The title ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΥ — neokoros, meaning "temple warden" — was a coveted honorific granted by Rome to cities permitted to maintain an imperial cult temple. Caesarea in Cappadocia received this status under Septimius Severus, and the ЕТ ΙΔ date formula, marking year 14 of Severus's reign, pins this issue precisely to 206 AD. The city's position as the administrative capital of Cappadocia made it a natural candidate, but the grant carried real political weight in a province that also served as a key staging ground for Severus's Parthian campaigns.
The title ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΥ — neokoros, meaning "temple warden" — was a coveted honorific granted by Rome to cities permitted to maintain an imperial cult temple. Caesarea in Cappadocia received this status under Septimius Severus, and the ЕТ ΙΔ date formula, marking year 14 of Severus's reign, pins this issue precisely to 206 AD. The city's position as the administrative capital of Cappadocia made it a natural candidate, but the grant carried real political weight in a province that also served as a key staging ground for Severus's Parthian campaigns.