Æ19 - Gallienus (sole reign) (ΑΦΡΟΔΕΙϹΙΕΩΝ)

Aphrodisias enjoyed unusual autonomy under Roman rule, owing largely to its status as a sacred city of Aphrodite and its longstanding declaration as a free city — a privilege confirmed and reconfirmed by successive emperors from Augustus onward. Civic bronze issues like this one were struck locally under that arrangement, funding municipal functions without direct imperial oversight.

Gallienus's sole reign began after his father Valerian was captured by Shapur I at Edessa in 260 — the only Roman emperor taken prisoner by a foreign enemy. Provincial mints across the east continued issuing civic bronzes throughout the chaos that followed.