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037b Marcus Aurelius (139-161 A.D. as Caesar, 161-180 A.D. as Augustus), RIC III 0409var2., Rome, AR-Denarius, TR P XXXIIII IMP X COS III P P, Fortuna seated left,037b Marcus Aurelius (139-161 A.D. as Caesar, 161-180 A.D. as Augustus), RIC III 0409var2., Rome, AR-Denarius, TR P XXXIIII IMP X COS III P P, Fortuna seated left,
avers:- M AVREL•ANT ONINVS AVG, Laureate draped, cuirassed bust right.
revers:- TR P XXXIIII IMP X COS III P P, Fortuna seated left, holding rudder and cornucopiae.
exerg: -/-//--, diameter: 17,5-19,0mm, weight: 3,27g, axis: 6h,
mint: Rome, date:180 A.D., ref: RIC III 409var2., p-245, RSC 972b, BMCRE 805 note, Szaivert MIR 18 461-4/37, Sear-,
Q-001quadrans
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055 - Commodus denarius - RIC 666Obv:- L AVREL COMMODVS AVG, Young Laureate head right
Rev:- TR P IIII IMP III COS II P P, Victory seated left, holding patera and palm-branch
Minted in Rome in Spring A.D. 179
Reference RIC III (Marcus Aurelius) 666, Cohen/RSC 775. BMCRE 801. Szaivert, MIR 18 457-14/30;
Commodus, as joint Augustus with Marcus Aureliusmaridvnvm
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1409a, Julian II "the Philosopher," February 360 - 26 June 363 A.D.Julian II, A.D. 360-363; RIC 167; VF; 2.7g, 20mm; Constantinople mint; Obverse: DN FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG, helmeted & cuirassed bust right, holding spear & shield; Reverse: VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath; CONSPB in exergue; Attractive green patina. Ex Nemesis.
De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
Julian the Apostate (360-363 A.D.)
Walter E. Roberts, Emory University
Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University
Introduction
The emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus reigned from 360 to 26 June 363, when he was killed fighting against the Persians. Despite his short rule, his emperorship was pivotal in the development of the history of the later Roman empire. This essay is not meant to be a comprehensive look at the various issues central to the reign of Julian and the history of the later empire. Rather, this short work is meant to be a brief history and introduction for the general reader. Julian was the last direct descendent of the Constantinian line to ascend to the purple, and it is one of history's great ironies that he was the last non-Christian emperor. As such, he has been vilified by most Christian sources, beginning with John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzus in the later fourth century. This tradition was picked up by the fifth century Eusebian continuators Sozomen, Socrates Scholasticus, and Theodoret and passed on to scholars down through the 20th century. Most contemporary sources, however, paint a much more balanced picture of Julian and his reign. The adoption of Christianity by emperors and society, while still a vital concern, was but one of several issues that concerned Julian.
It is fortunate that extensive writings from Julian himself exist, which help interpret his reign in the light of contemporary evidence. Still extant are some letters, several panegyrics, and a few satires. Other contemporary sources include the soldier Ammianus Marcellinus' history, correspondence between Julian and Libanius of Antioch, several panegyrics, laws from the Theodosian Code, inscriptions, and coinage. These sources show Julian's emphasis on restoration. He saw himself as the restorer of the traditional values of Roman society. Of course much of this was rhetoric, meant to defend Julian against charges that he was a usurper. At the same time this theme of restoration was central to all emperors of the fourth century. Julian thought that he was the one emperor who could regain what was viewed as the lost glory of the Roman empire. To achieve this goal he courted select groups of social elites to get across his message of restoration. This was the way that emperors functioned in the fourth century. By choosing whom to include in the sharing of power, they sought to shape society.
Early Life
Julian was born at Constantinople in 331. His father was Julius Constantius, half-brother of the emperor Constantine through Constantius Chlorus, and his mother was Basilina, Julius' second wife. Julian had two half-brothers via Julius' first marriage. One of these was Gallus, who played a major role in Julian's life. Julian appeared destined for a bright future via his father's connection to the Constantinian house. After many years of tense relations with his three half-brothers, Constantine seemed to have welcomed them into the fold of the imperial family. From 333 to 335, Constantine conferred a series of honors upon his three half-siblings, including appointing Julius Constantius as one of the consuls for 335. Julian's mother was equally distinguished. Ammianus related that she was from a noble family. This is supported by Libanius, who claimed that she was the daughter of Julius Julianus, a Praetorian Prefect under Licinius, who was such a model of administrative virtue that he was pardoned and honored by Constantine.
Despite the fact that his mother died shortly after giving birth to him, Julian experienced an idyllic early childhood. This ended when Constantius II conducted a purge of many of his relatives shortly after Constantine's death in 337, particularly targeting the families of Constantine's half-brothers. ulian and Gallus were spared, probably due to their young age. Julian was put under the care of Mardonius, a Scythian eunuch who had tutored his mother, in 339, and was raised in the Greek philosophical tradition, and probably lived in Nicomedia. Ammianus also supplied the fact that while in Nicomedia, Julian was cared for by the local bishop Eusebius, of whom the future emperor was a distant relation. Julian was educated by some of the most famous names in grammar and rhetoric in the Greek world at that time, including Nicocles and Hecebolius. In 344 Constantius II sent Julian and Gallus to Macellum in Cappadocia, where they remained for six years. In 351, Gallus was made Caesar by Constantius II and Julian was allowed to return to Nicomedia, where he studied under Aedesius, Eusebius, and Chrysanthius, all famed philosophers, and was exposed to the Neo-Platonism that would become such a prominent part of his life. But Julian was most proud of the time he spent studying under Maximus of Ephesus, a noted Neo-Platonic philospher and theurgist. It was Maximus who completed Julian's full-scale conversion to Neo-Platonism. Later, when he was Caesar, Julian told of how he put letters from this philosopher under his pillows so that he would continue to absorb wisdom while he slept, and while campaigning on the Rhine, he sent his speeches to Maximus for approval before letting others hear them. When Gallus was executed in 354 for treason by Constantius II, Julian was summoned to Italy and essentially kept under house arrest at Comum, near Milan, for seven months before Constantius' wife Eusebia convinced the emperor that Julian posed no threat. This allowed Julian to return to Greece and continue his life as a scholar where he studied under the Neo-Platonist Priscus. Julian's life of scholarly pursuit, however, ended abruptly when he was summoned to the imperial court and made Caesar by Constantius II on 6 November 355.
Julian as Caesar
Constantius II realized an essential truth of the empire that had been evident since the time of the Tetrarchy--the empire was too big to be ruled effectively by one man. Julian was pressed into service as Caesar, or subordinate emperor, because an imperial presence was needed in the west, in particular in the Gallic provinces. Julian, due to the emperor's earlier purges, was the only viable candidate of the imperial family left who could act as Caesar. Constantius enjoined Julian with the task of restoring order along the Rhine frontier. A few days after he was made Caesar, Julian was married to Constantius' sister Helena in order to cement the alliance between the two men. On 1 December 355, Julian journeyed north, and in Augusta Taurinorum he learned that Alamannic raiders had destroyed Colonia Agrippina. He then proceeded to Vienne where he spent the winter. At Vienne, he learned that Augustudunum was also under siege, but was being held by a veteran garrison. He made this his first priority, and arrived there on 24 June 356. When he had assured himself that the city was in no immediate danger, he journeyed to Augusta Treverorum via Autessioduram, and from there to Durocortorum where he rendezvoused with his army. Julian had the army stage a series of punitive strikes around the Dieuse region, and then he moved them towards the Argentoratum/Mongontiacum region when word of barbarian incursions reached him.
From there, Julian moved on to Colonia Agrippina, and negotiated a peace with the local barbarian leaders who had assaulted the city. He then wintered at Senonae. He spent the early part of the campaigning season of 357 fighting off besiegers at Senonae, and then conducting operations around Lugdunum and Tres Tabernae. Later that summer, he encountered his watershed moment as a military general. Ammianus went into great detail about Julian's victory over seven rogue Alamannic chieftains near Argentoratum, and Julian himself bragged about it in his later writing. After this battle, the soldiers acclaimed Julian Augustus, but he rejected this title. After mounting a series of follow-up raids into Alamannic territory, he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia, and on the way defeated some Frankish raiders in the Mosa region. Julian considered this campaign one of the major events of his time as Caesar.
Julian began his 358 military campaigns early, hoping to catch the barbarians by surprise. His first target was the Franks in the northern Rhine region. He then proceeded to restore some forts in the Mosa region, but his soldiers threatened to mutiny because they were on short rations and had not been paid their donative since Julian had become Caesar. After he soothed his soldiers, Julian spent the rest of the summer negotiating a peace with various Alamannic leaders in the mid and lower Rhine areas, and retired to winter quarters at Lutetia. In 359, he prepared once again to carry out a series of punitive expeditions against the Alamanni in the Rhine region who were still hostile to the Roman presence. In preparation, the Caesar repopulated seven previously destroyed cities and set them up as supply bases and staging areas. This was done with the help of the people with whom Julian had negotiated a peace the year before. Julian then had a detachment of lightly armed soldiers cross the Rhine near Mogontiacum and conduct a guerilla strike against several chieftains. As a result of these campaigns, Julian was able to negotiate a peace with all but a handful of the Alamannic leaders, and he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia.
Of course, Julian did more than act as a general during his time as Caesar. According to Ammianus, Julian was an able administrator who took steps to correct the injustices of Constantius' appointees. Ammianus related the story of how Julian prevented Florentius, the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, from raising taxes, and also how Julian actually took over as governor for the province of Belgica Secunda. Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, supported Ammianus' basic assessment of Julian in this regard when he reported that Julian was an able representative of the emperor to the Gallic provincials. There is also epigraphic evidence to support Julian's popularity amongst the provincial elites. An inscription found near Beneventum in Apulia reads:
"To Flavius Claudius Julianus, most noble and sanctified Caesar, from the caring Tocius Maximus, vir clarissimus, for the care of the res publica from Beneventum".
Tocius Maximus, as a vir clarissimus, was at the highest point in the social spectrum and was a leader in his local community. This inscription shows that Julian was successful in establishing a positive image amongst provincial elites while he was Caesar.
