Æ28 - Commodus ΤοΝ ΚΤΙϹΤΗΝ ΝΙΚΑΙΕΙϹ?

The legend fragment ΤΟΝ ΚΤΙΣΤΗΝ — "the founder" — almost certainly reflects Nicaea's bid to flatter Commodus into benefactions or administrative favor, a practice well-documented among Bithynian cities competing aggressively for imperial patronage throughout the second century. Whether Commodus ever visited or meaningfully engaged with Nicaea is unrecorded, making the honorific essentially civic propaganda minted on spec.