Æ39 - Marcus Aurelius ΕΠΙ ϹΤΡΑ ΒΑϹϹΟΥ ΑΚΡΑϹΙΩΤΩΝ

Acrasus was a minor Lydian city of limited political weight, and civic bronze of this size was almost certainly struck to mark a specific occasion — most likely tied to the magistracy of the strategos Bassus, whose name the legend commemorates. Provincial cities under the Pergamene conventus used oversized bronzes like this partly as prestige objects, demonstrating to Rome that local administration was functioning and solvent. The years 177–179 coincide with Marcus Aurelius's second German campaign and his elevation of Commodus to co-emperor, leaving provincial minting largely to local initiative with minimal imperial oversight.