Smyrna was one of the few Asian cities permitted to style itself "first of Asia" — a title it contested bitterly with Ephesus and Pergamon across centuries of civic rivalry. The magistrate name partially preserved in this issue's legend, Stratonikianos, is otherwise poorly documented, placing him among the many local archons whose tenures survive only through the bronze they authorized rather than any literary record.
Smyrna was one of the few Asian cities permitted to style itself "first of Asia" — a title it contested bitterly with Ephesus and Pergamon across centuries of civic rivalry. The magistrate name partially preserved in this issue's legend, Stratonikianos, is otherwise poorly documented, placing him among the many local archons whose tenures survive only through the bronze they authorized rather than any literary record.