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Æ29 - Gordian III ΕΠΙ ΓΡ ΚΛ ΙΠΠΟΔΑΜΙΑΝΟΥ ΜΑϹΤΑΥΡΕΙΤΩΝ
| Issuer | Mastaura (Conventus of Ephesus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 238-244 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 9.46 g |
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| Reverse description | The eponymous hero Mastauros stands to the right, grasping the horns of a humped bull (zebu) that kneels before him in submission, while his raised arm holds an axe or similar implement. The composition is a characteristic agonistic or foundation-myth type common to Lydian civic bronzes of the Severan and Gordian periods, celebrating the city's legendary founder. The reverse legend, disposed around the field in multiple lines, names the grammateus Claudius Hippodamianos as the issuing magistrate and identifies the civic authority as the Mastaurians. The flan surface is heavily corroded, largely obscuring the finer details of the type. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΕΠΙ ΓΡ ΚΛ ΙΠΠΟΔΑΜΙΑΝΟΥ ΜΑϹΤΑΥΡΕΙΤΩΝ (Translation: under the grammateus Claudius Hippodamianos, of the Mastaurians) |
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| Additional information |
Mastaura was a minor Lydian city whose civic coinage under Gordian III was administered under the grammateus Claudius Hippodamianos, whose name appears in the magistrate formula on this piece. The grammateus — essentially a city secretary — held rotating civic office and sponsored coin issues as a mark of public munificence, funding the cost of production as a form of euergetism. Few cities in the Ephesian conventus produced bronze at this scale during Gordian's short reign, and Mastaura's output was modest enough that individual magistrate issues are genuinely scarce. Reference VII.1#435A suggests a recently catalogued variety within the broader Mastaura civic series.