Smyrna's bronze coinage of this period reflects the city's position as one of the most prosperous poleis on the Ionian coast, rebuilt on its current site by Antigonus and Lysimachus after Alexander's death and by the second century BC firmly established as a Roman ally. The city received the honor of establishing the first temple to Roma in 195 BC, a political calculation that paid dividends in autonomy and commercial stability throughout exactly the decades this coin was struck.
Smyrna's bronze coinage of this period reflects the city's position as one of the most prosperous poleis on the Ionian coast, rebuilt on its current site by Antigonus and Lysimachus after Alexander's death and by the second century BC firmly established as a Roman ally. The city received the honor of establishing the first temple to Roma in 195 BC, a political calculation that paid dividends in autonomy and commercial stability throughout exactly the decades this coin was struck.