Æ22 - Caracalla ΕΠΙ ΡΟΥΦΟΥ ϹΑΡΔΙΑΝΩΝ Β ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Sardis held the title of neokoros — official keeper of an imperial cult temple — twice by the time Caracalla reigned, a distinction the city fought hard to retain against rival Lydian centers. The second neokorate, reflected in the Β ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ formula, was awarded under circumstances that remain debated, with some scholars attributing it to Caracalla's own visit to the eastern provinces around 215 AD. The magistrate named in the inscription, Rufus, was almost certainly a local strategos or grammateus whose term in office is the primary means of dating issues within this series.