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Æ23 - Caracalla ΕΠΙ ΚΡΗΤΑΡΙΟΥ ϹΜΥΡΝΑΙΩΝ
| Issuer | Smyrna (Conventus of Smyrna) |
|---|---|
| Year | 198-217 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | RPC V.2#28619 |
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| Reverse description | Heracles depicted standing facing left in the field, his athletic nude figure rendered in the classical tradition. He extends a patera in his right hand, while his left arm supports the knotted club and the Nemean lion's skin draped over his forearm. The encircling Greek legend records the name of the local magistrate Cretarius and the civic ethnic of the Smyrnaeans, a standard formula on Greek Imperial civic bronzes of this period. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΕΠΙ ΚΡΗΤΑΡΙΟΥ ϹΜΥΡΝΑΙΩΝ (Translation: under Cretarius, of the Smyrnaeans) |
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| Additional information |
Smyrna's civic coinage under Caracalla reflects the city's aggressive courtship of imperial favor during this period — the magistrate name Κρητάριος (Kretarios) appearing in the legend places administrative accountability directly on the coin, a Greek East convention that Roman central mints never adopted. Smyrna was locked in a long civic rivalry with Ephesus and Pergamon over the title of "First City of Asia," and honorific bronze issues like this one were partly instruments of that competition, circulated locally to assert prestige rather than facilitate trade.