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Æ37 - Marcus Aurelius ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ Β ΝΕ ϹΑΡΔΙΑΝΩΝ οΜοΝοΙΑ
| Issuer | Mint of Ephesus |
|---|---|
| Year | 161-165 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Lucius Verus facing right, seen from the rear, with the paludamentum visible over the left shoulder. The portrait displays the characteristic full beard of Lucius Verus rendered in the Antonine style. A Greek Imperial legend encircles the bust within a linear border. The effigy is rendered in high relief typical of Ephesian civic bronze coinage of the Antonine period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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This homonoia issue documents a formal alliance between Ephesus and Sardis, two of the most rivalrous cities in the Roman province of Asia. Such agreements were brokered through civic diplomacy and often tied to shared religious festivals or mutual recognition of title disputes — both cities held the coveted neokoros designation, meaning "temple warden," and the negotiation of precedence between them was a persistent source of friction. The joint coinage was one mechanism by which that friction was, at least publicly, resolved.
The early years of Marcus Aurelius's reign saw an unusual proliferation of these inter-city issues across Asia Minor, possibly connected to the administrative reorganization following the transition from Antoninus Pius in 161.