Julian Augustus
In early 360, Constantius, driven by jealousy of Julian's success, stripped Julian of many troops and officers, ostensibly because the emperor needed them for his upcoming campaign against the Persians. One of the legions ordered east, the Petulantes, did not want to leave Gaul because the majority of the soldiers in the unit were from this region. As a result they mutinied and hailed Julian as Augustus at Lutetia. Julian refused this acclamation as he had done at Argentoratum earlier, but the soldiers would have none of his denial. They raised him on a shield and adorned him with a neck chain, which had formerly been the possession of the standard-bearer of the Petulantes and symbolized a royal diadem. Julian appeared reluctantly to acquiesce to their wishes, and promised a generous donative. The exact date of his acclamation is unknown, but most scholars put it in February or March. Julian himself supported Ammianus' picture of a jealous Constantius. In his Letter to the Athenians, a document constructed to answer charges that he was a usurper, Julian stated that from the start he, as Caesar, had been meant as a figurehead to the soldiers and provincials. The real power he claimed lay with the generals and officials already present in Gaul. In fact, according to Julian, the generals were charged with watching him as much as the enemy. His account of the actual acclamation closely followed what Ammianus told us, but he stressed even more his reluctance to take power. Julian claimed that he did so only after praying to Zeus for guidance.
Fearing the reaction of Constantius, Julian sent a letter to his fellow emperor justifying the events at Lutetia and trying to arrange a peaceful solution. This letter berated Constantius for forcing the troops in Gaul into an untenable situation. Ammianus stated that Julian's letter blamed Constantius' decision to transfer Gallic legions east as the reason for the soldiers' rebellion. Julian once again asserted that he was an unwilling participant who was only following the desire of the soldiers. In both of these basic accounts Ammianus and Julian are playing upon the theme of restoration. Implicit in their version of Julian's acclamation is the argument that Constantius was unfit to rule. The soldiers were the vehicle of the gods' will. The Letter to the Athenians is full of references to the fact that Julian was assuming the mantle of Augustus at the instigation of the gods. Ammianus summed up this position nicely when he related the story of how, when Julian was agonizing over whether to accept the soldiers' acclamation, he had a dream in which he was visited by the Genius (guardian spirit) of the Roman state. The Genius told Julian that it had often tried to bestow high honors upon Julian but had been rebuffed. Now, the Genius went on to say, was Julian's final chance to take the power that was rightfully his. If the Caesar refused this chance, the Genius would depart forever, and both Julian and the state would rue Julian's rejection. Julian himself wrote a letter to his friend Maximus of Ephesus in November of 361 detailing his thoughts on his proclamation. In this letter, Julian stated that the soldiers proclaimed him Augustus against his will. Julian, however, defended his accession, saying that the gods willed it and that he had treated his enemies with clemency and justice. He went on to say that he led the troops in propitiating the traditional deities, because the gods commanded him to return to the traditional rites, and would reward him if he fulfilled this duty.
During 360 an uneasy peace simmered between the two emperors. Julian spent the 360 campaigning season continuing his efforts to restore order along the Rhine, while Constantius continued operations against the Persians. Julian wintered in Vienne, and celebrated his Quinquennalia. It was at this time that his wife Helena died, and he sent her remains to Rome for a proper burial at his family villa on the Via Nomentana where the body of her sister was entombed. The uneasy peace held through the summer of 361, but Julian concentrated his military operations around harassing the Alamannic chieftain Vadomarius and his allies, who had concluded a peace treaty with Constantius some years earlier. By the end of the summer, Julian decided to put an end to the waiting and gathered his army to march east against Constantius. The empire teetered on the brink of another civil war. Constantius had spent the summer negotiating with the Persians and making preparations for possible military action against his cousin. When he was assured that the Persians would not attack, he summoned his army and sallied forth to meet Julian. As the armies drew inexorably closer to one another, the empire was saved from another bloody civil war when Constantius died unexpectedly of natural causes on 3 November near the town of Mopsucrenae in Cilicia, naming Julian -- the sources say-- as his legitimate successor.
Julian was in Dacia when he learned of his cousin's death. He made his way through Thrace and came to Constantinople on 11 December 361 where Julian honored the emperor with the funeral rites appropriate for a man of his station. Julian immediately set about putting his supporters in positions of power and trimming the imperial bureaucracy, which had become extremely overstaffed during Constantius' reign. Cooks and barbers had increased during the late emperor's reign and Julian expelled them from his court. Ammianus gave a mixed assessment of how the new emperor handled the followers of Constantius. Traditionally, emperors were supposed to show clemency to the supporters of a defeated enemy. Julian, however, gave some men over to death to appease the army. Ammianus used the case of Ursulus, Constantius' comes sacrum largitionum, to illustrate his point. Ursulus had actually tried to acquire money for the Gallic troops when Julian had first been appointed Caesar, but he had also made a disparaging remark about the ineffectiveness of the army after the battle of Amida. The soldiers remembered this, and when Julian became sole Augustus, they demanded Ursulus' head. Julian obliged, much to the disapproval of Ammianus. This seems to be a case of Julian courting the favor of the military leadership, and is indicative of a pattern in which Julian courted the goodwill of various societal elites to legitimize his position as emperor.
Another case in point is the officials who made up the imperial bureaucracy. Many of them were subjected to trial and punishment. To achieve this goal, during the last weeks of December 361 Julian assembled a military tribunal at Chalcedon, empanelling six judges to try the cases. The president of the tribunal was Salutius, just promoted to the rank of Praetorian Prefect; the five other members were Mamertinus, the orator, and four general officers: Jovinus, Agilo, Nevitta, and Arbetio. Relative to the proceedings of the tribunal, Ammianus noted that the judges, " . . . oversaw the cases more vehemently than was right or fair, with the exception of a few . . .." Ammianus' account of Julian's attempt at reform of the imperial bureaucracy is supported by legal evidence from the Theodosian Code. A series of laws sent to Mamertinus, Julian's appointee as Praetorian Prefect in Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, illustrate this point nicely. On 6 June 362, Mamertinus received a law that prohibited provincial governors from bypassing the Vicars when giving their reports to the Prefect. Traditionally, Vicars were given civil authority over a group of provinces, and were in theory meant to serve as a middle step between governors and Prefects. This law suggests that the Vicars were being left out, at least in Illyricum. Julian issued another edict to Mamertinus on 22 February 362 to stop abuse of the public post by governors. According to this law, only Mamertinus could issue post warrants, but the Vicars were given twelve blank warrants to be used as they saw fit, and each governor was given two. Continuing the trend of bureaucratic reform, Julian also imposed penalties on governors who purposefully delayed appeals in court cases they had heard. The emperor also established a new official to weigh solidi used in official government transactions to combat coin clipping.
For Julian, reigning in the abuses of imperial bureaucrats was one step in restoring the prestige of the office of emperor. Because he could not affect all elements of society personally, Julian, like other Neo-Flavian emperors, decided to concentrate on select groups of societal elites as intercessors between himself and the general populace. One of these groups was the imperial bureaucracy. Julian made it very clear that imperial officials were intercessors in a very real sense in a letter to Alypius, Vicar of Britain. In this letter, sent from Gaul sometime before 361, the emperor praises Alypius for his use of "mildness and moderation with courage and force" in his rule of the provincials. Such virtues were characteristic of the emperors, and it was good that Alypius is representing Julian in this way. Julian courted the army because it put him in power. Another group he sought to include in his rule was the traditional Senatorial aristocracy. One of his first appointments as consul was Claudius Mamertinus, a Gallic Senator and rhetorician. Mamertinus' speech in praise of Julian delivered at Constantinople in January of 362 is preserved. In this speech, Claudius presented his consular selection as inaugurating a new golden age and Julian as the restorer of the empire founded by Augustus. The image Mamertinus gave of his own consulate inaugurating a new golden age is not merely formulaic. The comparison of Julian to Augustus has very real, if implicit, relevance to Claudius' situation. Claudius emphasized the imperial period as the true age of renewal. Augustus ushered in a new era with his formation of a partnership between the emperor and the Senate based upon a series of honors and offices bestowed upon the Senate in return for their role as intercessor between emperor and populace. It was this system that Julian was restoring, and the consulate was one concrete example of this bond. To be chosen as a consul by the emperor, who himself had been divinely mandated, was a divine honor. In addition to being named consul, Mamertinus went on to hold several offices under Julian, including the Prefecture of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa. Similarly, inscriptional evidence illustrates a link between municipal elites and Julian during his time as Caesar, something which continued after he became emperor. One concrete example comes from the municipal senate of Aceruntia in Apulia, which established a monument on which Julian is styled as "Repairer of the World."
Julian seems to have given up actual Christian belief before his acclamation as emperor and was a practitioner of more traditional Greco-Roman religious beliefs, in particular, a follower of certain late antique Platonist philosophers who were especially adept at theurgy as was noted earlier. In fact Julian himself spoke of his conversion to Neo-Platonism in a letter to the Alexandrians written in 363. He stated that he had abandoned Christianity when he was twenty years old and been an adherent of the traditional Greco-Roman deities for the twelve years prior to writing this letter.
(For the complete text of this article see: http://www.roman-emperors.org/julian.htm)
Julian’s Persian Campaign
The exact goals Julian had for his ill-fated Persian campaign were never clear. The Sassanid Persians, and before them the Parthians, had been a traditional enemy from the time of the Late Republic, and indeed Constantius had been conducting a war against them before Julian's accession forced the former to forge an uneasy peace. Julian, however, had no concrete reason to reopen hostilities in the east. Socrates Scholasticus attributed Julian's motives to imitation of Alexander the Great, but perhaps the real reason lay in his need to gather the support of the army. Despite his acclamation by the Gallic legions, relations between Julian and the top military officers was uneasy at best. A war against the Persians would have brought prestige and power both to Julian and the army.
Julian set out on his fateful campaign on 5 March 363. Using his trademark strategy of striking quickly and where least expected, he moved his army through Heirapolis and from there speedily across the Euphrates and into the province of Mesopotamia, where he stopped at the town of Batnae. His plan was to eventually return through Armenia and winter in Tarsus. Once in Mesopotamia, Julian was faced with the decision of whether to travel south through the province of Babylonia or cross the Tigris into Assyria, and he eventually decided to move south through Babylonia and turn west into Assyria at a later date. By 27 March, he had the bulk of his army across the Euphrates, and had also arranged a flotilla to guard his supply line along the mighty river. He then left his generals Procopius and Sebastianus to help Arsacius, the king of Armenia and a Roman client, to guard the northern Tigris line. It was also during this time that he received the surrender of many prominent local leaders who had nominally supported the Persians. These men supplied Julian with money and troops for further military action against their former masters. Julian decided to turn south into Babylonia and proceeded along the Euphrates, coming to the fortress of Cercusium at the junction of the Abora and Euphrates Rivers around the first of April, and from there he took his army west to a region called Zaitha near the abandoned town of Dura where they visited the tomb of the emperor Gordian which was in the area. On April 7 he set out from there into the heart of Babylonia and towards Assyria.
