Valerian I to right. Rev. ANAZ-APBOY / Γ/Γ / ΕΤ ΒΟC / A M K Dionysos seated left, head right, on back of panther right with head reverted. SNG BN 2157 ( same dies ). Ziegler 827 (Vs2/Rs2). Green patina. Very fine.

Dionysos, or to the Romans either Bacchus or Liber Pater, was the god of ecstasy and wine. He is often depicted in Graeco-Roman art draped in a panther or leopard's skin, holding a cup of wine, and often his staff of power, his thyrsos, a vine-wrapped scepter topped with a pinecone. The significance of the panther (or leopard, as it may be) is not certain, but probably indicates Dionysos' foreign origin (at least that is what the Graeco-Roman world believed; he was actually worshipped in Mycenean times, so while he antedates the Olympic pantheon he was essentially an indigenous deity).