Aphrodisias occupied an unusual position among Carian cities: its temple of Aphrodite granted it asylum rights, and the city cultivated an exceptionally close relationship with Rome stretching back to the late Republic. By the Severan period it was producing some of the most ambitious civic bronze in the region, and issues under Gordian III continue that tradition. The city's sculptural workshops were operating at full output during this same period — the marble carvers and the mint appear to have shared civic patrons.
The conventus of Alabanda grouped Aphrodisias administratively under Roman provincial jurisdiction, but the city retained striking autonomy in its local coinage through the mid-third century.
Aphrodisias occupied an unusual position among Carian cities: its temple of Aphrodite granted it asylum rights, and the city cultivated an exceptionally close relationship with Rome stretching back to the late Republic. By the Severan period it was producing some of the most ambitious civic bronze in the region, and issues under Gordian III continue that tradition. The city's sculptural workshops were operating at full output during this same period — the marble carvers and the mint appear to have shared civic patrons.
The conventus of Alabanda grouped Aphrodisias administratively under Roman provincial jurisdiction, but the city retained striking autonomy in its local coinage through the mid-third century.