Æ38 - Gordian III ΑΦΡΟΔΕΙϹΙΕΩΝ

Aphrodisias held a privileged relationship with Rome that few provincial cities could match — the city had leveraged its dedication to Aphrodite, divine ancestor of the Julio-Claudians, into a treaty of friendship that exempted it from direct Roman taxation for generations. By Gordian III's reign, the city's mint was producing large bronze issues like this one partly as a civic assertion of that status, not merely as functional currency. The Senate's role in elevating Gordian — first as co-emperor with his murdered grandfather and uncle, then as sole Augustus at thirteen — made his reign politically useful to cities eager to demonstrate loyalty to Rome's legitimate order.