Æ18 - Hadrian ΝΕΙΚΟΠΟΛΕωϹ

Nicopolis in Epirus — not to be confused with the Macedonian or Moesian cities of the same name — was founded by Augustus to commemorate his victory at Actium in 31 BC, the battle fought just a few kilometers away that ended the civil war and left him sole ruler of Rome. Under Hadrian, the city retained enough civic prestige to strike its own bronze coinage, a privilege that reflected the emperor's broader policy of cultivating Greek cities as cultural partners rather than mere subjects. Hadrian visited the Greek world repeatedly, and his philhellenism was deliberate politics as much as personal taste.