Æ31 - Philip I ΕΠΙ Μ ΝΕϹΤΟ ΦΙΛΟΜΗΛΕΩΝ Β, S P Q R

Philomelium, a Phrygian city on the road between Laodicea Combusta and Iconium, struck its own civic bronze throughout the imperial period under local magistrates whose names appear in the obverse legend — here a certain Nestor, whose tenure fell during the reign of Philip I, the Arab. Philip's five-year reign coincided with Rome's thousandth anniversary celebrations in 248 AD, a moment of intense propagandistic activity that rippled through provincial mints across Asia Minor. The SPQR reference in the legend is a deliberate echo of that Romanizing impulse from a city keen to advertise its loyalty.