Coin of the Month

The obverse depicts a laureate bust of Emperor Commodus wearing cuirass and paludamentum, facing right. His identity is confirmed by the accompanying inscription ΑΥ KAI Μ ΑΥΡΗ ΚΟΜΟΔΟϹ.

The reverse, however, is of greater interest. It depicts two divine statues standing side by side: Asclepius on the left, facing right, holding his serpent-staff with an omphalos beside him, and Artemis on the right. Artemis is rendered in the Ephesian type—not as the Greek goddess of the hunt, but as an Eastern goddess, standing frontally, her arms resting on two lateral supports. Although there is no obvious ritual relationship between the two deities, the reason for their joint appearance on the coin is made clear by the inscription: ΕΠΙ ϹΤΡ Π ΑΙ ΠΙΟΥ ΚΟΙΝΟΝ ΠΕΡΓΑΜΗΝΩΝ Κ ΕΦΕϹ. This is a Homonoia coin commemorating the concordia between Pergamon and Ephesos, issued in the name of their civic koinon. The inscription further records that the coin was minted during the strategia of Publius Aelius Pius.

The cities of the imperial period competed intensely with one another for imperial privileges, but there were also occasions and incentives for cooperation in pursuit of shared interests. This coin is therefore far from exceptional: many coins attest to similar or related agreements between cities. The homonoia of Pergamon and Ephesus is one such example, involving the two most important cities of the province of Asia during the reign of Commodus, thereby asserting their shared commitment to act for the benefit of the province. The reverse image is far from incidental: the willingness of Pergamon and Ephesus to cooperate is placed under the guarantee of their principal civic deities.

Based on the emperor's titulature and portraiture, as well as the identification of the strategos, the coin can be dated to between 180 and 182 AD.