Æ32 - Elagabalus ΙΟΥΛΙΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ

Iuliopolis was a minor Bithynian city with an outsized administrative history — originally named Gordiu Kome, it was refounded and renamed in honor of Julius Caesar, making it one of the few Asian cities to carry his name directly. Under Elagabalus, whose Syrian origins and scandalous religious reforms provoked continuous friction with the Roman Senate, provincial mints like this one continued issuing bronze largely undisturbed; the political chaos in Rome had little bearing on local civic coinage. The city's output under this reign is sparse, and VI#3694 is not a commonly encountered type.