Æ24 - Commodus ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟ ΝΕΩ ΝΙΚΟ

Nicomedia had held the title of metropolis within Bithynia since the province's reorganization under Roman administration, but the city's coinage in this period reflects an active municipal rivalry with Nicaea over precedence — a competition that played out on bronze as much as in imperial petitions. Commodus, notoriously indifferent to provincial administration, nonetheless proved a useful figurehead for cities pressing their status claims during the 180s.