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Æ30 - Septimius Severus ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicomedia (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 193-211 |
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| Reference(s) | RPC V.2#73397 |
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| Obverse lettering | ΑΥ Κ Λ ϹΕΠ ϹΕΥΗΡΟϹ ΠΕ (Translation: Emperor Caesar Lucius Septimius Severus Pertinax) |
| Reverse description | Heracles depicted nude, standing left, with the Nemean lion skin draped over his far shoulder and left arm. The hero rests his right hand upon his club, which is set upright upon a rock in the lower field. The figure is rendered in the classical tradition, emphasizing the muscular physique of the hero in repose. The Greek civic legend encircles the type, identifying the issuing city of Nicomedia and its twice-granted neocorate status, a mark of prestige within the imperial cult hierarchy. |
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Nicomedia's claim to the title ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — temple-warden — was fiercely contested among Bithynian cities during the Severan period. The ΔΙϹ (twice) designation signals that the city had received the honor of housing an imperial cult temple on two separate occasions, a distinction that carried enormous civic prestige and was leveraged aggressively in inter-city rivalries, particularly against Nicaea, which fought Nicomedia for provincial primacy throughout the second and third centuries. These titles were not ceremonial footnotes; they determined festival rights, tax privileges, and the city's rank in official correspondence with Rome.