Artemis and Asiarchs 351 Nero between the late summer of 66 and some time in 67 as well as to Domitian between October/November 85 and March/April 86 (63). However, the title Germanicus is only restored in a lacuna with the help of the fairly similar building inscription IvE 2035 (also from the theatre) which can be dated to 92 CE. So this theory of a provincial imperial cult in Ephesos under Nero that made the city newkovro" is based rather on conjecture than on clear evidence, working mostly with gaps in our sources. In particular, one may wonder if it is at all possible to draw any conclusions from architectural details of the temple depicted on the coins mentioned above, if this temple (supposing it is the imperial temple granted by Nero) was probably not yet built — especially since the two types of coins in question show somewhat different types of temples. Most prominently, Josef Keil dismissed this theory in 1919, arguing for the simpler solution that the neocorate mentioned on these coins refers to Artemis (64). It follows that the unofficial title must have fallen out of use after Ephesos had become newkoro" of the emperors, possibly by a settlement under Trajan (65). v The other piece of numismatic evidence for Ephesos as newkovro" of Artemis in the later 1st century CE is even more problematic: On RPC II 165, No. F1064, the obverse shows the laureate head of Domitian and the legend DOMITIANOS KAISAR SEBAS — GERM AÁTOKRAT, the reverse shows a four-column temple with the statue of the Ephesian Artemis and the legend EFESIW — N B NEOK — ORWN. This coin, in the Staatliche Münzsammlung in Munich at least since 1840, is commonly acknowledged to have suffered some “impro- vements”, i.e. to have been falsified (66). Given this numismatic fact, however, the question remains whether a falsifier would have designed (63) Cf. KIENAST, Römische Kaisertabelle, 97,117. (64) Cf. J. KEIL, “Die erste Kaiserneokorie von Ephesos”, NZ 12 (1919) 115- 120; referred to with approval by FRIESEN, Twice Neokoros, 53. (65) Cf. KEIL, “Kaiserneokorie”, 120, n. 12. (66) Cf. D.O.A. KLOSE, “Münz- oder Gruselkabinett? Zu einigen alten Fälschungen kaiserzeitlicher Lokalmünzen Kleinasiens in der Staatlichen Münzsammlung München”, Internationales Kolloquium zur kaiserzeitlichen Münzprägung Kleinasiens (eds. J. NOLLÉ – B. OVERBECK – P. WEISS) (Nomismata 1; Milano 1997) 255-263, 257: “… eine äußerst grobe Arbeit mit plumpest retuschierten Legenden, retuschierten Bildern und geglätteten Flächen”. The same could be said for RPC II 165, No. F1065: The obverse shows the head of Domitian’s wife Domitia and the legend DOMITIA – SEBASTH, the reverse shows an eight-column temple with the statue of the Ephesian Artemis and the legend KORWI (sic) – EFESIWN.