Æ34 - Septimius Severus ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Nicomedia's claim to the title ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — "twice temple warden" — was not ceremonial vanity. The designation reflected imperial cult status granted by Rome, and cities competed bitterly for each iteration of it. Nicomedia had long rivaled Nicaea for primacy in Bithynia, and securing a second neocorate during the Severan period was a pointed assertion of that rivalry, almost certainly requiring substantial civic investment in temple construction and imperial flattery.

Severus himself visited the eastern provinces extensively during his campaigns against Pescennius Niger, and Nicomedia, sitting astride the main route into Asia Minor, was strategically placed to cultivate his favor early.