Ammianus then stated that Julian and his army crossed into Assyria, which on the face of things appears very confusing. Julian still seems to be operating within the province of Babylonia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The confusion is alleviated when one realizes that,for Ammianus, the region of Assyria encompassed the provinces of Babylonia and Assyria. On their march, Julian's forces took the fortress of Anatha, received the surrender and support of several more local princes, and ravaged the countryside of Assyria between the rivers. As the army continued south, they came across the fortresses Thilutha and Achaiachala, but these places were too well defended and Julian decided to leave them alone. Further south were the cities Diacira and Ozogardana, which the Roman forces sacked and burned. Soon, Julian came to Pirisabora and a brief siege ensued, but the city fell and was also looted and destroyed. It was also at this time that the Roman army met its first systematic resistance from the Persians. As the Romans penetrated further south and west, the local inhabitants began to flood their route. Nevertheless, the Roman forces pressed on and came to Maiozamalcha, a sizable city not far from Ctesiphon. After a short siege, this city too fell to Julian. Inexorably, Julian's forces zeroed in on Ctesiphon, but as they drew closer, the Persian resistance grew fiercer, with guerilla raids whittling at Julian's men and supplies. A sizable force of the army was lost and the emperor himself was almost killed taking a fort a few miles from the target city.
Finally, the army approached Ctesiphon following a canal that linked the Tigris and Euphrates. It soon became apparent after a few preliminary skirmishes that a protracted siege would be necessary to take this important city. Many of his generals, however, thought that pursuing this course of action would be foolish. Julian reluctantly agreed, but became enraged by this failure and ordered his fleet to be burned as he decided to march through the province of Assyria. Julian had planned for his army to live off the land, but the Persians employed a scorched-earth policy. When it became apparent that his army would perish (because his supplies were beginning to dwindle) from starvation and the heat if he continued his campaign, and also in the face of superior numbers of the enemy, Julian ordered a retreat on 16 June. As the Roman army retreated, they were constantly harassed by guerilla strikes. It was during one of these raids that Julian got caught up in the fighting and took a spear to his abdomen. Mortally wounded he was carried to his tent, where, after conferring with some of his officers, he died. The date was 26 June 363.
Conclusion
Thus an ignominious end for a man came about who had hoped to restore the glory of the Roman empire during his reign as emperor. Due to his intense hatred of Christianity, the opinion of posterity has not been kind to Julian. The contemporary opinion, however, was overall positive. The evidence shows that Julian was a complex ruler with a definite agenda to use traditional social institutions in order to revive what he saw as a collapsing empire. In the final assessment, he was not so different from any of the other emperors of the fourth century. He was a man grasping desperately to hang on to a Greco-Roman conception of leadership that was undergoing a subtle yet profound change.
Copyright (C) 2002, Walter E. Roberts and Michael DiMaio, Jr. Used by permission.
In reality, Julian worked to promote culture and philosophy in any manifestation. He tried to reduce taxes and the public debts of municipalities; he augmented administrative decentralisation; he promoted a campaign of austerity to reduce public expenditure (setting himself as the example). He reformed the postal service and eliminated the powerful secret police.
by Federico Morando; JULIAN II, The Apostate, See the Julian II Page on NumisWiki
Flavius Claudius Iulianus was born in 331 or maybe 332 A.D. in Constantinople. He ruled the Western Empire as Caesar from 355 to 360 and was hailed Augustus by his legions in Lutetia (Paris) in 360. Julian was a gifted administrator and military strategist. Famed as the last pagan emperor, his reinstatement of the pagan religion earned him the moniker "the Apostate." As evidenced by his brilliant writing, some of which has survived to the present day, the title "the Philosopher" may have been more appropriate. He died from wounds suffered during the Persian campaign of 363 A.D. Joseph Sermarini, FORVM.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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2000 - Octavian & Agrippa, AE Dupondius Arausio mint (Orange), 30-29 BC (Colonia Firma Julia Secundanorum Arausio)
IMP DIVI F (IMPerator DIVI Filii), bare heads of Augustus (right) and Agrippa (left), back to back
Prow of galley right, ram's head (?) enclosed in a medaillion above
17.61 gr - 28 mm.
Ref : RPC # 533
Ex. CNG e-auction #181/28, from the Patrick Villemur collection
Following comment taken from http://www.asdenimes.com/ :
Un très bel exemplaire du dupondius d'Orange. Têtes adossées d'Agrippa (à gauche) et Octave (à droite). Très beaux reliefs.
L’as (ou dupondius) d’Orange est très rare et nombre d'exemplaires connus (quelques dizaines) sont souvent de médiocre conservation. Le dupondius d'Orange préfigure le dupondius de Nîmes frappé à partir de 28/27 av. J.-C. et qui reprendra l’avers quasiment à l’identique (y compris les légendes), avec les profils d’Octave devenu Auguste et d’Agrippa. Le revers sera interprété de façon parodique sur l’as de Nîmes, puisque la galère sera remplacée par le crocodile qui garde à peu près la forme générale du vaisseau et dont l’oeil prophylactique (pas visible sur cet exemplaire : voir les as de Vienne page suivante) deviendra l’oeil du crocodile. On y ajoutera la palme pour former le mat et quelques autres accessoires tout aussi symboliques.
La tête de bélier représentée dans le médaillon du revers serait l’emblème des vétérans de la légio II Gallica qui a fondé la colonie d’Arausio vers 35 av. J.-C.
On distingue 2 types de dupondius d'Orange : ceux dont les portraits occupent la plus grande partie de l'avers et ceux qui montrent des têtes plutôt petites.Potator II
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52-01 - DIADUMENIANO (Mayo/217 - Junio/218 D.C.)Cesar de su Padre Macrino desde Mayo del 217 D.C. a los 1ros. meses del 218 D.C. y Co Augusto de su Padre hasta Junio del 218 D.C.
AR Denario 20 mm 2.77 gr.
Anv: "M OPEL ANT DIADVMENIAN CAES " - Busto a cabeza desnuda, vestido y viendo a derecha.
Rev: "SPES PVBLICA " - Spes avanzando a izq, portando flores en mano der. y sosteniendo su vestido con la izq.
Acuñada 3ra. Emisión Marzo-Junio 218 D.C.
Ceca: 6ta. Officinae de Roma
Rareza: S
Referencias: RIC Vol.IV Parte II #116 Pag.14 - Sear RCTV Vol.II #7450 Pag.594 - BMCRE #92/3/4 - Cohen Vol.IV #21 Pag.314 - RSC Vol. III #21 Pag.108 - DVM #5 Pag.205 - Szaivert #11-12 - Clay Issue #3.mdelvalle
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52-01 - DIADUMENIANO (Mayo/217 - Junio/218 D.C.)Cesar de su Padre Macrino desde Mayo del 217 D.C. a los 1ros. meses del 218 D.C. y Co Augusto de su Padre hasta Junio del 218 D.C.
AR Denario 20 mm 2.77 gr.
Anv: "M OPEL ANT DIADVMENIAN CAES " - Busto a cabeza desnuda, vestido y viendo a derecha.
Rev: "SPES PVBLICA " - Spes avanzando a izq, portando flores en mano der. y sosteniendo su vestido con la izq.
Acuñada 3ra. Emisión Marzo-Junio 218 D.C.
Ceca: 6ta. Officinae de Roma
Rareza: S
Referencias: RIC Vol.IV Parte II #116 Pag.14 - Sear RCTV Vol.II #7450 Pag.594 - BMCRE #92/3/4 - Cohen Vol.IV #21 Pag.314 - RSC Vol. III #21 Pag.108 - DVM #5 Pag.205 - Szaivert #11-12 - Clay Issue #3.mdelvalle
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Alexander III Tetradrachm Price 2999KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’, 336-323 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 25 mm, 17.13 g, 12 h), Tarsos, struck under Balakros or Menes, circa 333-327.
O: Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress.
R: AΛEΞANΔPOY Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right.
- Price 2999. A rare early and unusual issue from Tarsos, "Officina B", bearing no symbol.
Alexander the Great (356 B.C.–323 B.C.) has been recognized as the greatest stratelates (roughly, ‘general’) in history. His army consisted of 30,000 infantryman and 5,000 cavalrymen. In 334 B.C., when he was 22 years old, he embarked on a campaign starting from the capital of Macedonia, Pella, and he created the Macedonian Empire within 8 years, by 326 B.C. The Macedonian Empire extended from Greece to India and North Africa. Alexander fought in the front lines in every battle, thereby encouraging his fellow warriors to do their best. He was never a spectator in battles, and the rear line was not for him. In each battle, just as any of his soldiers, he faced the risk of not seeing the sunset. He was in danger of “dining in Hades,” as they said about soldiers who died during battle. All his soldiers saw Alexander’s back in every battle.
By comparing these early Tarsos tetradrachms to the staters of Mazaios (Pictured below) it is easy to see the identical forms of the throne, scepter, footstool and other details. The drapery is rendered in a similar manner, the Aramaic inscription of the one and the Greek inscription of the other share the same curve following the dotted border. This evidence indicates the two series of coins were the common product of a single mint.
 Nemonater
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Ancient Greek Coin Collection From Sixth to First Centuries B.C.Here are the coins I started collecting from 2012 to present. As Aristotle wrote two millennia ago that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, there is no better way to present a collection of Greeks than to put them all together in a single shot. (Please click on picture for bigger resolution and to show greater details on coins).
Top row from left to right: AEOLIS, MYRINA. AR "Stephanophoric" Tetradrachm. Circa 150 BC**ILLYRIA, DYRRHACHION. AR Stater. Circa 340-280 BC**IONIA, SMYRNA. AR “Stephanophoric” Tetradrachm. Circa 150-145 BC** PELOPONNESOS, SIKYON. AR Stater. Circa 335-330 BC**ATTICA, ATHENS. “New style” Tetradrachm. Circa 169 BC.
Fifth row: BACTRIA, Antialkidas. AR Drachm. Circa 145-135 BC**CAPPADOCIA. Ariobarzanes I AR Drachm. Circa 96-63 BC**THRACE, ABDERA. AR Tetrobol. Circa 360-350 BC**THRACE, CHERSONESSOS. AR Hemidrachm. Circa 386-338 BC.
