Æ29 - Elagabalus ΒΙΘΥΝΙΕΩΝ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΩΝ

Bithynium's civic coinage under Elagabalus reflects the city's pride in its Hadrianic connection — the emperor Hadrian had elevated the city and renamed it in honor of his deified favorite Antinous, who was born there. The ethnic legend ΒΙΘΥΝΙΕΩΝ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΩΝ, asserting the Hadrianic identity of the polis, was not mere civic boilerplate but an active claim to imperial favor, one the city continued pressing well into the third century.