Neocaesarea, the principal city of Pontus, held the rare distinction of double neocorate status — twice honored as keeper of an imperial cult temple — and this coin's reverse legend advertises both titles aggressively, as civic coinages of the eastern provinces often did when competing for Roman imperial favor. The city's dating era (the Pontic era, beginning 297 BC) places this issue in year 163, confirming the 226–227 production window under Severus Alexander.
The double neocorate was granted during the Severan dynasty, making these bronzes part of a concentrated burst of civic pride tied directly to that patronage.
Neocaesarea, the principal city of Pontus, held the rare distinction of double neocorate status — twice honored as keeper of an imperial cult temple — and this coin's reverse legend advertises both titles aggressively, as civic coinages of the eastern provinces often did when competing for Roman imperial favor. The city's dating era (the Pontic era, beginning 297 BC) places this issue in year 163, confirming the 226–227 production window under Severus Alexander.
The double neocorate was granted during the Severan dynasty, making these bronzes part of a concentrated burst of civic pride tied directly to that patronage.