Æ21 - Septimius Severus ΕΡΥΘΡΑΙωΝ

Erythrae, on the Ionian coast opposite Chios, was one of the ancient cities claiming to be the birthplace of the Cumaean Sibyl — a distinction contested by several cities simultaneously, each with local political reasons to press the claim. Under Severus, Ionian civic bronzes proliferated as cities competed for imperial favor and the honorific titles that came with it. Erythrae fell within the Conventus of Smyrna, the administrative circuit through which the Roman governor dispensed justice, and local coinage often spiked in output around conventus visits.