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Asclepius IntaglioMale figure Asclepius? holding two snakes.
Asclepius was the god of healing though he, like Heracles, was born as a mortal. Athena gave Asclepius two types of blood to help with his healing work, both from the gorgon, Medusa. One took life quickly but the other restored life. When Asclepius used this life restoring blood he encroached on the preserve of the gods and Zeus struck him down with a thunderbolt. One of the most famous centres for Asclepius worship was at Epidaurus on the Peloponnese. Snakes were sacred to the god and when the Romans embraced him as one of theirs his cult was supposedly taken to Rome in the body of a snake. He was preserved in the heavens as the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent holder. The Romanised version of his name is Aesculapius.
0.34g
Greek or more likely Roman Provincial
Ex-Time Machine
Sold Forum Auctions December 2017Jay GT4
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(502a) Roman Republic, L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, 90 B.C.Silver denarius, S 235, Calpurnia 11, Crawford 340/1, Syd 663a, VF, rainbow toning, Rome mint, 3.772g, 18.5mm, 180o, 90 B.C. obverse: laureate head of Apollo right, scorpion behind; Reverse naked horseman galloping right holding palm, L PISO FRVGI and control number CXI below; ex-CNA XV 6/5/91, #443. Ex FORVM.
A portion of the following text is a passage taken from the excellent article “The Calpurnii and Roman Family History: An Analysis of the Piso Frugi Coin in the Joel Handshu Collection at the College of Charleston,” by Chance W. Cook:
In the Roman world, particularly prior to the inception of the principate, moneyers were allotted a high degree of latitude to mint their coins as they saw fit. The tres viri monetales, the three men in charge of minting coins, who served one-year terms, often emblazoned their coins with an incredible variety of images and inscriptions reflecting the grandeur, history, and religion of Rome. Yet also prominent are references to personal or familial accomplishments; in this manner coins were also a means by which the tres viri monetales could honor their forbearers. Most obvious from an analysis of the Piso Frugi denarius is the respect and admiration that Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, who minted the coin, had for his ancestors. For the images he selected for his dies relate directly to the lofty deeds performed by his Calpurnii forbearers in the century prior to his term as moneyer. The Calpurnii were present at many of the watershed events in the late Republic and had long distinguished themselves in serving the state, becoming an influential and well-respected family whose defense of traditional Roman values cannot be doubted.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, who was moneyer in 90 B.C., depicted Apollo on the obverse and the galloping horseman on the reverse, as does his son Gaius. However, all of L. Piso Frugi’s coins have lettering similar to “L-PISO-FRVGI” on the reverse, quite disparate from his son Gaius’ derivations of “C-PISO-L-F-FRV.”
Moreover, C. Piso Frugi coins are noted as possessing “superior workmanship” to those produced by L. Piso Frugi.
The Frugi cognomen, which became hereditary, was first given to L. Calpurnius Piso, consul in 133 B.C., for his integrity and overall moral virtue. Cicero is noted as saying that frugal men possessed the three cardinal Stoic virtues of bravery, justice, and wisdom; indeed in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, a synonym of frugalitas is bonus, generically meaning “good” but also implying virtuous behavior. Gary Forsythe notes that Cicero would sometimes invoke L. Calpurnius Piso’s name at the beginning of speeches as “a paragon of moral rectitude” for his audience.
L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi’s inclusion of the laureled head of Apollo, essentially the same obverse die used by his son Gaius (c. 67 B.C.), was due to his family’s important role in the establishment of the Ludi Apollinares, the Games of Apollo, which were first instituted in 212 B.C. at the height of Hannibal’s invasion of Italy during the Second Punic War. By that time, Hannibal had crushed Roman armies at Cannae, seized Tarentum and was invading Campania.
Games had been used throughout Roman history as a means of allaying the fears
of the populace and distracting them from issues at hand; the Ludi Apollinares were no different. Forsythe follows the traditional interpretation that in 211 B.C., when C. Calpurnius Piso was praetor, he became the chief magistrate in Rome while both consuls were absent and the three other praetors were sent on military expeditions against Hannibal.
At this juncture, he put forth a motion in the Senate to make the Ludi Apollinares a yearly event, which was passed; the Ludi Apollinares did indeed become an important festival, eventually spanning eight days in the later Republic. However, this interpretation is debatable; H.H. Scullard suggests that the games were not made permanent until 208 B.C. after a severe plague prompted the Senate to make them a fixture on the calendar. The Senators believed Apollo would serve as a “healing god” for the people of Rome.