Fourth row: LUCANIA, METAPONTION. AR Stater. Circa 510-480 BC**THESSALIAN LEAGUE. AR Stater. Circa 196-146 BC**MACEDONIA. Kassander AR Tetradrachm. Circa 317-315 BC**AKARNANIA, LEUKAS. AR Stater. Circa 320-280 BC**PAMPHYLIA, ASPENDOS. AR Stater. Circa 330-300 BC.
Third row: SELEUKID SYRIA. Antiochos VI AR Drachm. Circa 144-143 BC**LUCANIA, METAPONTION. AR Stater. Circa 340-330 BC**LUCANIA, VELIA. AR Stater. Circa 280 BC**PARTHIA. Mithradates II AR Drachm. Circa 121-91 BC.
Second row: MYSIA, PERGAMMON. Eumenes I AR Tetradrachm. Circa 263-241 BC**CILICIA, TARSOS. Mazaios AR Stater. Circa 361-334 BC**THRACE. Lysimachos AR Tetradrachm. Circa 297-281 BC**CILICIA, TARSOS. Pharnabazos AR Stater. Circa 380-374 BC**THRACE, MARONEIA. AR Tetradrachm. Mid 2nd cent. BC.
Bottom row: SELEUKID SYRIA. Antiochos Euergetes VII AR Tetradrachm. Circa 138-129 BC**MACEDON. Alexander III AR Tetradrachm. Circa 325-315 BC**CILICIA, AIGEAI. AR Tetradrachm. Circa 30 BC**PAIONIA. Patraos AR Tetradrachm. Circa 335-315 BC**PAMPHYLIA, SIDE. AR Tetradrachm. Circa 155-36 BC.
Jason T
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AR Stater of Tarsos, Cilicia in the name of the Satrap Mazaios 361-334BCOBVERSE: Baal of Tarsos enthroned left, holding eagle, corn-ear with bunch of grapes in right hand and lotus-headed scepter in left; Aramaic legend to right Baal Tarz.
REVERSE: Lion on the back of a kneeling bull which it attacks with teeth and claws., above is Aramaic legend Mazdai all within circles of dots.
Sear 5650 B.M.C. 21.171,21
Mazaios was the Satrap of Cilicia under the Persian monarchs. He made the wise decision of allying himself with Alexander when he showed up on the frontier of his territory. Alexander could be very generous to local rulers when they saw things his way and Mazaios was given a position in the new order. The coin is particularly interesting because the mage of Baal is clearly the prototype for 'Zeus Aetophoros' on the subsequent Alexandrine coinage.
Most test cuts are probably done by striking with a sharp chisel. The very deep and shaped cut here must have been done with some kind of highly levered tool like a modern bolt cutter.
Weight 10.8 gramsdaverino
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Baal or Zeus (Interpretatio Graecia) on Cilician Stater of Satrap MazaiosCirca 361-334 B.C. AR Stater (10.88g, 24mm, 5h). cf. SNG Levant-106; SNG Paris-. Obverse Baal of Tarsos enthroned left, head facing, holding club, bunch of grapes, wheat ear, and eagle in right hand, lotus-headed scepter in left hand, B’LTRZ (Baaltarz) in Aramaic behind, M below throne, all within a circle of dots. Reverse lion bringing down bull, attacking with teeth and claws, MZDI (Mazdai) in Aramaic above, unlisted ankh symbol, wheat ear below, all within a circle of dots. Sharply struck on an excellent metal with areas of flat strikes on high points. Choice superb EF/EF. Toned, lustrous.
Ex Ponterio and Associates Sale No. 84, November 1996, lot 141. Ex Stacks Bowers and Ponterio Sale No. 172, November 2012, lot 11680. Ex Pars Coins.
The depiction of Phoenician-Canaanite god Baal on Cilician coinage suggests the preeminence of his cult in Tarsos. He is shown enthroned, most probably on Mount Zaphon. The symbols corn-ear/barley and grapes suggest Baal’s capacity as a god involved in the seasonal cycles of life and death, or a more specific reference to Cilicia’s fertile plains. The iconography of this late coinage is also a syncretic mixture of other cultures, including Greek. The treatment of the god’s body gives us a hint of the extent of influence of Hellenic culture exerted in Eastern Asia Minor long before Alexander’s conquest, and it is said that Baal could be equated with Zeus in the Greek context. After the conquest of Alexander III of the East, Mazaios was appointed governor of Babylon. The new coinage of Alexander was strongly influenced by Mazaios’ pre-Alexandrine coinage (the Zeus Aetophoros commonly found on the reverses of his tetradrachmai is a direct descendant of this). The reverse depicts the City’s Emblem and clearly has an underlying meaning now lost to us. Some say it symbolizes the victory of Day over Night, while others suggest military conquest and subjugation of the enemies by the Persian Empire. Marvin Tameanko has persuasively argued (see Celator, Jan. 1995, pp. 6-11) that the kneeling bull (without the lion) is symbolic of Zeus, as attested on scores of later Greek and Roman coins; and the lion is symbolic of the supreme god Baal of the Cilicians. This concludes the lion-over-bull motif on this coin delivers a message that is blatantly direct and simple, if the argument put forward is to be believed.
Jason T
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BARCELONA - Louis XIIIBARCELONA - Louis XIII (French Occupation1641-1652), Cu Seizain, 1649. Obv: Laureate bust right Obv. Legend: LVD•XIII•D•G•R•F•ET•CO•B Rev: Dianmond Catalnoian shield on cross, head of St. Eulalie above, lis below Rev. Legend: BARCINO - CIVI. Reference: KM #37dpaul7
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Charles X, Cardinal de Bourbon (1589-1590) - DouzainDouzain, argent, 1,81 g.
P sous l'écu pour Dijon
A/ CAROLVS X D G FRANCORVM REX, écu de France couronné, accosté de deux C.
R/ SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTVM, croix fleurdelisée, cantonnée de couronnes
Réfs : Sb-4412Gabalor
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CHINA - Anhwei ProvinceCHINA - Anhwei Province, Emperor Zai Tian - Guang Xu Reign (1875-1908) AE 10 Cash. Reference: Y-36.2.dpaul7
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CHINA - Emperor Zai TianCHINA - Emperor Zai Tian, Guang Xu Reign (1875-1908) AR 1 Dollar, no date (1901-1908). Obv.: Imperial dragon facing, flanked by rosettes; SZECHUEN PROVINCE - 7 MACE AND 2 CANDAREENS. Rev.: Chinese inscriptions, giving Emperor's name, etc.
NOTICE - The upside-down A in place of the "V" in PROVINCE! This is a known error. While here are MANY fakes, this one is authentic, although a bit damaged. It was mounted in a pewter "dragon plate", and the rim was partially filed to accommodate the plate. I have left a bit of the pewter. It was brought back by a serviceman after World War II. Reference: Y #238.1dpaul7
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CHINA - Emperor Zai Tian - Kiangsu/Chekiang ProvinceCHINA - Emperor Zai Tian - Guang Xu Reign (1875-1908) AE 10 Cash, 1905 - Kiangsu/Chekiang Province; Tsing-Kiang Series. Reference: Y-78.2, plain edge. Parts of this and other dragn machine-made coins appear worn; they were actually weakly struck, as the mint personnel did not fully understand the new machienry they were using. dpaul7
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CHINA - Fengtien ProvinceCHINA - Fengtien Province - Emperor Zai Tian - Guang Xu Reign (1875-1908) Brass 20 Cash, 1904. Reference: Y-90.dpaul7
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CHINA - Guang Xu CHINA - Emperor Zai Tian, Guang Xu reign (1875-1908) Cu. 10-Cash, no date (1903-1906). Zhejiang province. Reference: Y-49.1.dpaul7
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CHINA - Guang Xu - Kiang Nan ProvinceCHINA - Emperor Zai Tian -- Guang Xu Reign (1875-1908) - Kiang Nan Province.
10 Cash, no date (c. 1904) Y-135.dpaul7
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CHINA - Hu-Peh Province COUNTERFEITCHINA - Hu-Peh Province COUNTERFEIT - Counterfeit of an Emperor Zai Tian - Guang Xu Reign (1875-1908) 20 cents from Hu Peh province, reference KM#125.1. Notice the dragon's face! Also, the garbled and mis-spelled/mis-shaped English letters. The calligraphy in Chinese is not correct for these coins, also! But still an interesting collectible example of a counterfeit!dpaul7
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CHINA - ZINJIANG PROVINCE - GUANG XUCHINA - ZINJIANG PROVINCE - Emperor Zai Tian - Guang Xu Reign (1875-1908) AE 10 Cash, 1885-1886. Hartill #22.1484.dpaul7
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Cilicia, Baaltars/Wolf Obol of TarsosAsia Minor. Cilicia. 361-333 BC. AR Obol (0.54 gm, 10.9mm, 9h) of Tarsos. Baaltars seated left holding ear of grain, bunch of grapes, and sceptre. / Forepart of wolf right, crescent facing down, all in square dotted border. gVF. Bt. Herakles Numismatics, 2009. SNG Cop. 6 (Lycaonia-Cilicia) #317; SNG Levante 223; SNG France 2 #449 (same dies); SNG Delepierre 2886-2889; SNG von Aulock 5422; BMC p.176 #86 (plate 32 #8). cf Babelon Traité II/2 #687 (Mazaios, plate 113 #4).Anaximander
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Cilicia, Satraps. Mazaios. Baal & Lion Attacking Bull Stater.Asia Minor. Cilicia, Satraps. 361-334 BC. AR Stater (11.07 gm, 23.7mm, 8h) Mazaios, of Tarsos. Baaltars seated left, head facing, holding grapes, grain ear, and eagle in right hand, lotus head scepter in left; BLTRZ in Aramaic behind, 𐨪𐨤 to l. / Lion bringing down bull to l. MZDI (=Mazaios) in Aramaic above. EF. Triton III #589. Casabonne Series 2 Group C. SNG Cop 6 (Lycaonia-Cilicia) #313; BMC Greek 52. SNG Levante - ; SNG France - . cf. AJN 53 (1919) part 2, p.13 fig.16; CNG 93 #477 (same dies).Anaximander
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Cilicia, Tarsos (under Mazaios) AR Stater, Ex-Athena Fund, Seventko, JB CollectionsGreek (Classical, Asia Minor). Cilicia, Tarsos. Mazaios (Satrap, 361-334 BCE). AR Stater (10.65g, 22.5mm, 12h)
Obv: "BLTRZ" (Baaltars, all legends Aramaic) to r. Baal seated left, holding eagle, grain ear, grapes, and scepter; "TR" lower left, "M" below throne. Rev: "MZDI" (Mazaios). Lion attacking bull left; monogram (ankh) below.
