Nicaea's civic bronze issues under Commodus belong to a period when Bithynian cities were competing aggressively for imperial favor and the prestige titles that came with it — Nicaea and Nicomedia spent much of the second century quarreling over which city held primacy in the province. The ethnic legend ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ is a direct assertion of civic identity, stamped on bronze that circulated locally while that rivalry played out in petitions to Rome.
The reference IV.1#5526 places this within the Recueil Général corpus. Commodus ruled as sole emperor from 180, following Marcus Aurelius's death at Vindobona.
Nicaea's civic bronze issues under Commodus belong to a period when Bithynian cities were competing aggressively for imperial favor and the prestige titles that came with it — Nicaea and Nicomedia spent much of the second century quarreling over which city held primacy in the province. The ethnic legend ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ is a direct assertion of civic identity, stamped on bronze that circulated locally while that rivalry played out in petitions to Rome.
The reference IV.1#5526 places this within the Recueil Général corpus. Commodus ruled as sole emperor from 180, following Marcus Aurelius's death at Vindobona.