Free city (Latin: civitas libera, urbs liberae condicionis; Greek: ἐλευθέρα καὶ αὐτόνομος πόλις)[1] was a self-governed city during the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial eras. The status was given by the king or emperor, who nevertheless supervised the city's affairs through his epistates or curator (Greek: epimeletes) respectively. Several autonomous cities had also the right to issue civic coinage bearing the name of the city.
Examples of free cities: Amphipolis after 357 BC remained permanently a free and autonomous city inside the Macedonian kingdom[2] ; probably also Cassandreia and Philippi. Under Seleucid rule, numerous cities enjoyed autonomy and issued coins; some of them, like Seleucia and Tarsus continued to be free cities, even after the conquest by Pompey. Nicopolis was also constituted a free city by Augustus, its founder[3]. Thessalonica after the battle of Philippi, was made a free city in 42 BC, when it had fortunately sided with the victors[4] Athens, a free city with its own laws, appealed to Hadrian to devise new laws which he modelled on those given by Draco and Solon[5].
Autonomi[6] or rather Autonomoi was the name given by the Greeks to those states which were governed by their own laws, and were not subject to any foreign power[7]. This name was also given to those cities subject to the Romans, which were permitted to enjoy their own laws, and elect their own magistrates[8]. This permission was regarded as a great privilege, and mark of honour ; and we accordingly find it recorded on coins and medals (e.g. Metropolis of Antiochians autonomous)[9].