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Æ24 - Elagabalus ΙΕΡΑΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ, ΑΚΤΙΑ
| Issuer | Hierapolis, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 218-222 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Draped and cuirassed bust of Elagabalus facing right, with laureate head, rendered in the provincial style characteristic of Syrian civic coinage. The effigy displays wavy hair and a youthful countenance consistent with the emperor's portraits from the early third century AD. A circular Greek legend surrounds the bust, reading ΙΕΡΑ ϹΥΝΚΛΗΤΟϹ (Sacred Senate), placed along the inner border. The field is plain and the coin is struck on a slightly irregular flan with a dotted border visible along the rim. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Hierapolis in Syria had long cultivated imperial favor through its famous temple of Atargatis, and under Elagabalus — himself a Syrian priest-king from nearby Emesa — that relationship carried unusual weight. The ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ title on this issue signals the city's formal status as a temple warden of the imperial cult, a designation cities competed for aggressively and spent heavily to advertise on local bronze.
The ΑΚΤΙΑ reference is to the Actia games, a festival revived by Augustus after Actium and subsequently franchised to favored provincial cities. Hierapolis holding the right to celebrate Actian games placed it in select company.