Æ18 - Septimius Severus ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΩΝ

Antioch ad Maeandrum — not to be confused with the far more prominent Antioch on the Orontes — was a small Carian city whose civic coinage under Septimius Severus reflects the administrative reorganization of the Asian conventus system rather than any particular imperial favor. The city fell within the conventus of Alabanda, one of nine judicial districts Rome used to administer the province of Asia, and local bronze issues like this one functioned purely within that regional economy.

The ethnic ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΩΝ distinguishes it from the many other Antiochs striking bronze in this period — a necessary clarification even on the coin itself.