Nonetheless, the Calpurnii obviously believed their ancestor had played an integral role in the establishment of the Ludi Apollinares and thus prominently displayed
the head or bust of Apollo on the obverse of the coins they minted.
The meaning of the galloping horseman found on the reverse of the L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi coin is more complicated. It is possible that this is yet another reference to the Ludi Apollinares. Chariot races in the Circus Maximus were a major component of the games, along with animal hunts and theatrical performances.
A more intriguing possibility is that the horseman is a reference to C. Calpurnius Piso, son of the Calpurnius Piso who is said to have founded the Ludi Apollinares. This C. Calpurnius Piso was given a military command in 186 B.C. to quell a revolt in Spain. He was victorious, restoring order to the province and also gaining significant wealth in the process.
Upon his return to Rome in 184, he was granted a triumph by the Senate and eventually erected an arch on the Capitoline Hill celebrating his victory. Of course
the arch prominently displayed the Calpurnius name. Piso, however, was not an infantry commander; he led the cavalry.
The difficulty in accepting C. Calpurnius Piso’s victory in Spain as the impetus for the galloping horseman image is that not all of C. Piso Frugi’s coins depict the horseman or cavalryman carrying the palm, which is a symbol of victory. One is inclined to believe that the victory palm would be prominent in all of the coins minted by C. Piso Frugi (the son of L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi) if it indeed signified the great triumph of C. Calpurnius Piso in 186 B.C. Yet the palm’s appearance is clearly not a direct reference to military feats of C. Piso Frugi’s day. As noted, it is accepted that his coins were minted in 67 B.C.; in that year, the major victory by Roman forces was Pompey’s swift defeat of the pirates throughout the Mediterranean.
Chrestomathy: Annual Review of Undergraduate Research at the College of Charleston. Volume 1, 2002: pp. 1-10© 2002 by the College of Charleston, Charleston SC 29424, USA.All rights to be retained by the author.
http://www.cofc.edu/chrestomathy/vol1/cook.pdf
There are six (debatably seven) prominent Romans who have been known to posterity as Lucius Calpurnius Piso:
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi: (d. 261 A.D.) a Roman usurper, whose existence is
questionable, based on the unreliable Historia Augusta.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus: deputy Roman Emperor, 10 January 69 to15 January
69, appointed by Galba.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso: Consul in 27 A.D.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso: Consul in 1 B.C., augur
Lucius Calpurnius Piso: Consul in 15 B.C., pontifex
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus: Consul in 58 B.C. (the uncle of Julius Caesar)
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi: Moneyer in 90 B.C. (our man)
All but one (or two--if you believe in the existence of "Frugi the usurper" ca. 261 A.D.) of these gentlemen lack the Frugi cognomen, indicating they are not from the same direct lineage as our moneyer, though all are Calpurnii.
Calpurnius Piso Frugi's massive issue was intended to support the war against the Marsic Confederation. The type has numerous variations and control marks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Calpurnius_Piso
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/indexfrm.asp?vpar=55&pos=0
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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202. CARACALLACARACALLA. 198-217 AD.
The emperor visited Alexandria for intellectual and religious reasons, staying at the Serapeum and being present at the temple's sacrifices and cultural events. Earlier, during the German war, the emperor visited the shrine of the Celtic healing-god Grannus. Caracalla also visited the famous temple of Asclepius in Pergamum and fully participated in its program, which involved sleeping inside the temple compound and having his dreams interpreted.
It was this religious devotion that led to Caracalla's murder in 217. Although suspicious of the praetorian prefect Macrinus, Caracalla allowed himself to be accompanied by only a small, select corps of bodyguards on an early spring trip from the camp at Edessa to the temple of the moon-god at Carrhae, about 25 miles away. During the journey back on 8 April 217, Caracalla was killed. The returning guards claimed the emperor was ambushed while defecating, and that the alleged assassin was one of their own, a soldier named Martialis. Martialis was himself killed by the avenging guards, or so the story went. Suspicion was strong that Macrinus arranged the entire affair.
Caracalla's violent end seemed appropriate for an emperor who, early in his reign, had his own brother killed. Yet the moralizing about fratricide by both ancient and modern historians obscures the energetic, reformist and even intellectual character of Caracalla's reign. Some of the reforms, especially the pay raise for soldiers, would prove burdensome for future emperors, but the changes brought about in the little more than five years of Caracalla's sole rule would have long-lasting implications throughout the empire for generations to come.
