Æ31 - Antoninus Pius ΑΡΤΕΜΙϹ ΕΦΕϹΙΑ

Ephesus held the title neokoros — warden of the imperial cult temple — and jealously defended that status against rival cities throughout the second century. Issues produced early in Antoninus Pius's reign, before the city secured a second neokorate, tend to emphasize the Artemision above all else, the sanctuary functioning as both religious anchor and civic credential in an era of intense inter-city rivalry across the Ionian conventus.

The Artemision itself had been rebuilt after arson by Herostratus in 356 BC and ranked among the Seven Wonders. By the Antonine period it was already ancient, its priesthoods politically loaded.