References: SNG Levante 106 (same dies); Casabonne Series 2, Group C.
Provenance: Ex-Athena Fund (c. 1988-1993); Sotheby’s NFA-Athena Fund Sale II (Zurich, 27 October 1993), Lot 808.1 (part of, this reverse illustrated); CNG MBS 29 (30 March 1994), Lot 252; Dr. Joseph M. Seventko Collection; ICG (AU53) #5571290112 (removed from slab, Feb 2021); Heritage Auctions 296 (New York, 30 July 2002), 11134; Calgary Coin Galleries (Roberto Kokotailo), 2004; J.B. (Edmonton, d. 2019) Collection; CNG e-Auction 455 (30 Oct 2019) 168
Notes: Presumably ex-"Tarsus Hoard" (unknown findspot, late 1970s). (See Bing 1988: 73 ff.; LINK.) This coin was part of several defining moments in the history of the ancient coin market of the past 50 years. Not only was it in a famous 1980s ancient coin investment fund but was later one of the first ancient coins encapsulated by TPGs (part of a major promotion with Heritage Auctions in 2002). See the "Provenance Chart" (LINK) for this coin.Curtis JJ
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Cilicia, Tarsos, Mazaios (Satrap of Cilicia, 361/0-334/3 B.C.), SNG Levante 107-8var., AR-Stater, Lion bringing down stag to left, #1Cilicia, Tarsos, Mazaios (Satrap of Cilicia, 361/0-334/3 B.C.), SNG Levante 107-8var., AR-Stater, Lion bringing down stag to left, #1
avers: Baaltars seated left on throne, holding scepter, grain ear and grape bunch; grape bunch (symbol) below throne, the Aramaic legend "BLTRZ" to right.
reverse: Lion bringing down stag to left, the Aramaic legend "MZDI" above, Aramaic letter "M" below; all within an incuse square with a dotted border.
exergue: -/-//--, diameter: 22,0mm, weight: 10,61g, axes: 0h,
mint: Cilicia, Mazaios (Satrap of Cilicia), date: 361/0-334/3 B.C., ref: SNG Levante 107-8var.(control below throne), SNG BN 326-7,
Q-001quadrans
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Cilicia, Tarsos, Mazaios, SNG Levante 101Cilicia, Tarsos, Mazaios, satrap of Cilicia, ca. 361-334 BC
AR - Stater, 9.94g, 24.86mm, 225°
Obv.: Baaltars seated l., holding a long sceptre in his raised left hand and in his right
hand an eagle, ears of grain and a bunch of grapes, right Aramaic B'LTRZ
Rev.: lion attacking bull, above in Aramaic from right to left MZDY
below Aramaic KM
Ref.: SNG France 335; SNG Levante 101; BMC Lycaonia p. 172, 57
Pedigree:
ex Palladium Numismatics
Jochen
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Cilicia, Tarsos, Satrap Mazaios, 361-334 BC, AR StaterBaaltars, wearing a himation over his lower limbs, seated to left, holding a lotus-tipped sceptre, a thymiaterion surmounted by an eagle on left, Aramaic legend BLTRZ (Baaltars) to right.
Lion advancing left on ground, Aramaic legend MZDY (Mazday = Mazaios) above.
Casabonne Series 5, Group B; SNG Levante 188; SNG France 431; SNG von Aulock 5463; BMC 64.
(22 mm, 10.52 g, 11h).
Harlan J. Berk; ex- Lewis Egnew Collection: Superior, 30 May 1995, lot 7695.
This coin type is from a short-lived emission, stuck immediately prior to Alexander the Great’s invasion of Asia. The attribution of the walking-lion series of Mazaios was originally given to the mint of Tarsos, but Newell argued that they more likely were struck at Myriandros in his study of that mint in AJN 53 (1919). Later, J.D. Bing, in AJN 1 (1989), argued for an alternative attribution of the Myriandros coinage to the mint of Issos. While most dealers and numismatic works continue to follow the attribution of Newell, Casabonne’s study of Cilicia during the Persian period convincingly returns these coins of Mazaios to the mint of Tarsos.
n.igma
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Cilicia, Tarsos, SNG Levante 224Cilicia, Tarsos mint, silver obol, Satrap Mazaios, c. 361 - 334 B.C. AR, 10mm 0.38g, SNG Levante 224
O: Baal seated left, stalk of grain and bunch of grapes in right, long vertical scepter in left
R: Wolf forepart right, crescent above with horns downward, circle border of dots
casata137ec
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Cilicia, Tarsos. MazaiosCilicia, Tarsos. Mazaios. Satrap of Cilicia, 361/0-334 B.C. AR stater (24.30 mm, 10.76 g, 7 h). Baaltars seated left, holding eagle, grain ear, grape bunch and scepter / Lion attacking bull to left. SNG France 340; SNG Levante 102. gVF, a few scratches.ecoli
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CILICIA, Tarsos. Mazaios. Satrap of Cilicia, 361/0-334 BCSNG Copenhagen 313, Casabonne series 2, group C, 23.2mm, 10.94 grams, Struck 361 - 334 B.C.
Obverse: Baaltars seated left, holding eagle, grain ear, grapes, and scepter, Aramaic letters to right and left
Reverse: Lion attacking Bull to left, Aramaic letters above from right to left MZDI for Satrap Mazdai , Mazaios or Mazaeus ).
Incredible reverse , one of the best ever known if not the best , and incredible Aramaic art.
(Under Study)
A superb beauty from the Sam Mansourati Collection.Sam
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Cilicia, Tarsos. Satrap Mazaios. AR Stater.Circa 361-334 B.C. AR Stater (10.88gm, 24mm, 5h). cf. SNG Levant-106; SNG Paris-. Obverse Baal of Tarsos enthroned left, head facing, holding club, bunch of grapes, wheat ear, and eagle in right hand, lotus-headed scepter in left hand, B’LTRZ (Baaltarz) in Aramaic behind, M below throne, all within a circle of dots. Reverse lion bringing down bull, attacking with teeth and claws, MZDI (Mazdai) in Aramaic above, unlisted ankh symbol, wheat ear below, all within a circle of dots. Sharply struck on an excellent metal with areas of flat strike. Choice superb EF/EF. Toned, lustrous.
Ex Ponterio and Associates Sale No. 84, November 1996, lot 141
Ex Stacks Bowers and Ponterio Sale No. 172, November 2012, lot 11680
Ex Pars Coins
The depiction of Phoenician-Canaanite god Baal on Cilician coinage suggests the preeminence of his cult in Tarsos. He is shown enthroned, most probably on Mount Zaphon. The symbols corn-ear/barley and grapes suggest Baal’s capacity as a god involved in the seasonal cycles of life and death, or a more specific reference to Cilicia’s fertile plains. The iconography of this late coinage is also a syncretic mixture of other cultures, including Greek. The treatment of the god’s body gives us a hint of the extent of influence of Hellenic culture exerted in Eastern Asia Minor even before Alexander’s conquest, and it is said that Baal could be equated with Zeus in the Greek context. After the conquest of Alexander III of the East, Mazaios was appointed governor of Babylon. The new coinage of Alexander was strongly influenced by Mazaios’ pre-Alexandrine coinage (the Zeus Aetophoros commonly found on the reverses of his tetradrachmai is a direct descendant of this). The reverse depicts the City’s Emblem and clearly has an underlying meaning now lost to us. Some say it symbolizes the victory of Day over Night, while others suggest military conquest and subjugation of the enemies by the Persian Empire. Marvin Tameanko has persuasively argued (see Celator, Jan. 1995, pp. 6-11) that the kneeling bull (without the lion) is symbolic of Zeus, as attested on scores of later Greek and Roman coins; and the lion is symbolic of the supreme god Baal of the Cilicians. This concludes the lion-over-bull motif on this coin delivers a message that is both blatantly direct and simple, if the argument put forward is to be believed.
Jason T
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Cilicia, Tarsus; Satrap Mazaios, (361-334 B.C.)AR Stater
O: Baal of Tarsos seated left, holding eagle, grain ear, grapes, and scepter; TR (in Aramaic) to lower left, M (in Aramaic) below throne.
R: Lion attacking bull, monogram below.
10.35g
25.1mm
Casabonne Series 2, Group C; SNG BN –; SNG Levante 106
Ex.Philip Ashton Collection
Ex Harlan J Berk Buy or Bid, #214, Lot #89Mat
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Cilician Satraps, Mazaios. Baal & Lion Attacking Bull Stater of Tarsos.Asia Minor. Cilicia, Satraps. 361-334 BC. AR Stater (10.86 gm, 23.9mm, 10h) Mazaios, of Tarsos. Baaltars seated left, head facing, holding grapes, grain ear, eagle, and lotus head scepter. 𐨤𐨪 (TN IN Aramaic) to l., 𐨞𐨜 (M) under throne. BLTRZ behind. / Lion bringing down bull to left, ydzm (MZDI=Mazaios) in Aramaic above, ankh below. Choice EF. Triton III #590. Casabonne Series 2, Group C; SNG Cop 6 #313; SNG Levante 106 (same dies). cf. SNG Cop 6 #312; SNG France 2 #335. Same dies: CNG 118 #324, Triton XXIV #740, CNG 121 #451.Anaximander
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Cilician Satraps, Mazaios. Baal & Lion Attacking Stag Stater.Asia Minor. Cilicia, Satraps. 361-334 BC. AR Stater (10.50 gm, 23.2mm, 12h) Mazaios, of Tarsos. Baaltars seated left, wearing himation from waist; holding grapes & grain ear in right hand, lotus head scepter in left; ankh below throne. BLTRZ in Aramaic behind. / Lion bringing down stag to left. MZDI (=Mazaios) in Aramaic above, Aramaic letter and O below. VF. Pegasi Numismatics Auction 12 #183. Casabonne Series 1, Group. A; SNG Levante 111=SNG von Aulock 5954; SNG France 2 #314-316, 317=BnF Gallica Armand Valton 466.Anaximander
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DiadumenianDiadumenian. As Caesar, AD 217-218. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.50 g, 7h). Rome mint. 2nd emission of Macrinus, July AD 217-March 218. Draped and cuirassed bust right / Diadumenian standing left, head right, holding scepter and signum; two signa to left. RIC IV 102 (Macrinus); Szaivert series 9-10; RSC 3b.TLP
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Diadumenian. As Caesar, AD 217-218. AR Denarius (20mm, 2.84 g, 6h). Rome mint. 2nd emission of Macrinus, July AD 217-March AD 218.Joe Geranio Collection- Diadumenian. As Caesar, AD 217-218. AR Denarius (20mm, 2.84 g, 6h). Rome mint. 2nd emission of Macrinus, July AD 217-March AD 218. Bareheaded and draped bust right / Diadumenian standing right, holding aquila and scepter; aquila and signum to right. RIC IV 102; Szaivert series 9-10; RSC 3. Joe Geranio
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François Ier Roi de France (1515-1547) - DouzainDouzain à la croisette, argent, 2,39 g
X sous l'écu, V gothique et :A: en fin de légende pour Villefranche, maitrise de Michel Amat (1544-1545)
A/ + FRANCISCVS DEI GRA FRANCORVM REX V :A:, écu de France couronné dans un polylobe, X sous l'écu
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTVM V :A:, croix dans un quadrilobe.