AR Denarius (19mm, 3.11 gm). Struck 215 AD. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, laureate head right / P M TR P XVIII COS IIII PP, Sol standing left, radiate, raising right hand and holding globe. RIC IV 264a; BMCRE 139; RSC 288. EF
Ex - CNGecoli
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213 AD - CARACALLA denariusobv: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT (laureate head right)
rev: PROFECTIO AVG (Caracalla in military dress standing right, holding spear; behind two standard)
ref: RIC IVi 225 (S), RSC 508 (10frcs)
mint: Rome
2.57gms, 19mm
Scarce
This coin is commemorate the departure for a short visit to Gallia and a campaing along the borders of Upper Germany and Raetia.
Historical backround: During the German war (213 AD), the emperor visited the shrine of the Celtic healing-god Grannus.
In classical Celtic polytheism, Grannus was a deity associated with spas, the sun, fires and healing thermal and mineral springs. He seems to have embodied the notion of therapeutic heat. One of the god’s most famous cult centres was at Aquae Granni (now Aachen, Germany). Aachen means ‘water’ in Old High German, a calque of the Roman name of "Aquae Granni".
berserker
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703b, Tiberius, 19 August 14 - 16 March 37 A.D., Hierapolis, PhrygiaBronze AE 16, RPC I 2966 (1 specimen), F, Phrygia, Hierapolis, 3.300g, 15.6mm, 0o; Obverse: TIBEPIOC KAISAR, laureate head right; Reverse: IERAPOLEITWN ZOSIMOS [...], Apollo Archegetes (Lairbenos) standing left, playing lyre; reverse countermarked with star of six rays, in oval punch, 2.5 x 3.5 mm, Howgego 445 (3 pcs, 1 of which from this magistrate); dark patina; very rare. Ex FORVM.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
TIBERIUS (A.D. 14-37)
Garrett G. Fagan
Pennsylvania State University
The reign of Tiberius Claudius Nero (b. 42 B.C., d. A.D. 37, emperor A.D. 14-37) is a particularly important one for the Principate, since it was the first occasion when the powers designed for Augustus alone were exercised by somebody else. In contrast to the approachable and tactful Augustus, Tiberius emerges from the sources as an enigmatic and darkly complex figure, intelligent and cunning, but given to bouts of severe depression and dark moods that had a great impact on his political career as well as his personal relationships. His reign abounds in contradictions. Despite his keen intelligence, he allowed himself to come under the influence of unscrupulous men who, as much as any actions of his own, ensured that Tiberius's posthumous reputation would be unfavorable; despite his vast military experience, he oversaw the conquest of no new region for the empire; and despite his administrative abilities he showed such reluctance in running the state as to retire entirely from Rome and live out his last years in isolation on the island of Capri. His reign represents, as it were, the adolescence of the Principate as an institution. Like any adolescence, it proved a difficult time.
. . . .
It is all but inevitable that any historical assessment of Tiberius will quickly devolve into a historiographical assessment of Tacitus. So masterful is Tacitus's portrayal of his subject, and so influential has it been ever since, that in all modern treatments of Tiberius, in attempting to get at the man, must address the issue of Tacitus's historiographical methods, his sources, and his rhetoric. The subject is too vast to address here, but some points are salient. Tacitus's methods, especially his use of innuendo and inference to convey notions that are essentially editorial glosses, makes taking his portrayal of Tiberius at face value inadvisable. Further, his belief in the immutable character of people -- that one's character is innate at birth and cannot be changed, although it can be disguised -- prevents him from investigating the possibility that Tiberius evolved and developed over his lifetime and during his reign. Instead, Tacitus's portrayal is one of peeling back layers of dissimulation to reach the "real" Tiberius lurking underneath.
Overall, Tiberius's reign can be said to show the boons and banes of rule by one man, especially a man as dark, awkward, and isolated as Tiberius. For the people of the provinces, it was a peaceful and well-ordered time. Governors behaved themselves, and there were no destructive or expensive wars. In the domestic sphere, however, the concentration of power in one person made all the greater the threat of misbehavior by ambitious satellites like Sejanus or foolish friends like Piso. Furthermore, if the emperor wished to remain aloof from the mechanics of power, he could do so. Administrators, who depended on him for their directions, could operate without his immediate supervision, but their dealings with a man like Sejanus could lead to disaster if that man fell from grace. As a result, although he was not a tyrant himself, Tiberius's reign sporadically descended into tyranny of the worst sort. In the right climate of paranoia and suspicion, widespread denunciation led to the deaths of dozens of Senators and equestrians, as well as numerous members of the imperial house. In this sense, the reign of Tiberius decisively ended the Augustan illusion of "the Republic Restored" and shone some light into the future of the Principate, revealing that which was both promising and terrifying.
