Roman Philadelphia, The Solar Eclipse of 80 AD under Titus

The above coin was the last quasi-autonomous issue of Philadelphia of the Decapolis in 79 AD. Athena is on the obverse and the reverse lists the date. The Roman Emperor Titus began to mint coins in Philadelphia in 80 AD after the above solar eclipse passed directly over the city. As I have discussed in my Roman Foundation Coins post, part of Roman domination and expansion was represented in solar eclipse events. Several cities in ancient Israel were founded and refounded after solar eclipses under Roman rule. Does the "dot within the circle" in the above wreath represent this solar eclipse. I believe so. Various astronomical symbols have occupied this position with Roman coins out of Antioch and Spain. The Greek epsilon may show the same variant dot within a crescent as with the coins of Herod Antipas. Note also the coin is predictive of an upcoming solar eclipse. The astronomers in this part of the world were more skilled than the Romans and Greeks in their understanding of the skies.

Photo Charachmoba Gym , V Coins