Antioch, Christian, control-mark, Adrianople.
Most of the AE 3 struck at Antioch in Syria during the period 378-83 display an unusual series of control-marks in the reverse field consisting of up to three Greek letters, a theta Θ by itself or in combination with either a phi Φ alone or both a phi Φ and a kappa Κ. It is argued that the theta Θ by itself and the theta Θ combined with a phi Φ probably abbreviate some form of the adjective θεοφιλής ‘God-beloved’ and that the kappa Κ probably abbreviates the noun κράτος ‘might, sovereignty’, so that the various combinations of these letters proclaim God’s love for Roman might or sovereignty. The explanation for this sudden proclamation of God’s love for the empire may lie in the controversy concerning the reason for the Gothic success against the empire during this period and the belief of some pagans, such as the rhetorician Libanius of Antioch, that a god, or gods, were either punishing the empire or had removed their protection from it.