[For the complete article please refer to http://www.roman-emperors.org/tiberius.htm]
By Garrett G. Fagan, Pennsylvania State University.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Hierapolis in History
Usually said to be founded by Eumenes II, king of Pergamum (197-159 BC), Hierapolis may actually have been established closer to the 4th century BC by the Seleucid kings.
The name of the city may derive from Hiera, the wife of Telephus (son of Hercules and grandson of Zeus), the mythical founder of Pergamum. Or it may have been called the "sacred city" because of the temples located at the site. (The name Pamukkale is sometimes used just to refer to the white terraces, but the modern name of the whole area is also Pamukkale.)
With Colossae and Laodicea, Hierapolis became part of the tri-city area of the Lycus River valley. Hierapolis was located across the river from the other two cities and was noted for its textiles, especially wool. The city was also famous for its purple dye, made from the juice of the madder root.
The hot springs at Hierapolis (which still attract visitors today) were believed to have healing properties, and people came to the city to bathe in the rich mineral waters in order to cure various ailments.
Hierapolis was dedicated to Apollo Lairbenos, who was said to have founded the city. The Temple of Apollo that survives in ruins today dates from the 3rd century AD, but its foundations date from the Hellenistic period.
Also worshipped at Hierapolis was Pluto, god of the underworld, probably in relation to the hot gases released by the earth (see the Plutonium, below). The chief religious festival of ancient Hierapolis was the Letoia, in honor of the the goddess Leto, a Greek form of the Mother Goddess. The goddess was honoured with orgiastic rites.
Hierapolis was ceded to Rome in 133 BC along with the rest of the Pergamene kingdom, and became part of the Roman province of Asia. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 60 AD but rebuilt, and it reached its peak in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
Famous natives of Hierapolis include the Stoic philosopher Epictetus (c.55-c.135 AD) and the philosopher and rhetorician Antipater. Emperor Septimus hired Antipater to tutor his sons Caracalla and Geta, who became emperors themselves.
Hierapolis had a significant Jewish population in ancient times, as evidence by numerous inscriptions on tombs and elsewhere in the city. Some of the Jews are named as members of the various craft guilds of the city. This was probably the basis for the Christian conversion of some residents of Hierapolis, recorded in Colossians 4:13.
In the 5th century, several churches as well as a large martyrium dedicated to St. Philip (see "In the Bible," below) were built in Hierapolis. The city fell into decline in the 6th century, and the site became partially submerged under water and deposits of travertine. It was finally abandoned in 1334 after an earthquake. Excavations began to uncover Hierapolis in the 19th century.
Hierapolis in the Bible
Hierapolis is mentioned only once in the Bible, when St. Paul praises Epaphras, a Christian from Colossae, in his letter to the Colossians. Paul writes that Epaphras "has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis" (Colossians 4:12-13). Epaphras was probably the founder of the Christian community at Hierapolis.
Ancient tradition also associates Hierapolis with a biblical figure, reporting that Philip died in Hierapolis around 80 AD. However, it is not clear which Philip is menat. It could be Philip the Apostle, one of the original 12 disciples, who is said to have been martyred by upside-down crucifixion (Acts of Philip) or by being hung upside down by his ankles from a tree.
Or Philip could be Philip the Evangelist, a later disciple who helped with administrative matters and had four virgin-prophetess daughters (Acts 6:1-7; 21:8-9). Early traditions say this Philip was buried in Hierapolis along with his virgin daughters, but confusingly call him "Philip the Apostle"! In any case, it seems a prominent person mentioned in Acts did die in Hierapolis.
Sacred Destinations - Hierapolis-Pamukkale
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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AesclepiusCaracalla denarius
Obv:– ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, Laureate bust right
Rev:– P M TR P XVIII COS IIII P P, Aesculapius standing front, head left, with serpent-entwined wand; globe on ground at right
Minted in Rome in A.D. 215
References:- BMCRE 103, RIC 251, RSC 302
Aesclepius is the god of medicine and holds staff with a snake entwined around it. maridvnvm
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Apollonia Pontika, Thrace, 410 - 323 B.C.Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in ancient Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. The ideal of the kouros (a beardless, athletic youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, healing, plague, music, poetry, and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis.
GS88290. Silver diobol, Topalov Apollonia p. 387, 6 and p. 596, 56; SGCV I 1657, SNG Cop 459 - 461; HGC 3.2 1315, aEF, slightly off center, some porosity, small edge split, Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol, Bulgaria) mint, weight 1.256g, maximum diameter 10.2mm, die axis 180o, 410/404 - 341/323 B.C.; obverse laureate head of Apollo facing with short hair; reverse anchor flukes up, thick flukes, A left, crayfish right; ex Numismatik Lanz (2010)Mark R1
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Commodus SerapisCommodus, Denarius, 177 - 192 AD, Struck 191 - 192 AD, Rome, 2.42g, 17mm, 180o, RIC III 261
OBV: L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL, laureate head right;
REV: SERAPIDI CONSERV AVG, Serapis, radiate, standing facing, head left, holding branch and scepter
An interesting appearance of Serapis as protector of the emperor.
