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Hexassarion - Commodus ΑΔΡΙΑΝ ΚΟΜΟΔΙΑΝΗϹ ΤΑΡϹΟΥ ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕΩϹ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΥ ΚΟΙΝΟΙ ΚΙΛΙΚΙΑϹ
| Issuer | Tarsus (Cilicia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 177-192 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 32 mm |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Commodus facing right, wearing the distinctive wreathed crown of the demiourgos (chief magistrate of Tarsus), with thick, curly hair rendered in high relief. The emperor's paludamentum or civic garment is visible at the shoulder and chest, conveying his role as divine patron of the city's highest office. A circular Greek legend surrounds the effigy along the periphery of the flan. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Tarsus held the title of "twice neokoros" — twice temple warden of the imperial cult — an honor granted by Rome that entitled the city to strike large civic bronzes advertising that status. The Koinon Kilikias, the provincial assembly of Cilicia, appears in the legend here, making this issue as much a political advertisement as a circulating coin. Such oversized bronzes rarely traveled far; they functioned within the civic economy of the city that struck them.
Commodus renamed himself after Hercules and, notoriously, after the city of Rome itself — briefly styling the capital "Colonia Commodiana." Whether Tarsus's moneyers were aware of his increasingly erratic behavior before his assassination in 192 is unknown, but the city's flattering titulature suggests careful cultivation of imperial favor.