Æ20 - Valerian and Gallienus ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ

Metropolis in Ionia was a minor city that punched above its weight during the joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus, issuing a modest but consistent bronze coinage that claimed metropolitan status — hence ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ — a title cities competed fiercely to obtain from Rome, as it conferred prestige, judicial privileges, and the right to host imperial cult games. Whether Metropolis ever formally received this designation by imperial grant or simply asserted it on coin is a question the epigraphic record has not settled cleanly.