Æ27 - Caracalla ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Nicomedia's claim to the title ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — "twice temple warden" — reflects a fiercely competitive civic culture among Bithynian cities, where the right to host an imperial cult temple was lobbied for aggressively before the Roman Senate. Nicomedia held its first neokorate under Vespasian and secured a second, most likely under Septimius Severus, using the designation as a point of civic pride on local bronze coinage throughout Caracalla's reign.