Stratonicea, situated in inland Caria, was a city that had lobbied aggressively for Roman favor since at least the first century BC, when it received substantial privileges from Sulla after siding with Rome against Mithridates VI. Provincial bronze of this volume — pushing 27 grams — was not struck casually; issues of this weight class typically required civic resources and a specific occasion, often an imperial visit, a grant of neokorate status, or a formal honorific decision by the boule.
The magistrate abbreviation embedded in the obverse legend ties this piece to local civic administration in a way that die studies of Stratoneikean bronzes have only partially untangled.
Stratonicea, situated in inland Caria, was a city that had lobbied aggressively for Roman favor since at least the first century BC, when it received substantial privileges from Sulla after siding with Rome against Mithridates VI. Provincial bronze of this volume — pushing 27 grams — was not struck casually; issues of this weight class typically required civic resources and a specific occasion, often an imperial visit, a grant of neokorate status, or a formal honorific decision by the boule.
The magistrate abbreviation embedded in the obverse legend ties this piece to local civic administration in a way that die studies of Stratoneikean bronzes have only partially untangled.