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Æ37 - Antoninus Pius ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ
| Issuer | Ephesus (Conventus of Ephesus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 138-161 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | The bearded, nude figure of Heracles reclines to the left upon his lion skin, his weight supported on his right arm while his left hand raises a cup (kantharos or phiale) in a gesture of repose. His knotted club rests beside him beneath his reclining form. This iconographic type, evoking the hero at rest after his labours, was a favoured reverse type at Ephesus and reflects the city's deep mythological and civic association with Heracles. The encircling Greek legend proclaims Ephesus's double neokorate status. |
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The legend ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — "of the Ephesians, twice neokoros" — records a civic status that Ephesus fought to accumulate and jealously defended. Neokoria, the right to maintain an imperial cult temple, was granted by Rome and could be rescinded; cities lobbied hard for each title. Ephesus held its first neokoria under Domitian and its second under Hadrian, making coins bearing this legend a precise bracket: post-Hadrian, pre-Commodus, when a third title was added.
Civic bronzes of this size from Ephesus circulated locally within the conventus and were not legal tender across provincial boundaries.