Æ24 - Philip I ΙΕΡΑΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ Κ ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ, Π Ο

This homonoia issue records a formal alliance between Hierapolis in Phrygia and Ephesus, two cities with significant cause to cultivate mutual standing during the reign of Philip I. Ephesus held multiple neokorate titles — the honorific granted to cities maintaining an imperial cult temple — and Hierapolis was eager to associate itself with that prestige. Such homonoia coinages were political instruments as much as monetary ones, advertising civic relationships to travelling merchants, officials, and festival pilgrims who would handle and recognize them.

The Conventus of Cibyra was one of the judicial districts through which Roman governors administered the interior of Asia Minor, and Hierapolis sat within it as a prosperous wool-trading center. Philip's reign, though brief, saw a surge in these inter-city alliance types across the Greek east.