In doing some research on this coin I noticed there
had been an earlier posting where
Curtis Clay
had mentioned the great historical interest the coins from
Thessalonica of
Decius and
his family hold, specifically in the ones that relate to the city suddenly getting 3 additional neocorates. Here is the quote I found:
"
Curtis Clay once told us about a different
type of
Decius:
"The coins of
Decius and family at
Thessalonika are
rare, and of exceptional historical importance. As R.
Ziegler has shown, they demonstrate that Decius' vanquishing of Philip must have taken place near Beroea in
Macedonia, as a single late Greek author reports, not at
Verona in N.
Italy, as all of the Latin authors state, an error in which most modern historians have followed them.
Thessalonica is merely
neokoros on the coins of
Philip I and family, but under
Decius it receives a huge and totally unprecedented increase in its status: suddenly it becomes FOUR TIMES
Neokoros, COLONY, and, instead of Beroea, the former
Metropolis of
Macedonia,
METROPOLIS!
There is only one course of events,
Ziegler suggests, that could explain such lavish honoring of
Thessalonica by
Decius. Decius' confrontation with Philip must have taken place in
Macedonia, and Philip will have established himself in Beroea, the capital of the province.
Thessalonica, Beroea's rival and neighbor, however, must have opted to
side with
Decius, receiving and provisioning
his army and so providing essential aid for
his victory over Philip. "Beroea" is written very much like "
Verona" in Greek, and was obviously misread in that way by a Latin author, whose mistake was then repeated by all of the surviving Latin sources!""
J though folks might want to see one of the coins that apply - in this case a small AE 23 of
Herennius Etruscus in my
collection:
Macedon,
Thessalonica,
Herennius Etruscus (
Caesar, 249-251). Ae. Obv: ΚΑΙ ΚVΙΝ ЄΡЄΝ ΜЄСΙ ЄΤΡΟVСΚΙΛΛΟΝ ΔЄΚΙΟΝ. Bareheaded, draped and
cuirassed bust right.
Rev: ΘЄССΑΛΟΝЄΙΚΗ ΚΟΛ ΜΗΤΡ Δ ΝЄΩΚΟΡΟС. Four temples seen in perspective.
RPC IX 150;
Touratsoglou 10;
cf. Price & Trell 133 (fig. 458, for a similar
rev. type of
Trajanus Decius). Condition:
Good fine.
Weight: 5.24 g.
Diameter: 23 mm. Very
rare