Réfs : Duplessy 927 ; Sb 4368, ? ex.Gabalor
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François Ier Roi de France (1515-1547) - DouzainDouzain à la croisette, argent, 2,44 g
Fleur et L en fin de légende pour l'atelier de Grenoble, maitrise de Loys Proust (1540-1542).
A/ + FRANCISCVS D FRANCOR REX L, écu de France couronné dans un polylobe, Z sous l'écu
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTVM L, croix dans un quadrilobe.
Réfs : Duplessy 927 ; Sb 4368, 30960 ex.Gabalor
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Francois II de Montpensier (1582-1592), Douzain - 1587Atelier de Trevoux
+ FRANCIS . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTIS . M, Ecu de Bourbon couronné, dans le champ, deux F couronnés
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1587, Croix échancrée cantonnée de couronnes
2.1 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 68Potator II
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Francois II de Montpensier (1582-1592), Douzain - 1588Atelier de Trevoux
+ FRANCIS . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTIS . M, Ecu de Bourbon couronné, dans le champ, deux F couronnés
+ DNS . ADIVT ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1588, Croix échancrée cantonnée de couronnes
2.16 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 69v (2 exemplaires connus), PA # 5136, Boudeau # 1063
Potator II
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Gaston d'Orleans (1627-1650), Quinzain - 1643Atelier de Trevoux
GAST . FR . VN . REG . VSV . FR . PR . DOMB., Ecu couronné, surmonté d'un lis dans un ovale. Dans le champ, deux G
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1643, Croix echancrée avec un lis au centre, cantonnée de quatre lis
1.89 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 186, PA # 5190v, Mantellier # 77Potator II
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Gordian III AE Sestertius. IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / LAETITIA AVG N SC, Laetitia standing left, with wreath and anchor.
RIC 300a, Cohen 122.
*Caesar under Pupienus and Balbinus: April–July AD 238. Augustus: AD 238–244. It is uncertain where he died. Some believe he was murdered by his army at Zaitha, whilst others believe that he died in battle against the Sassanids. He was deified under Philip I.Antonivs Protti
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GORDIAN III AR antoninianus - struck February 244 ADobv: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG (radiate draped bust right)
rev: VICTOR AETER (Victory standing left with palm, resting sheild on captive at foot)
ref: RIC IViii 154, RSC 348
mint: Rome
4.03gms, 22mm
14th Issue, 5th Officina
History: Early in 244, the Roman and Sassanian armies met again near the city of Misiche (modern Fallujah, Iraq). Shapur's forces were triumphant, and the city was renamed Peroz-Shapur, "Victorious [is] Shapur." Shapur commemorated his victory with a sculpture and trilingual inscription (at Naqsh-i-Rustam in modern-day Iran) that claimed that Gordian III was killed in the battle. Roman sources do not mention this battle and suggest that Gordian died far away, upstream of the Euphrates. On 25 February AD 244 near Zaitha (Qalat es Salihiyah) the soldiers elected Philip emperor. Although ancient sources often described Philip, as having murdered Gordian at Zaitha, the cause of Gordian's death is unknown (11 February 244).berserker
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Henri II (1547 - 1559 A.D.)AR Douzain aux croissants
France, Royal
O: A sous l'écu pour l'atelier de Paris
A/ +HENRICVS DEI G FRAMCORVM REX, Crowned shield of arms, with crowned crescents either side
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTVM , Cross of lis with crowns and H’s in alternate angles
24mm
2.36g
Duplessy 997Mat
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Henri II de Montpensier (1592-1608), Douzain - 1594 (Divo plate coin)Atelier de Trevoux
+ HENRIC . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTISP . M, Ecu de Bourbon couronné, cantonné de deux H
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1594, Croix echancrée cantonnée de couronnes
2.03 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 99 (cet exemplaire illustré), Boudeau # 1070, Mantellier # 40Potator II
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Henri II de Montpensier (1592-1608), Douzain - 1597Atelier de Trevoux
+ HENRIC . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTISP . M, Ecu de Bourbon couronné, cantonné de deux H
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1597, Croix echancrée cantonnée de couronnes
2.04 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 101, Boudeau # 1070, Mantellier # 40vPotator II
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Henri II de Montpensier (1592-1608), Douzain - 1598Atelier de Trevoux
+ HENRIC . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTISP . M, Ecu de Bourbon couronné, cantonné de deux H
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1598, Croix echancrée cantonnée de couronnes
2.09 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 102, Boudeau # 1070, Mantellier # 40Potator II
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Henri II de Montpensier (1592-1608), Douzain - 1599Atelier de Trevoux
+ HENRIC . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTISP . M, Ecu de Bourbon couronné, cantonné de deux H
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1599, Croix echancrée cantonnée de couronnes
2.12 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 103, Boudeau # 1070, Mantellier # 40Potator II
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Henri II de Montpensier (1592-1608), Douzain - 1599Atelier de Trévoux
+ HENRIC . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTISP . M Ecu de Bourbon couronné, cantonné de deux H
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1599 Croix échancrée cantonnée de couronnes
2.35 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 103, Boudeau # 1070, Mantellier -Potator II
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Henri II de Montpensier (1592-1608), Douzain - 1600Atelier de Trevoux
+ HENRIC . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTISP . M, Ecu de Bourbon couronné, cantonné de deux H
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1600, Croix echancrée cantonnée de couronnes
2.22 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 104, Boudeau # 1070, Mantellier # 40vPotator II
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Henri II de Montpensier (1592-1608), Douzain - 1606Atelier de Trevoux
+ HENRIC . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTISP . R, Ecu de Bourbon couronné, cantonné de deux H
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1606, Croix echancrée cantonnée de couronnes
1.67 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 106, Boudeau # 1070, Mantellier # 40vPotator II
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Henri II, roi de France (1547-1559) - DouzainDouzain, argent, 2,52 g.
R sous l'écu pour l'atelier de Villeneuve
A/ HENRICVS 2 D G FRACOR REX, écu de France couronné, accosté de deux croissants couronnés.
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTVM 1550, croix fleurdelisée, cantonnée de deux H et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Duplessy 997 ; Sb 4380.Gabalor
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Henri II, roi de France (1547-1559) - DouzainDouzain, argent, 2,51 g.
M sous l'écu pour l'atelier de Toulouse, R en fin de légende pour le maître Jean Robert
A/ HENRICVS 2 DEI GRA FRACOR REX, écu de France couronné, accosté de deux croissants couronnés.
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTVM 1551, croix fleurdelisée, cantonnée de deux H et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Duplessy 997 ; Sb 4380.Gabalor
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Henri II, roi de France (1547-1559) - DouzainDouzain, argent, 3,41 g.
C sous l'écu pour l'atelier de Saint Lô
A/ HENRICVS 2 D G FRACOR REX, écu de France couronné, accosté de deux croissants couronnés.
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTVM 1550, croix fleurdelisée, cantonnée de deux H et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Duplessy 997.Gabalor
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Henri II, roi de France (1547-1559) - DouzainDouzain, argent, 2,17 g.
H sous l'écu pour l'atelier de la Rochelle
A/ HENRICVS 2 D G FRANCORVM REX, écu de France couronné, accosté de deux croissants couronnés.
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTVM 1554, croix fleurdelisée, cantonnée de deux H et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Duplessy 997 ; Sb 4380.Gabalor
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Henri II, roi de France (1547-1559) - DouzainDouzain, argent, 2,55 g.
9 sous l'écu pour l'atelier de Rennes
A/ HENRICVS 2 DEI G FRACOR REX, écu de France couronné, accosté de deux croissants couronnés.
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTVM 1550, croix fleurdelisée, cantonnée de deux H et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Duplessy 997.Gabalor
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Henri II, roi de France (1547-1559) - DouzainDouzain, argent, 2,42 g.
G sous l'écu pour l'atelier de Poitiers
A/ HENRICVS 2 DEI G FRANCOR REX, écu de France couronné, accosté de deux croissants couronnés.
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTVM 1550, croix fleurdelisée, cantonnée de deux H et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Duplessy 997.Gabalor
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Henri II, roi de France (1547-1559) - DouzainDouzain, billon ou laiton, 3,51 g.
A sous l'écu pour l'atelier de Paris, légende avec N inversés. Faux d'époque ?
A/ HENRICVS 2 DEI G FRACOR[...], écu de France couronné, accosté de deux croissants couronnés.
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTV 1551, croix fleurdelisée, cantonnée de deux H et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Duplessy 997Gabalor
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Henri II, roi de France (1547-1559) - DouzainDouzain, argent, 2,21 g.
A sous l'écu pour l'atelier de Paris
A/ HENRICVS 2 DEI G FRACOR REX, écu de France couronné, accosté de deux croissants couronnés.
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTVM 1556, croix fleurdelisée, cantonnée de deux H et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Duplessy 997 Gabalor
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Henri II, roi de France (1547-1559) - DouzainDouzain, argent, 2,20 g.
O sous l'écu pour l'atelier de Moulin
A/ HENRICVS Z DEI G FRACOR AC REX, écu de France couronné, accosté de deux croissants couronnés.
R/ + SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTVM 1555, croix fleurdelisée, cantonnée de deux H et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Duplessy 997Gabalor
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Henri III, Roi de France (1574-1589) - DouzainDouzain aux deux H, 1er type, argent (billon), 2,16 g.
& sous la pointe de l'écu pour l'atelier d'Aix.
A/ HENRICVS III D G FRAN ET POL REX, écu de France couronné, accosté de deux H.
R/ SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICT 1577, croix cantonnée de quatre couronnes.
