Æ29 - Septimius Severus ΤΙ ΚΛ ΖΗΝΩΝ ΑΡΧΙ ΑΡΧΙΝΕΟ Β ΑΦΡΟΔΕΙϹΙΕΩΝ

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.