Æ33 - Marcus Aurelius ] ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΟΥϹ ΝΕΟΚΟΡΩΝ Β ΠΕΡΓΑΜΗΝΩΝ

In 175–176 AD, Pergamum held the rare distinction of twice-neokoros status — meaning the city had been granted the right to maintain two imperial cult temples, a honor fiercely contested among the great cities of Asia. The legend referencing Nikomedia alongside Pergamum reflects the complex civic rivalry of the period: Nikomedia, Smyrna, Ephesus, and Pergamum were locked in near-constant competition before Roman governors and emperors for titles of primacy, with embassies dispatched to Rome at considerable expense to argue each city's superiority.

Marcus Aurelius was in the east in 175–176, returning from the Danubian campaigns and managing the aftermath of Avidius Cassius's failed usurpation.