Æ36 - Septimius Severus ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ Β ΝΕΟΚΟΡΩΝ

Ephesus held the title of neokoros — temple warden — twice by the reign of Septimius Severus, and the city was aggressively protective of that status. The Β ΝΕΟΚΟΡΩΝ designation on this issue is civic propaganda as much as honorific, a direct assertion of Ephesus's rank above rival cities in the conventus who were competing for the same imperial cult privileges. Smyrna and Pergamon pressed hard during this period, and the title hierarchy mattered enormously for tax status, judicial precedence, and the right to host imperial games.

Bronze provincials of this module from Ephesus are notoriously inconsistently struck, with die alignment varying widely across the series.