Serapis was credited with a healing attribute, especially in cases of acute diseases.
Marcus Aurelius, tortured with the malady which later killed him, made a visit to the temple of Serapis at Perinthus, Thrace;
and according to his historian, he returned in health.
EX: Forvm Ancient Coins
SCARCE
SRukke
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Crawford 348/4, ROMAN REPUBLIC, L. Rubrius Dossenus, AR QuinariusRome, The Republic.
L. Rubrius Dossenus. 87 BCE.
AR Quinarius (1.82g; 15mm; 7h).
Rome Mint, 87 BCE.
Obverse: DOSSEN; Laureate head of Neptune facing right, trident over shoulder.
Reverse: L•RVBRI; Victory holding wreath and palm, standing to right before garlanded alter with snake coiled around top.
References: Crawford 348/4; Sydenham 708; BMCRR 2459-60; Rubria 4.
Provenance: Ex Artemide Auction 57 (30 Apr 2022) Lot 337; Aes Rude Titano Auction 3 (23 Jun 1979) Lot 117.
L. Rubrius Dossenus is not known except for his coins. The snake-coiled alter on the reverse may allude to prayers to Aesculapius, the Roman god of medicine and healing, as a plague had broken out among the troops fighting Marius at the time. A similar snake-coiled alter is seen on the obverse (and on certain rare reverses) of AE Asses produced by the same moneyer. A snake is an attribute of Aesculapius. During an ongoing plague, a Roman temple to Aesculapius was built from 293-290 BCE, on an island in the Tiber where a sacred snake, brought from the god’s sanctuary in Greece, had slithered after arrival in Rome. Babelon and Grueber suggest that Neptune on the obverse may refer to that maritime trip to the Aesculapian sanctuary in 293 BCE, though Crawford thinks the type generally seeks favor for naval victories (and good health) in the ongoing Marian conflict.
This quinarius type is not rare, although it rarely comes as complete as this example. Carausius
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Diadumenians, AntoniusObverse: bare head right, seen from behind.
Reverse: staff of Aesklepios" Roman cult of healing
Mint: Nikopolis on river Istrus
Date: 217-218 CE
Reference- Varbanov 3599wileyc
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Faustina Junior, Augusta 146 - Winter 175/176 A.D., Wife of emperor Marcus AureliusSilver Denarius, BMCRE II p. 404, 148; RSC II 195; SRCV II 5262; RIC III MA689 var. (no stephane); Hunter II 8 var. (same), Choice Very Fine , excellent centering, unusual artistic portrait for empress Faustina,toned, Rome mint, weight 2.655g, maximum diameter 17.8mm, die axis 0o, struck under Marcus Aurelius, 161 - 175 A.D.; obverse FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, wearing stephane and earring, bun in the back; reverse SALVS, Salus seated left, feeding snake rising up from altar, from patera in right hand, resting left elbow on throne, feet on footstool.
Rare with this grade.
Salus was the Roman goddess of health. She was Hygieia to the Greeks, who believed her to be the daughter of Aesculapius, the god of medicine and healing, and Epione, the goddess of soothing of pain. Her father Asclepius learned the secrets of keeping death at bay after observing one serpent bringing another healing herbs. Woman seeking fertility, the sick, and the injured slept in his temples in chambers where non-poisonous snakes were left to crawl on the floor and provide healing.
*The logo of Pharmacology was taken from Salus 's Patera and snake .
From The Sam Mansourati Collection. / Item number RI 75220 (F)/ 20469 (S).
Given as a souvenir to a dear friend and a great Pharmacist on 9/8/2017.
Sam
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Gallienus (Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus) (253-268 A.D.)SRCV 10346, RIC V S-610, Göbl 1670k, Van Meter 254/1.
BI Antoninianus, 3.13 g., 22.57 mm. max., 180
Antioch mint, struck during solo reign (260-268 A.D.), in 267A.D.
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate cuirassed bust right.
Rev: SALVS AVG, Apollo standing left, holding branch left, leaning on tripod right. PXV (+TR P XV) in exergue.
Salus/Hygieia was the goddess of health, and daughter of Aesculapius, god of medicine and healing, and Epione, goddess of soothing of pain.
