Æ20 - Augustus ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΕΥΣ ΑΡΙΣΤΙΩΝ ΕΦΕ ΠΡΕΣΒΩΝ

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.