Æ24 - Valerian and Gallienus ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ ΙΕΡΟΙ ΑΓΩΝΕΣ

Nicaea held the rare distinction of being recognized as a site of *hieroi agones* — sacred games granted official Panhellenic status by Rome — and coins advertising this privilege were issued specifically to assert the city's prestige within the competitive hierarchy of Asian civic honors. The joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus, which ended abruptly when Valerian was captured by Shapur I at the Battle of Edessa in 260, places a hard terminus on this issue. A Roman emperor taken alive by a Persian king was without precedent, and civic minting across the eastern provinces shifted considerably in the political chaos that followed.