Æ34 - Commodus ϹΤΡΑΤ ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΟΥ ϹΜΥΡ ΛΑΚΕΔΑΙ ΟΜΟ

Smyrna held the rare distinction of being named neokoros — temple warden of the imperial cult — three times over, a status it competed for aggressively against rival cities like Ephesus and Pergamon throughout the second century. The magistrate name preserved in the legend, Herakleides, anchors this piece within a known sequence of civic bronzes issued under Commodus, whose identification with Hercules became increasingly official after roughly 185 AD — the emperor eventually demanding to be addressed as the god incarnate.