Æ36 - Elagabalus ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ Δ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Ephesus held the title of neokoros — temple warden — four times by the reign of Elagabalus, a distinction fiercely competed for among the great cities of Asia Minor and formally granted by the Roman Senate. The fourth neokorate, referenced in the ΔΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ legend, was awarded under Caracalla and remained a point of civic pride aggressively promoted on local bronze coinage. Elagabalus himself was a Syrian priest-emperor whose short reign saw the imperial cult distorted around his personal devotion to the god Elagabal of Emesa — an awkward fit for a city whose identity was bound to older Olympian traditions.