Æ26 - Marcus Aurelius ϹΤ(Α) ΚΛ ΠΡΟΚΛΟΥ ϹΟΦΙϹΤΟΥ Ϲ(ΥΡ)

Proklos the Sophist held the position of grammateus — civic secretary — at Smyrna during the early Antonine period, and his name appears on a tight cluster of municipal bronzes issued under Marcus Aurelius. The title "sophist" here is not ornamental: Smyrna was aggressively competitive with Ephesus and Pergamon for cultural prestige, and advertising a sophist-magistrate on coinage was a deliberate civic statement about the city's intellectual standing.

Aelius Aristides, the most celebrated sophist of the age, was based at Smyrna during precisely this window.