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Æ20 - Augustus ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΕΥΣ ΑΡΙΣΤΙΩΝ ΕΦΕ ΠΡΕΣΒΩΝ
| Issuer | Ephesus (Conventus of Ephesus) |
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| Year | 27 BC - 14 AD |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Jugate busts of Augustus, laureate, and Livia, draped, facing right, rendered in the Hellenistic provincial style. The laureate wreath of Augustus is depicted with fine radial detail, and the bust of Livia is visible behind and slightly overlapping. No legend is present on the obverse. The portrait style reflects the early Julio-Claudian iconographic tradition as adapted by eastern Greek mints. |
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| Reverse description | A stag standing right in the field, rendered in the Greek provincial tradition characteristic of Ephesian coinage, alluding to the sacred animal of Artemis, the patron deity of Ephesus. Above the stag, a quiver is depicted horizontally in the upper field. The Greek magistrate legend is distributed around the design in multiple lines, naming the grammateus Aristion as presbeutes of Ephesus. The composition is typical of Ephesian civic bronze coinage of the Augustan period. |
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Aristion served as grammateus — secretary — of Ephesus during the Augustan period, a civic magistracy that carried genuine administrative weight in a city that had recently backed the wrong side at Actium. Ephesus pivoted quickly after 31 BC, and Augustus rewarded its pragmatism by confirming it as the capital of the province of Asia. Local bronze issues like this one, naming the grammateus prominently, reflect the city's eagerness to demonstrate orderly self-governance under the new order.
The designation ΠΡΕΣΒΩΝ on the inscription indicates Aristion also held a role as an elder or ambassador — a dual function attested in other Ephesian civic bronzes of this conventus.