Nomos 2

Pergamon, Mysia. Gordian III. 238-244. Medallion of 8 Assaria (Bronze, 45mm, 44.17 g 6), an alliance issue with Nikomedia in Bithynia, struck during the magistracy of Julius Logismos, strategos of Pergamon. ΑΥΤ Κ Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian III to right, seen partially from behind. Rev. ΕΠΙ C ΙΟVΛ ΛΟΓΙC/ΜΟV ΠΕΡΓΑΜΗ/ΝΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΝΕΙΚΟΜΗ/ΔΕΩΝ ΟΜΟΝ/ΟΙΑ Asklepios, on the left, holding kerkykeion in his left hand, and Demeter, on the right, holding long torch in her left hand, poppies in her right and resting her right foot on a prow. Franke-Nollé 1633-1636. Kampmann 103. RPC 174. Very rare, one of six known specimens, all from the same pair of dies. Rough olive green patina. Minor ancient scratch on obverse, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

Alliance coins were a special feature of political life in Roman Asia Minor: cities honored each other as part of their intense rivalry over status. Lesser cities attempted to have alliances with more important ones as a way of boosting their own position. In this case Nikomedia, an important but second rank city, must have sought an alliance with the much more prestigious city of Pergamon. These alliances were basically only honorific, (though they could affect the tax status of the citizens of the cities involved, since the cities themselves were all firmly under Roman rule.