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Æ23 - Trajan Decius ΦΛ ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΕΩΝ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ
| Issuer | Philadelphia (Conventus of Sardis) |
|---|---|
| Year | 249-251 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Youthful draped bust of the personified Roman Senate facing left, wearing a turreted or stephane crown, rendered in the provincial Greek style. The bust is shown with drapery over the shoulder, conveying the allegorical dignity of the Senate as a civic institution. The Greek legend ΙΕΡΑ ϹΥΝΚΛΗΤΟϹ (Sacred Senate) is disposed around the bust within the circular field. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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Philadelphia in Lydia held the title of neokoros — warden of the imperial cult — and guarded it jealously. The city had lobbied hard for the honor under earlier emperors, and civic coinage under Trajan Decius continued to advertise that status, partly because Decius himself was aggressively reinstating traditional Roman religious observances, including the first empire-wide persecution of Christians in 250 AD. A coin proclaiming devotion to the imperial cult was locally and politically useful in exactly that moment.