Nike was known to the Romans as Victoria, the goddess of victory, who is featured on the reverse of this bronze sestertius commissioned by the Roman emperor Alexander Severus in 231 CE.
The coin was minted during the preliminary stages of the emperor’s campaign against King Ardashir I, the Sassanid king who dominated the former Parthian empire and was expanding into Mesopotamia, and it anticipated victory in a battle that was fought the following year.
On the obverse is a bust of Alexander with a laurel wreath, commonly worn by emperors to emphasise success in all their activities. A sestertius, which literally means two-and-a-half asses (a lesser value coin), would have bought two loaves of bread at the time of minting.
