Aphrodisias had an unusually privileged relationship with Rome, owing in part to its temple of Aphrodite and the Julian family's claimed descent from the goddess. The city exploited this connection aggressively in its civic coinage, and issues under Gordian III reflect a municipality at the height of its local influence — its council controlled the dies, selected the imagery, and bore the cost of production as a form of civic advertisement rather than monetary necessity.
The conventus of Alabanda was one of the administrative judicial circuits of the province of Asia, and Aphrodisias served as a prominent center within it during the third century.
Aphrodisias had an unusually privileged relationship with Rome, owing in part to its temple of Aphrodite and the Julian family's claimed descent from the goddess. The city exploited this connection aggressively in its civic coinage, and issues under Gordian III reflect a municipality at the height of its local influence — its council controlled the dies, selected the imagery, and bore the cost of production as a form of civic advertisement rather than monetary necessity.
The conventus of Alabanda was one of the administrative judicial circuits of the province of Asia, and Aphrodisias served as a prominent center within it during the third century.