Pisidia, Parlais
Diomedes, magistrate
1st century BCE
AE 16mm 3.73g
Obv: laureate head of Artemis to right.
Rev: galley right; ΠAPΛ([ITEΩN) above, ΔIOMH[ΔOV] below
Apparantly Unpublished
Like many cities with primarily Roman provincial coinage, not a lot is known about Parlais. Its ruins are believed known, at Barla in Turkey, though not all scholars agree. This coin is instead from earlier, roughly around the reign of Octavian or when he had switched to Augustus.
I found this issue intriguing because Parlais was an inland city, but displays a galley. That may reference the Battle of Actium, and serve as an homage to Augustus. It also could have indicated its settlers came from a coastal city, or the galley may simply be a sign of prosperity. My suspicion is the first, that it was a sign of loyalty to Rome and in particular to Augustus. Later on, the city was renamed to Colonia Julia Augusta Parlais, in reference to Augustus and his daughter. Thus, the brown-nosing – which was a wise political move back then – clearly worked. It does not appear that the city was ever a Greek colony.