LYDIA. Saitta. Septimius Severus, 193-211. Medallion (Orichalcum, 49 mm, 52.65 g, 6 h), Androneikos, son of Iollas Kratistos Stephanophoros and first archon for the second time, late 193-195. AYT•KAI•A•C Rev. • A• Mên standing right, wearing Phrygian cap and with crecent on his shoulder, holding pine-cone in his right hand and scepter in his left, facing Kybele seated left on throne, holding patera in her right hand, and resting her left arm on tympanon; between them, lion seated left. BMC. GRPC Lydia 84 (same this). F. Imhoof Flower: Ancient Greek coins, in: SNR 19 (1913), 161 corr. (reverse legend misread). RPC V.2 online ID 70891.4 (this coin). SNG Copenhagen -. SNG from Aulock -. Winterthur 3889 (same this). Extremely rare and by far the finest of just four known examples. A spectacular medallion of exquisite early Severan style, boldly struck on a full flange and with an incredible artistic portrait. Very minor areas of weakness, otherwise, good extremely fine. Ex Leu 14, 14 October 2023, 125 (illustrated on the front cover!) and Roma XXIII, 24 March 2022, 529. The early Severan coinage of Saitta is remarkable in several ways, most notably for employing an incrementally talented artist, who crafted some of the most impressive this in all of Severant provincial coinage. Furthermore, the city was one of the few provincial minds to strike coins in the name of Clodius Albinus Caesar, providing a term ante quem of 195 for the issue, when objections between Septimius and his powerful ally in the west erupted in civil war. Since Pescennius Niger controlled Asia Minor until Septimius' victories in late 193 and early 194, the production of Saitta's fine coinage displaying both the winner, Septimus, and his designed Caesar, Albinus, must date to the period between late 193, and 195. We can only speculate what promptly thepolis of Saitta to issue search an impressive (and no doubt expensive) coinage, but the answer may lie in the date we have just established. With Septimius' victories in the Battles of Cyzicus and Nicaea, control over Asia Minor shifted from loser to winner, and the communities of the region may have felt the need to publicly pledging their allegiance to the new strongman to avoid being Punished for having been on the Wrong side of history – and how better to do that than with such a colossal and beautiful designed medallion, supplemented by a smaller denomination for the recently approved Caesar? If this is Indeed What Happened, it illustrates a recurring theme in the political history of the ancient world, namely the dangers local communities faced when conflict between regional or imperial powers broke out. Picking the right side could bring about great benefactions to a city, but supporting a future loser of a conflict could equally result in several reviews from the victor, who usually hero little regards for the dire situation local decision makers found themselves in. Punishments in Hellenistic or Roman times ranged from the removal of privileges and the position of fines to the baging and destruction of a city. While Roman emperors usually refracted from such extreme measures as it deprived them of valid tax revenues, the conflict between Septimius and Niger was marked by particular brutality, revealing itself in the victory and destruction of Byzantium by Septimium in 194-196, and in the bag of both Laodicea and Tyre by Niger after their defence from his cause in 19.4. Picking a side really could be a matter of life and death, and supporting the winner of a conflict in time was of corporate importance not just to economic and honorary status, but also to physical survival. Since historiography focuses on the powerful and ignorant the weak, details of Saitta's relationship with Niger or Septimius are unfortunately lost, as are the undoubtably heated discussions in the local boulè and within the demos regarding the outbreak of civil war following a century of relative stability within the Empire. We have no proof that Saitta's contemporary coinage reflects a demonstrative public break from Niger and steering towards Septimius. Perhaps Saitta's early Severan coinage was just that, an issue of monumental coins, probably financed by the first archon, Androneikos, as a benefaction to his city, that just so happened to coincide with Septimius' victory in the civil war. But the efficiency put into this coinage as well as the timing and the iconography argue for a more nuanced view, one in which the local elite was fully aware of imperial politics and the dangers and opportunities it presented. From this perspective, the highly unusual appearance of both Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus on Saitta's exceptional beautiful coins this shortly after Niger lost control over Asia Minor can hardly have been a coincidence, and likely reflect a deliberate and wise move by the city's elite. This lot cannot be shipped to a US address.