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Æ28 - Elagabalus ΤΡΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicomedia (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 218-222 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | Demeter seated left upon a throne, her figure rendered in the provincial Greek style characteristic of Bithynian civic bronzes. She holds a bundle of grain ears in her right hand and a long torch in her left, attributes emblematic of her role as goddess of agriculture and fertility. The composition is set within a plain field, with the encircling Greek legend referencing the triple neocorate status of Nicomedia distributed around the periphery within a beaded border. |
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Nicomedia's claim to the title ΤΡΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — "thrice temple-warden" — was hard won and politically loaded. The city had competed bitterly with Nicaea and Pergamon for imperial cult honors, and its third neokorate, granted under Caracalla, was still fresh enough during Elagabalus's reign to warrant prominent advertisement on civic bronze. These titles were not ceremonial vanity; they translated directly into festival rights, tax privileges, and the ability to host imperial games that drew revenue from across the province.
Elagabalus himself never visited Bithynia, making this issue purely a local act of loyalty projection toward a teenage emperor whose grip on the eastern court was already visibly unstable.