Phrygia, Dionysopolis
Aristos Aristou, magistrate
Tiberius. 14-37 CE
AE 20mm 5.36g
Obv: ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ, bare head of Tiberius right.
Rev: ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ ΑΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΡΙΣΤΟΥ. Dionysus standing, left, with grapes and thyrsus.
Von Aulock Phrygiens II, 97-107; RPC I 3118
Today, Dionysopolis is most famous for being angry. We don’t know why they were angry, but in a letter from Cicero to his brother Quintus, they’re mentioned as being upset, most likely due to something Quintus did.
Per Cicero:
First, I pacified the Dionysopolitans, who were very bitter: whose chief man, Hermippus, I secured not only by my conversation, but by treating him as a friend.
Per Stephanus, Dionysopolis was founded by the Pergamene kings Attalos or Eumenes. This coin depicts Dionysos on the reverse, fitting given the name of the city. Presumably it was known for its viticulture.