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Æ21 - Nero ΜΑΣΤΑΥΡΕΙΤΩΝ
| Issuer | Mastaura (Conventus of Ephesus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 54-68 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Reverse description | Full-length standing figure of the eponymous hero Mastauros, depicted facing left. He holds a double axe (labrys) in his raised right hand, an attribute closely associated with Lydian and Anatolian religious iconography, while his left hand rests on his hip. The figure is rendered in a sturdy, frontal provincial style. The ethnic legend ΜΑΣΤΑΥΡΕΙΤΩΝ is inscribed in the field around the figure, identifying the civic authority of the Mastaurians. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΜΑΣΤΑΥΡΕΙΤΩΝ (Translation: of the Mastaurians) |
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| Additional information |
Mastaura was a minor Lydian city in the Cayster valley whose civic coinage under Nero reflects the broader pattern of Greek cities in the conventus of Ephesus leveraging the new emperor's accession to assert local identity through bronze issues. These coins circulated at the hyper-local level — inter-city trade, market transactions, temple dues — never traveling far from the valley.
Nero's reign opened with genuine goodwill from the eastern provinces, where memories of Claudius were mixed at best. The early issues from small Lydian mints like Mastaura tend to be the most carefully executed; quality degraded as the reign grew unstable.