Cyzicus was one of the most economically active cities in Mysia, and its civic bronze issues under Commodus reflect the relative autonomy Roman provincial cities retained in local coinage — struck for everyday transactions the imperial mint in Rome had no interest in supplying. The city's pride in its identity is partly why so many Cyzicene bronzes survive at all: they were produced in quantity and circulated hard within a prosperous regional economy.
The six-year window of 180–186 predates Commodus's increasingly erratic rule and the executions that defined his later reign.
Cyzicus was one of the most economically active cities in Mysia, and its civic bronze issues under Commodus reflect the relative autonomy Roman provincial cities retained in local coinage — struck for everyday transactions the imperial mint in Rome had no interest in supplying. The city's pride in its identity is partly why so many Cyzicene bronzes survive at all: they were produced in quantity and circulated hard within a prosperous regional economy.
The six-year window of 180–186 predates Commodus's increasingly erratic rule and the executions that defined his later reign.