RIC rarity C, Van Meter VB1.Stkp
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KINGS of PAEONIA. Patraos. (Circa 335-315 BC)AR Tetradrachm
23.5mm, 12.78 g
Astibos or Damastion mint.
Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo right
Reverse: Warrior on horse rearing right, thrusting spear held in his right hand at enemy below who defends with shield on his left arm. ΠΑΤΡΑΟΥ (PATRAOS)
Paeonian Hoard 479 (same dies); Peykov E2160 (same obv. die as illustration); NRBM Paeonia 40 (same obv. die); HGC 3, 148.
Phiip II of Macedon (359-336 BC) reduced the Paeonian kingdom to a semi-autonomous, subordinate status, which led to a process of gradual and formal Hellenization of the Paeonians, who, during Philip's reign, began to issue coins with Greek legends like the Macedonian ones. Paeonia was most likely still a subordinated kingdom at the beginning of Patraos' reign (340/35 - 315 BC), and at the time of Alexander’s Eastern campaign, the Paeonians were part of the Macedonian army with their light cavalry. In fact, at the battle of Gaugamela (331 BC), Ariston, the leader of the Paeonian cavalry and possibly the brother off Patraos was especially distinguishable, defeating Satropates, the commander of the Persian horseman. It is this victory that was likely the inspiration for the reverse iconography of Patraos tetradrachms.
Interestingly, though, on most of the coins the "Persian" horseman is represented as defending himself with a Macedonian shield, the appearance of which, obviously contains a certain message. There is no direct historical explanation, but the literary sources reveal that after the death of Alexander of Macedon in 323 BC, Antipater was positioned in Europe, being appointed strategus autocrator in charge of all Macedonians, Hellenes, Illyrians, Triballi, Agrianes and the people of Epirus. Notably, the Paeonians are not mentioned in this list, probably because Paeonia had regained its autonomy. Thus, the insertion of the Macedonian shield on the reverse was likely announcing the liberation of Paeonia from Macedonian sovereignty.
With regard to the coin iconography, it is notable that the cult of Apollo was predominant on Paeonian coins. Hesiod identified Paeon as an individual deity: "Unless Phoebus Apollo should save him from death, or Paean himself who knows the remedies for all things." In time, Paeon (more usually spelled Paean) became an epithet of Apollo, in his capacity as a god capable of bringing disease and therefore propitiated as a god of healing.
As discussed by Wayne Sayles in "Ancient Coin Collecting III, Numismatic Art of the Greek World," the obverse of this coin is minted in archaizing style, "with the frontal almond eye common to the art of a century earlier." This type was produced with both the archaic eye and the modern profile eye. "The contrast is not one of stylistic transition, but rather of artistic intention. In fact, the archaizing version seems to have been issued toward the end of the series."Nathan P
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Maximinus I AD 235-238 AR Denarius , Rome mint 2nd emissionMaximinus I. AD 235-238. AR Denarius (20mm, 3.70 g, 6h). Rome mint. 2nd emission, AD 236. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Salus seated left, feeding from patera serpent rising from altar, resting arm on chair. RIC IV 14; RSC 85a. Traces of luster. Superb EF.
Salus was the Roman goddess of health. She was Hygieia to the Greeks (Her name is the source of the word "hygiene." ) , she was the daughter of Aesculapius, the god of medicine and healing, and Epione, the goddess of soothing of pain. Her father Asclepius learned the secrets of keeping death at bay after observing one serpent bringing another healing herbs. Woman seeking fertility, the sick, and the injured slept in his temples in chambers where non-poisonous snakes were left to crawl on the floor and provide healing.
*The logo of Pharmacology was taken from Salus 's Patera and snake .
From The Sam Mansourati Collection / Pharmacist Miss . Lama Sharestan Collection.Sam
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Mn. Acilius Glabrio, Crawford442Mn. Acilius Glabrio, gens Acilia
AR - denarius, 3.79g, 16.9mm
Rome, 49 BC
obv. SALVTIS
Head of Salus, laureate, r.
rev. MN.ACILIVS - III.VIR.VALETV (MN and TV ligate)
Valetudo in long garment stg. l., resting l. arm on column and holding snake in r.
hand
Crawford 442/1; Sydenham 922, Acilia 8
SS, iridescent luster
In 219 BC the Greek iatros Archagathos came to Rome. He was the first with knowledge in healing who was allowed to practize his profession freely. After getting the Roman citizenship he was assigned an office in the Via Acilia at government expence. From this time on the gens Acilia claimed to have brought the first medical doctor to Rome. This is mentioned on this coin (Plinius, Nat. hist.)
