Ephesus held the title of "First of Asia" fiercely and used coinage to advertise the fact. The ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ Α ΑϹΙΑϹ legend — asserting Ephesus as first among the cities of the Asian conventus — was a point of genuine civic rivalry, contested at intervals by Smyrna and Pergamon before Roman arbitration periodically reaffirmed Ephesian primacy. Gallienus's sole reign, after his father Valerian was captured by Shapur I in 260, saw provincial mints operating with unusual autonomy as the central Roman administration absorbed the shock of that unprecedented disaster.
Ephesus held the title of "First of Asia" fiercely and used coinage to advertise the fact. The ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ Α ΑϹΙΑϹ legend — asserting Ephesus as first among the cities of the Asian conventus — was a point of genuine civic rivalry, contested at intervals by Smyrna and Pergamon before Roman arbitration periodically reaffirmed Ephesian primacy. Gallienus's sole reign, after his father Valerian was captured by Shapur I in 260, saw provincial mints operating with unusual autonomy as the central Roman administration absorbed the shock of that unprecedented disaster.