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Æ29 - Gordian III ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΙΩΝΙΑ
| Issuer | Metropolis (Ionia) (Conventus of Ephesus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 238-244 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse lettering | ΑΥΤ Κ Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟϹ (Translation: Emperor Caesar Marcus Antonius Gordianus) |
| Reverse description | Two standing figures face one another in a dexiosis scene: a heroised founder figure, identified as the city hero of Metropolis, stands at left holding a long spear upright in his left hand, while the personification of the Boule (city council) stands at right bearing a sceptre. The two figures clasp right hands at centre in a formal gesture of civic concordance. The composition is rendered in the standard Hellenistic-Roman provincial style, with both figures shown in full-length robes, and the legend disposed around the periphery of the field. |
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Metropolis in Ionia was a minor city that punched above its weight in the provincial bronze series precisely because of the title embedded in its coin legends — ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΙΩΝΙΑ, asserting metropolitan status within Ionia, a claim that put it in direct symbolic competition with Ephesus and Smyrna. Whether that title reflected an actual civic grant or was a piece of aspirational self-promotion remains debated. Gordian III's reign produced a notable surge in provincial issues across the Ephesian conventus, partly tied to his Parthian campaign fundraising and the political theater of a teenage emperor needing visible legitimacy from eastern cities.