Jochen
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Moesia inferior, Nikopolis ad Istrum, 22. Geta, HrHJ (2018) 8.22.05.01 (plate coin)Geta, AD 209-212
AE 29, 11.85g, 28.54mm, 45°
struck under governor Flavius Ulpianus
obv. AVT K P CE - P GETAC AV
bust, draped and cuirassed, seen from behind, laureate, r.
rev. V FL OVLPIAN - NIKOPOLIT / PROC I
Demeter, in girded double chiton and veiled, stg. l., holding with r. hand corn-ears over burning altar l., and in raised l. hand torch with snake coiling around lower part.
ref. a) AMNG I/1, 1661 (2 ex., Bukarest, München)
b) Varbanov (engl.) 3291
c) Hristova/Hoeft/Jekov (2018) No. 8.22.5.1 (plate coin)
rare, VF, brown-green patina
An unusual depiction of Demeter with a torch entwined by a snake like on coins of some Thracian cities and on a relief from Philippopolis (Pick). The snake is a hint to the role of Demeter as healing goddess (Rubensohn, Athen. Mitt. 20, 1895, p.360ff.)
Strange double strike in ex!Jochen
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Philip II Pentassarian of Markianopolis AD 249OBV: M IOVLIOC PILIPPOC ;KAICAP(below) ;Confronted busts of Philip II and Serapis
REV: MAPKIANOPOLEITYN; Asklepios standing right head left, leaning on a serpent entwined staff, 'E' in right field.
One of the last (and scarce)issues of Marcianopolis which minted coins from the time of Commodus to Phillip. The E on the reverse and two busts on the obverse distinguished the coin from tetrassaria which were about the same size and weight. Asklepios was the god of health in the ancient world and snakes were used in many healing rituals.
The ancients record that once Phillip II of Macedonia (father of Alex the Great) paid a nocturnal visit to his wife, Olympias, and found a huge snake lying next to her in bed. Their marriage was never the same.
Moushmov 858, Varbanov 2090 (ref. W'winds)
diameter 27 mm, wt 12.5 gm
daverino
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Phoenicia, Berytos, Elagabal, BMC 216Elagabal, AD 218-222
AE 23, 10.72g
obv. IMP CAES M [AVR AN - TONINVS] AVG
Bust, draped and cuirassed, seen from behind, laureate, r.
rev. COL IV - L - AVG FE[L] / [BER]
Eshmoun, naked with chlamys behind, stg. frontal, head r., holding wreath(?)
in raised r. hand, between two coiled snakes
ref. BMC 216; Lindgren II, 120, 2270; SNG Copenhagen 120 (same rev. die)
very rare, VF, brown surfaces
Pedigree:
ex CNG Electronic Auction 179, lot 176
Eshmoun was the healing-god of the Phoenician pantheon, later equated with the Greek Asklepios. For more informations please look at te thread 'Mythological interesting coins'
Jochen
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Pisidia, Selge, SNG Copenhagen 256AR - Triobol, 2.40g, 15.23mm
struck 2nd-1st century BC
obv. Head of Herakles, facing, slightly r., wreathed with Styrax leaves, lion-skin over shoulders; on the l. side his club
rev. SELGEWN between club l. and holy Styrax-tree set on altar, r.
ref. SNG Copenhagen 256; SNG Paris 1959; SNG von Aulock 5284; BMC 37
Rare, VF, obv. excentric
Often in error Herakles is said to be wreathed with oak-wreath. Selge was famous for its Styrax (Strabo). This was a balsam used for cultic and healing purposes.Jochen
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Roman Empire , Emperor Caracalla, 28 January 198 - 8 April 217 A.D.Silver Denarius.
Ref; RIC IV 251; RSC III 302; BMCRE V p. 451, 103; Hunter III 27; SRCV II 6834, Very Fine , excellent portrait, slightly off center on a broad flan, some die wear, Rome mint, weight 3.232g, maximum diameter 19.2mm, die axis 180o, Struck in 215 A.D..
Obverse : ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, laureate head right.
Reverse : P M TR P XVIII COS IIII P P (high priest, tribune of the people for 18 years, consul 4 times, father of the country), Aesculapius standing slightly right, head left, leaning on snake-entwined staff in right hand, globe at feet on right.
Asclepius is the god of medicine and healing in ancient Greek mythology. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts, while his daughters Hygieia, Meditrina, Iaso, Aceso, Aglaea and Panacea (literally, "all-healing") symbolize the forces of cleanliness, medicine, and healing.
The Sam Mansourati Collection./Given as a souvenir to a superb dear friend Dr. Joseph Diaz.
