Æ24 - Elagabalus ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ

Nicaea was among the most prolific civic minters in Bithynia during the Severan period, and its output under Elagabalus reflects a city still asserting municipal prestige through bronze coinage at a moment when the imperial court in Rome was consumed by the young emperor's religious provocations — his attempt to elevate the cult of Elagabal above Jupiter caused a senatorial crisis that ultimately contributed to his murder in 222 AD at age 18. Provincial bronzes like this one continued circulating locally long after Rome had erased his memory under damnatio memoriae.