Æ32 - Septimius Severus ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Nicomedia's claim to the title ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — "twice temple-warden" — was fiercely contested among the cities of Bithynia during the Severan period. The designation conferred substantial civic prestige and the right to host imperial cult worship, and Nicomedia spent considerable political energy defending its precedence against rival Nicaea, which pressed its own neokorate claims before the Roman senate. Coins asserting this title were, in part, civic propaganda aimed at that rivalry.

Septimius Severus granted or confirmed neokorate honors to multiple Asian cities after 193, partly as reward for loyalty during his civil war against Pescennius Niger, whose primary support base lay in the eastern provinces.