Réfs : Sb 4398 (310.284 ex.).Gabalor
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Henri IV, Roi de France (1589-1610) - DouzainDouzain de Béarn, 1er type, argent (billon), 1,97 g.
A/ HENRICVS 4 D G FRANC ET NAV REX, croix cantonnée de deux lis et de deux couronnes.
R/ GRATIA DEI SVM Q D SVM 1590, écu écartelé de France-Navarre-Béarn couronné et accosté de deux H.
Réfs : Sb 4446 (505.872 ex.)Gabalor
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Henri IV, Roi de France (1589-1610) - DouzainDouzain de Navarre, 2ème type, argent (billon), 1,93 g.
A/ HENRI 4 D G FRAN E NAVAR REX, croix cantonnée de deux lis et de deux couronnes.
R/ GRATIA D SVM Q SVM 1591, écu parti de France-Navarre couronné.
Réfs : Sb 4452Gabalor
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Henri IV, Roi de France (1589-1610) - DouzainDouzain du second type, argent (billon), 1,83 g.
A/ HENRICVS IIII D G FRAN ET NAV REX, écu de France couronné et accosté de deux H.
R/ SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICT 1596, croix cantonnée de deux lis et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Sb 4420Gabalor
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Henri IV, Roi de France (1589-1610) - DouzainDouzain du premier type, argent (billon), 2,27 g.
Clef en fin de légende au revers pour l'atelier de Barcelonnette
A/ HENRICVS IIII D G FRAN ET NAV REX, écu de France couronné et accosté de deux H.
R/ SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICT 1593, croix cantonnée de quatre couronnes.
Réfs : Sb 4418Gabalor
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Henri IV, Roi de France (1589-1610) - DouzainDouzain, argent (billon), 1,79 g.
Atelier de Clermont Ferrand
A/ HENRICVS IIII D G FRAN ET NAV REX, écu de France couronné et accosté de deux H couronnés.
R/ SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICT 1594, croix cantonnée de deux lis et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Sb 4436Gabalor
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IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG / P M S COL VIM / Ӕ30 (239-240 AD)IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG, laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right / P M S CO - L VIM, personification of Moesia standing facing, head left, arms outstretched over a lion (right) and a bull (left). AN • I • in exergue.
Ó”, 29-30+mm, 16.75g, die axis 1h (slightly turned medal alignment), material: looks like red copper.
IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG = Imperator Caesar Marcus Antonius Gordianus Augustus, P M S COL VIM = Provinciae Moesiae Superioris Colonia Viminacium = Colony of Viminacium, in the province of Upper Moesia, AN•I• = the first year. 238 AD was the infamous "year of the 6 emperors", so 239-240 was the first sole ruling year of Gordian III. The bull is the symbol of Legio VII Claudia, based in the capital of Moesia Superior, Viminacium itself, and the lion is the symbol of Legio IV Flavia Felix based in another city of Moesia Superior, Singidunum (modern Belgrade). Due to size this is most probably a sestertius, but large dupondius is another possibility, since it is clearly made of red copper and sestertii were typically made of expensive "gold-like" orichalcum, a kind of brass (but in this time of civil strife they could have used a cheaper replacement). Literature fails to clearly identify the denomination of this type.
A straightforward ID due to size and clear legends, this is AMNG 71; Martin 1.01.1 minted in Viminacium, Moesia Superior (Kostolac, Serbia).
Gordian III was Roman Emperor from 238 AD to 244 AD. At the age of 13, he became the youngest sole legal Roman emperor throughout the existence of the united Roman Empire. Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana and an unnamed Roman Senator who died before 238. Antonia Gordiana was the daughter of Emperor Gordian I and younger sister of Emperor Gordian II. Very little is known of his early life before his acclamation. Gordian had assumed the name of his maternal grandfather in 238 AD.
In 235, following the murder of Emperor Alexander Severus, Maximinus Thrax was acclaimed Emperor. In the following years, there was a growing opposition against Maximinus in the Roman senate and amongst the majority of the population of Rome. In 238 (to become infamous as "the year of six emperors") a rebellion broke out in the Africa Province, where Gordian's grandfather and uncle, Gordian I and II, were proclaimed joint emperors. This revolt was suppressed within a month by Cappellianus, governor of Numidia and a loyal supporter of Maximinus Thrax. The elder Gordians died, but public opinion cherished their memory as peace-loving and literate men, victims of Maximinus' oppression.
Meanwhile, Maximinus was on the verge of marching on Rome and the Senate elected Pupienus and Balbinus as joint emperors. These senators were not popular and the population of Rome was still shocked by the elder Gordians' fate, so the Senate decided to take the teenage Gordian, rename him Marcus Antonius Gordianus like his grandfather, and raise him to the rank of Caesar and imperial heir. Pupienus and Balbinus defeated Maximinus, mainly due to the defection of several legions, particularly the II Parthica, who assassinated Maximinus. However, their joint reign was doomed from the start with popular riots, military discontent and an enormous fire that consumed Rome in June 238. On July 29, Pupienus and Balbinus were killed by the Praetorian Guard and Gordian proclaimed sole emperor.
Due to Gordian's age, the imperial government was surrendered to the aristocratic families, who controlled the affairs of Rome through the Senate. In 240, Sabinianus revolted in the African province, but the situation was quickly brought under control. In 241, Gordian was married to Furia Sabinia Tranquillina, daughter of the newly appointed praetorian prefect, Timesitheus. As chief of the Praetorian Guard and father in law of the Emperor, Timesitheus quickly became the de facto ruler of the Roman Empire.
In the 3rd century, the Roman frontiers weakened against the Germanic tribes across the Rhine and Danube, and the Sassanid Empire across the Euphrates increased its own attacks. When the Persians under Shapur I invaded Mesopotamia, the young emperor opened the doors of the Temple of Janus for the last time in Roman history, and sent a large army to the East. The Sassanids were driven back over the Euphrates and defeated in the Battle of Resaena (243). The campaign was a success and Gordian, who had joined the army, was planning an invasion of the enemy's territory, when his father-in-law died in unclear circumstances. Without Timesitheus, the campaign, and the Emperor's security, were at risk.
Gaius Julius Priscus and, later on, his own brother Marcus Julius Philippus, also known as Philip the Arab, stepped in at this moment as the new Praetorian Prefects and the campaign proceeded. Around February 244, the Persians fought back fiercely to halt the Roman advance to Ctesiphon. Persian sources claim that a battle occurred (Battle of Misiche) near modern Fallujah (Iraq) and resulted in a major Roman defeat and the death of Gordian III. Roman sources do not mention this battle and suggest that Gordian died far away from Misiche, at Zaitha (Qalat es Salihiyah) in northern Mesopotamia. Modern scholarship does not unanimously accept this course of the events. One view holds that Gordian died at Zaitha, murdered by his frustrated army, while the role of Philip is unknown. Other scholars have concluded that Gordian died in battle against the Sassanids.
Philip transferred the body of the deceased emperor to Rome and arranged for his deification. Gordian's youth and good nature, along with the deaths of his grandfather and uncle and his own tragic fate at the hands of the enemy, earned him the lasting esteem of the Romans.Yurii P
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INDIA, KHALJI (Gharzai Dynasty). ALA-UD-DIN Muhammad Shah Khilji (Juna Khan). Two Gani. Year: AH 696-711, 716 (1297-1316). KHALJI (Gharzai Dynasty). ALA-UD-DIN Muhammad Shah Khilji (Juna Khan). Two Gani. Year: AH 696-711, 716 (1297-1316). Weight: 2.63g [3.50g]. Metal: Billion. Diameter: 16.00 mm. Edge: Plain. Alignment: Coin. Mint: N/A. Obverse: al-sultan al-a'zam 'ala al-dunya wa'l din. Reverse: muhammad shah (in center double circles). sri sultan alavadin (in Nagari around). Mintage: N/A.
Goron D233 / R895, 990 / NW342-359 / T419
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Italy, Pompeii - Floor mozaicDetail of one of the many floor mozaics around Pompeii.
From my visit to Pompeii in August 2015maridvnvm
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Kings of Macedon, Alexander III The Great, 326/5 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Babylon 326/5 BC under Mazaios as SatrapHead of Herakles right in lion-skin headdress, paws tied at neck.
ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡOΥ Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, Φ above M beneath throne.
Taylor, Babylon, Group 1.1.1, 1 (this coin), Pl. 1, 1 (this coin), dies A1/P1: Price 3579; Waggoner Issue I, 9b-d; Newell Reattribution 189 pl. 25, 11 (same obverse die).
Babylon Royal Mint 330-328 BC.
(25 mm, 16.68 g, 12h).
Hess-Divo Auction 320, 26 October 2011, 112.
Reference Taylor, L. W. H. "The Earliest Alexander III Tetradrachm Coinage of Babylon: Iconographic Development and Chronology." AJN Second Series 30 (2018): 1-44.
This is the only known Babylon mint Alexander on which Zeus is portrayed with an open facing palm, on which rests his eagle. All other examples exhibit the upward hand in profile style that displaced the open facing palm style on coinage in the east by 325 BC. This iconography of this coin served to date the start of the Imperial Mint at Babylon to 326/5 BC.n.igma
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Kings of Macedon, Alexander III The Great, 336-323 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Babylon 330-328 BC under Mazaios as Satrap Head of Herakles right in lion-skin headdress, paws tied at neck.
ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡOΥ Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, Φ beneath throne above strut, M below strut.
Taylor, Babylon, Group 1.1.1, 7 (this coin), Pl. 1, 7 (this coin), dies A3/P5: Price 3579 (same obverse die as Price 3579b); Waggoner Issue I, 10a-c;; Newell Reattribution 190.
Babylon Royal Mint 330-328 BC.
(26 mm, 17.20 g, 12h).
Hess-Divo Auction 320, 26 October 2011, 111.
Reference Taylor, L. W. H. "The Earliest Alexander III Tetradrachm Coinage of Babylon: Iconographic Development and Chronology." AJN Second Series 30 (2018): 1-44.
The more realistic style of both obverse and reverse of this coin was the basis from which the characteristic Babylon style of the subsequent high-volume issues of the Babylon mint evolved. n.igma
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Kings of Macedon, Alexander III The Great, 336-323 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Babylon 330-328 BC under Mazaios as SatrapHead of Herakles right in lion skin headdress, paws tied at neck.
ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡOΥ Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, Φ to left, M above laurel sprig beneath throne.
Taylor, Babylon, Group 1.2.8, 101 (this coin), Pl. 3, 101 (this coin), dies A11/P3: Price 3588 (same obverse die as Price 3584); Waggoner Issue I, 7e-f.
