Æ20 - Gallienus (sole reign) (ϹΜΥΡ Γ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ)

Smyrna held the title of neokoros — official keeper of an imperial cult temple — three times by the mid-third century, and the legend ϹΜΥΡ Γ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ advertises exactly that triple status. The honor was fiercely competitive among the cities of Asia Minor, conferring tax privileges and prestige that local magistrates actively lobbied emperors to grant or renew. Gallienus, occupied with near-constant military crisis across the western empire during his sole reign, relied heavily on eastern civic loyalty, and such issues were part of how cities like Smyrna signaled their continued alignment with Rome.