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Æ27 - Septimius Severus ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΕΙΑ ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicaea (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 193-211 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 27 mm |
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| Obverse description | Laureate, draped bust of Caracalla facing right, rendered in the provincial style characteristic of Bithynian civic coinage. The effigy displays the youthful portrait of the emperor with curled hair beneath the laurel wreath. The circumferential Greek legend runs around the bust within the field. The flan is irregularly shaped, as is typical of provincial bronze issues of this period, and the surface shows the characteristic patination of struck Bithynian bronze. |
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| Reverse description | Caracalla and Geta, both depicted in togae, standing facing one another and clasping right hands in a dextrarum iunctio, symbolising their fraternal concord. Between the two imperial figures stands a table upon which rests an agonistic crown, referencing the Philadelphian games celebrated at Nicaea. The composition emphasises the theme of dynastic unity and civic pride, with the reverse legend distributed in the field around the group. |
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Nicaea's civic bronze issues under Septimius Severus reflect the city's active competition with its neighbor Nicomedia for the title of "first city" of Bithynia — a rivalry prosecuted not with weapons but with honorific titles, imperial flattery, and the sheer volume of coinage struck in a reigning emperor's name. The ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ ethnic on this piece is the city asserting its identity within that contest.