Nicomedia held the title of "twice neokoros" — twice temple warden of the imperial cult — an honor granted by the Roman Senate and fiercely contested among rival Bithynian cities, particularly Nicaea. The designation ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚ stamped on this issue was as much civic propaganda as religious designation, advertising Nicomedia's privileged standing in the provincial hierarchy at a moment when Severus Alexander was actively courting eastern cities through religious patronage.
Nicomedia held the title of "twice neokoros" — twice temple warden of the imperial cult — an honor granted by the Roman Senate and fiercely contested among rival Bithynian cities, particularly Nicaea. The designation ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚ stamped on this issue was as much civic propaganda as religious designation, advertising Nicomedia's privileged standing in the provincial hierarchy at a moment when Severus Alexander was actively courting eastern cities through religious patronage.