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Æ29 - Septimius Severus ΤΙ ΚΛ ΖΗΝΩΝ ΑΡΧΙ ΑΡΧΙΝΕΟ Β ΑΦΡΟΔΕΙϹΙΕΩΝ
| Issuer | Mint of Aphrodisias (Caria) |
|---|---|
| Year | 193-211 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 13.13 g |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | Asclepius, the god of medicine, depicted standing facing with head turned to the right, his body clad in a himation draped over the lower limbs. He leans with his left hand upon a tall serpent-entwined staff (the kerykeion of Asclepius), his attribute as divine healer. The figure is rendered in the classical provincial style typical of Carian civic bronzes. The encircling Greek legend names the local magistrate Tiberius Claudius Zenon as archiereus (chief priest) and records the civic ethnic ΑΦΡΟΔΕΙϹΙΕΩΝ, all within a dotted border. |
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Aphrodisias held a uniquely privileged position in the Roman imperial system: the city had received a formal grant of freedom and tax immunity — confirmed repeatedly by successive emperors — owing in large part to its famous sanctuary of Aphrodite and the city's claimed ancestral connection to the Julian gens. That relationship gave local magistrates unusual latitude in civic coinage, and the archiereus named in this issue's legend held religious as well as administrative authority over the imperial cult. The title's appearance on the coin reflects a city actively advertising its loyalty to Severus during the civil wars of 193 AD that followed Pertinax's murder.