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Æ26 - Caracalla ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicomedia (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 198-217 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | Athena or Roma standing facing, head turned to the left, holding a patera in her extended right hand over a lighted altar at her side, while her left hand rests upon a grounded spear. A large round shield is depicted at her feet to the right, serving as a secondary attribute reinforcing her martial identity. The figure is rendered in a static, frontal composition characteristic of provincial bronzes from Bithynia. The encircling legend ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ proclaims the city of Nicomedia's honorific status as twice neocorate, reflecting its role as a twice-recognized center of the imperial cult. |
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Nicomedia's claim to the title ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — "twice temple warden" — was hard-won and politically loaded. The city competed bitterly with Nicaea and Pergamon for neokorate honors, which required imperial authorization and signaled the right to host an imperial cult temple. Under Caracalla, Nicomedia held two such grants, a status the city broadcast aggressively on its bronze coinage as a point of civic pride and one-upmanship over regional rivals.
Caracalla's reign saw a surge in provincially-struck bronze across Bithynia, partly driven by chronic shortages of smaller imperial denominations reaching the eastern provinces.