Babylon Royal Mint 330-328 BC.
(24 mm, 17.24 g, 12h).
Reference Taylor, L. W. H. "The Earliest Alexander III Tetradrachm Coinage of Babylon: Iconographic Development and Chronology." AJN Second Series 30 (2018): 1-44.
TThe unique reverse style of this coin is to be found on some of the issues of Soli in Cyprus starting in 325/4 BC. It is likely that the engravers responsible transferred from Babylon to Cyprus to start Macedonian Imperial mint operation on the island. n.igma
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LIONBabylonia, Babylon, Stamenes 328-323 BC, AR Stater or Double Shekel
Baal enthroned left holding sceptre. / Lion advancing left, spear head above.
Nicolet-Pierre p. 289, 2; Pozzi 2868; Mitchiner type 7(b); Sear 6141. Babylon 328/327 BC.
(25 mm, 17.1 g, 11h)
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Louis II de Montpensier (1560-1582), Douzain - 1574Atelier de Trevoux
+ LVDOVI . D . MONTISP . D . DOMBARVM . Ecu de Bourbon couronné. Dans le champ, deux lambda couronnés
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1574 Croix echancrée cantonnée de couronnes et de lis
2.20 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 40Potator II
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Louis II de Montpensier (1560-1582), Douzain - 1575Atelier de Trevoux
+ LVDOVI . D . MONTISP . D . DOMBAR . Ecu de Bourbon couronné. Dans le champ, deux lambda couronnés
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1575 Croix echancrée cantonnée de couronnes et de lis
2.02 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 41v, PA # 5117, Boudeau # 1058Potator II
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Louis II de Montpensier (1560-1582), Douzain - 1576Atelier de Trevoux
+ LVDOVI . D . MONTISP . D . DOMBAR . Ecu de Bourbon couronné. Dans le champ, deux lambda couronnés
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1576 Croix echancrée cantonnée de couronnes et de lis
2.33 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 42 (3° exemplaire decrit), PA # 5117v, Boudeau # 1058Potator II
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Louis XII Roi de France (1498-1514) - Blanc.Blanc à la couronne ou douzain, argent, 2,63 g.
Point sous la 10ème lettre, atelier de Limoges.
A/ LVDOVICVS FRANCORVM REX, écu de France entre trois couronnes, dans un trilobe.
R/ SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTV, croix dans un quadrilobe, cantonnée de deuc lis et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Duplessy 664Gabalor
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Louis XII Roi de France (1498-1514) - DizainDizain Ludovicus, argent, 2,43 g
V gothique en fin de légende pour Villefranche.
A/ + LVDOVICVS DEI GRA FRANCORUM REX V, L dans une couronne, accosté de X et II.
R/ + SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTV V, croix cantonnée de deux lis et de deux L.
Réfs : Duplessy 676Gabalor
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Louis XII Roi de France (1498-1514) - DouzainDouzain du Dauphiné, argent, 2,27 g
Point sous la 3ème lettre pour Montélimar
A/ LVDOVICVS FRANCORV REX F, écu écartelé de France-Dauphiné.
R/ SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTV, croix cantonnée de deux lis et de deux dauphins.
Réfs : Duplessy 671Gabalor
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Louis XII Roi de France (1498-1514) - DouzainDouzain du Dauphiné, argent, 2,15 g
A/ LVDOVICVS FRANCORV REX G, écu écartelé de France-Dauphiné.
R/ SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDICTV G, croix cantonnée de deux lis et de deux dauphins.
Réfs : Duplessy 671Gabalor
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Louis XIII, Roi de France (1610-1643) - DouzainDouzain Huguenot, billon, 2,04 g
Lettre N sous l'écu pour Montpellier
A/ +LVDOVICVS XIII D G FRA ET NA REX, écu de France couronné accosté de deux L.
R/ +SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDIC 1622, croix cantonnée de deux lis et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Droulers 111 H/AGabalor
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Louis XIII, Roi de France (1610-1643) - DouzainDouzain Huguenot, billon, 1,93 g
Type de l'Aunis (1625-1628) pour Marans ou la Rochelle
A/ +LVDOVICVS XIII D G FRA ET NA REX, écu de France couronné accosté de deux L.
R/ +SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDIC, croix cantonnée de deux lis et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Droulers 111 H/BGabalor
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Louis XIII, Roi de France (1610-1643) - DouzainDouzain Huguenot, billon, 2,52 g
Lettre N sous l'écu pour Montpellier
A/ +LVDOVICVS XIII D FRA ET N REX, écu de France couronné accosté de deux L.
R/ +SIT NOMEN DNI BENEDIC..., croix cantonnée de deux lis et de deux couronnes.
Réfs : Droulers 111 H/DGabalor
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Louis XIV, Roi de France (1643-1715) - SizainSizain, cuivre, 3,55 g
A/ LVD XIIII D G F ET CO B, buste de Louis XIIII lauré à droite.
R/ BARCINO CIVI 1650, écu losangé de Barcelone.
Réfs : Duplessy 1614Gabalor
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Marathos - AE 22152-151 BC
veiled head of Kleopatra I (or Berenike II) right
Marathos standing left, leaning on column, holding aphlaston
mim rosh tau / shin tau zain qoph IIIIIIII
beth / nun beth
J Rouvier 796 var
9,1g 20mm
ex Dionysos numismatik
qoph IIIIIIII is phoenician numeral for 108J. B.
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Marie de Montpensier (1608-1627), Douzain - 1613Atelier de Trevoux
+ MARIA . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTISP . (coeur), Ecu de Bourbon couronné, dans le champ, deux M couronnés
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1613, Croix echancrée cantonnée de couronnes
1.93 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 128a (meme coin d'avers, 2° exemplaire décrit), PA # 5161v, Boudeau # 1073Potator II
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Mazaios - AR staterTarsos
361/0 - 334 BC
Baal seated left, holding sceptre
B'LTRZ // T in Aramaic
lion bringing down bull left, attacking with teeth and claws
MZDI in Aramaic
cf. Casabonne series 2, group A; cf. SNG France 346; cf. SNG Levante 100–1
10,9g 23mm
ex AureaJ. B.
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Mazaios obolCILICIA, Tarsos. Mazaios, Satrap of Cilicia. 361-334 BC. AR Obol (10mm, 0.67 g).
Baaltars seated left, holding grapes and grain ear in right hand, sceptre in left /
Lion bringing down stag to the left.
SNG Levante 112; SNG France 329.Caffaro
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Mazaios Obol, Artaxerxes III / Lion attacking bull CILICIA. Tarsos. Mazaios (Satrap of Cilicia, 361/0-334 BC). Obol. 0.7 g., 12 mm.
O: Artaxerxes III (in the guise of Baaltars) seated right on throne with back terminating in head of swan, holding lotus flower and lotus-tipped sceptre.
R: Lion attacking bull right.
- Ziegler -; Casabonne Series 6; SNG BN 426-8 (Myriandros); SNG Levante 183 (Myriandros).
The appearance of Baaltars on this issue is significantly different from the relatively standard depiction of the deity on other coins of Tarsos. While the diety is typically shown nude to his waist, here the figure is fully clothed with attire that closely resembles that on the figure that appears on the royal Persian coinage struck at Sardes. More importanly, though, is the headdress on the figure. Baaltars typically wears a laurel wreath or no headdress, while this portrait shows the figure wearing an elaborate headdress. In a recent article, Frank Kovacs analysed the type, and argues that this figure is actually the Great King Araxeres III Ochos, in the guise of Baaltars, and the headdress is the combined crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, thus his appearance here is as pharaoh of Egypt (cf. F. Kovacs, "Two Persian Pharaonic Potraits" in JNG L [2000]; see also M. Thompson, in MN XII [1968], pp. 11–2, who notes the figure wearing a "high crown of Egyptian type"). This is plausible, as Araxerxes was the first pharaoh of the Thirty-First Dynasty of Egypt, and the date of his rule there, 343-338 BC, comports well with this issue under Mazaios.
O. Casabonne, while acknowledging that the figure here may represent a synthesis of Baaltars and the Great King, disagrees with the identification of the headdress as the Egyptian crown. Instead, he views the headdress as being a Phrigian style cap that is often depicted in contemporary art as being worn by warriors (cf. Casabonne, p. 121, fig. 8), but is here shown with the cheek guards in a raised position.
Nonetheless, it is doubless that the figure here is a synthesized portrait of Baaltars and the Persian Great King. The fractional silver of this issue, interestingly, may be most instructive, as the headdress on the figure is shown wearing a crown that is identical to that on the figure of the royal Achaemenid coinage and his robes have interlocking circles reminiscent of the darics of Carradice Type IV Late (cf. M. Thompson, op. cit. , p. 12).Nemonater
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MAZAIOS SATRAP OF CILICIA.Rare Silver OBOL.
Obverse : Head of the Satrap Mazaios facing left , star(s) left.
Reverse: The Goddess Tyche to the left / crown and Earring.
12 mm , 0.55 gr.
From The Sam Mansourati Collection.Sam
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Mazaios StaterCILICIA, Tarsos. Mazaios. Satrap of Cilicia, 361/0-334 BC. AR Stater (23mm, 10.6 g, 10h).
O: Baaltars seated left, his torso facing, holding eagle-tipped scepter in extended right hand; to left, grain ear and grape bunch above L (in Aramaic) to left, M (in Aramaic) below throne, B’LTRZ (in Aramaic) to right
R: Lion left, attacking bull right above crenellated walls; MZDY ZY 'BRNHR’ W ḤLK (‘Mazaios, Governor of Transeuphrates and Cilicia’ in Aramaic) above.
- Casabonne Series 4, Group A; SNG France 360; SNG Levante 113; Sunrise 67.
The Aramaic inscription on the reverse of this stater has prompted Biblical coin researcher David Hendin to reconsider the meaning of this coin type. It traditionally is translated as “Mazaios governor of Transeuphrates and Cilicia,” but Hendin translates it somewhat differently as “Mazaios who is over Eber Nahara and Cilicia.” The similarity of this inscription and a descriptive phrase used in two books of the Old Testament (which was codified at approximately the time this coin was struck) has led to Hendin’s suggestion that the walls on this coin represent the ones encompassing Jerusalem, which less than a century before had been rebuilt by Nehemiah, as related in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. (A fuller discussion of the subject is presented on pages 100-103 of the 4th edition of Hendin’s Guide to Biblical Coins.)
Nemonater
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