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Æ30 - Caracalla ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicomedia (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 198-217 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Reverse description | Demeter standing facing with head turned to the left, clad in long chiton and himation, extending her right hand to pour a libation from a patera over a lighted altar at her side, while her left hand rests upon a long torch. The goddess is depicted in a hieratic, frontal pose typical of Hellenistic divine imagery on provincial bronzes. The reverse legend identifying the city and its neocorate status fills the surrounding field. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ (Translation: of the Nicomedians, twice neocorate) |
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Nicomedia's claim to the title ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — temple-warden — was a matter of fierce civic competition throughout the second and third centuries. The city had held neokorate status since the time of Domitian, and the designation ΔΙϹ (twice) reflects a second grant, likely under Septimius Severus or Caracalla himself, secured through political maneuvering at the imperial court rather than any organic religious distinction. Rival Nicaea contested Nicomedia's precedence relentlessly, and the prominence of the neokorate title on civic bronze was partly a public argument in that ongoing dispute.