Æ22 - Domitian ΤΟΝ ΚΤΙΣ ΝΕΙΚΑΙΕΙΣ ΠΡΩΤ ΠΟΝ ΚΑΙ Β

Nicaea's claim to primacy among Bithynian cities was a running sore throughout the imperial period — the city feuded bitterly with Nicomedia over which held the title of "first" in the province, a dispute that generated an extraordinary volume of honorific coinage as both cities lobbied Roman governors and emperors for recognition. The abbreviation ΠΡΩΤ on this issue is precisely that lobbying made bronze. Pliny the Younger, governing Bithynia under Trajan, found the rivalry still festering a decade after Domitian's reign ended.