Prusa ad Olympum sat at the foot of Mount Olympus in Bithynia, a city proud enough of its geography to embed it in the civic name. Under Septimius Severus, provincial bronze issues like this one were produced by local magistrates under civic authority — Rome set no die, controlled no design, and often didn't care, so long as the emperor's portrait anchored the obverse. The result is a coinage that functioned as municipal self-advertisement as much as circulating currency.
Severus granted notable favors to Bithynian cities during his reign, in part because the region had backed him during the civil wars against Pescennius Niger in 193–194.
Prusa ad Olympum sat at the foot of Mount Olympus in Bithynia, a city proud enough of its geography to embed it in the civic name. Under Septimius Severus, provincial bronze issues like this one were produced by local magistrates under civic authority — Rome set no die, controlled no design, and often didn't care, so long as the emperor's portrait anchored the obverse. The result is a coinage that functioned as municipal self-advertisement as much as circulating currency.
Severus granted notable favors to Bithynian cities during his reign, in part because the region had backed him during the civil wars against Pescennius Niger in 193–194.