Sam
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Roman Empire / Emperor Caracalla , Silver Denarius. Caracalla, 28 January 198 - 8 April 217 A.D.
Silver denarius, RIC IV 251; RSC III 302; BMCRE V p. 451, 103; Hunter III 27; SRCV II 6834, Choice EF, nice portrait, well centered, Rome mint, weight 2.902g, maximum diameter 18.5mm, die axis 180o, 215 A.D.; obverse ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, laureate head right; reverse P M TR P XVIII COS IIII P P (high priest, tribune of the people for 18 years, consul for the 4th time, father of the country), Aesculapius standing slightly right, head left, leaning on snake-entwined staff in right hand, globe at feet on right.
Asclepius is the god of medicine and healing in ancient Greek mythology. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts, while his daughters Hygieia, Meditrina, Iaso, Aceso, Aglaea and Panacea (literally, "all-healing") symbolize the forces of cleanliness, medicine, and healing.
From The Sam Mansourati Collection.
Given as a wedding present to my dear cousin Dr. Pierre Bazo.Sam
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ROMAN EMPIRE / Emperor Gordian III , AD ( 238 – 244 )Silver Denarius , Rome mint , 3.18 gr .
Obverse ; IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG { IMP[erator] GORDIANVS PIVS FEL[ix] AVG[vstvs] / Emperor Gordianus, Dutiful Wise Augustus } , laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, from behind.
Reverse ; SALVS AVGVSTI, ( [Dedicated to] To the health of the Emperors ) Salus standing right, draped, from patera held in left hand, feeding snake held in right hand .
References ; RIC IV 129A (R), RSC IV 325, Hunter III 62, SRCV III 8681.
Choice EF example , excellent portrait, and artistic well executed dies.
From The Sam Mansourati Collection./ NO. RI 20610.
Given as a souvenir to a dear friend. ( 8/18/2016 )
Salus was the Roman goddess of health. She was Hygieia to the Greeks ( Her name is the source of the word "hygiene." ) , who believed her to be the daughter of Aesculapius, the god of medicine and healing, and Epione, the goddess of soothing of pain. Her father Asclepius learned the secrets of keeping death at bay after observing one serpent bringing another healing herbs. Woman seeking fertility, the sick, and the injured slept in his temples in chambers where non-poisonous snakes were left to crawl on the floor and provide healing.
*The logo of Pharmacology was taken from Salus 's Patera and snake .
Sam
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ROMAN EMPIRE / Emperor Maximinus I (AD 235 - 238) Silver Denarius Salus Maximinus I, 235 - 238 AD
Silver Denarius, Rome Mint, struck Mar 235 - Jan 236 A.D.
20mm, 3.23 gr.
Obverse: IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Maximinus right.
IMP[erator] MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG[vstvs] Emperor Maximinus Dutiful Augustus
Reverse: SALVS AVGVSTI ( [Dedicated to] To the health of the Emperors ) , Salus ( Hygieia - Greek - ), seated left, feeding snake rising up from altar, from Patera in right hand, resting left elbow on throne.
References ; RIC 85
A superb Choice EF masterpiece example , artistic and well executed dies.
From The Sam Mansourati Collection./ NO. RI 20450
Given as a souvenir to a dear friend. ( 8/18/2016 )
Salus was the Roman goddess of health. She was Hygieia to the Greeks (Her name is the source of the word "hygiene." ) , who believed her to be the daughter of Aesculapius, the god of medicine and healing, and Epione, the goddess of soothing of pain. Her father Asclepius learned the secrets of keeping death at bay after observing one serpent bringing another healing herbs. Woman seeking fertility, the sick, and the injured slept in his temples in chambers where non-poisonous snakes were left to crawl on the floor and provide healing.
*The logo of Pharmacology was taken from Salus 's Patera and snake .Sam
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ROMAN, Maximinus I (AD 235 - 238) Silver Denarius Salus Maximinus I, 235 - 238 AD
Silver Denarius, Rome Mint, struck Mar 235 - Jan 236 A.D.
20mm, 3.22 grams
Obverse: IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Maximinus right.
IMP[erator] MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG[vstvs] Emperor Maximinus Dutiful Augustus
Reverse: SALVS AVGVSTI ( [Dedicated to] To the health of the Emperors ) , Salus ( Hygieia - Greek - ), seated left, feeding snake rising up from altar, from Patera in right hand, resting left elbow on throne.
References ; RIC 85
A superb Choice EF masterpiece example , artistic and well executed dies.
From The Sam Mansourati Collection./ NO. RI 20450.
Given as a souvenir to a dear friend. ( 8/18/2016 )
Salus was the Roman goddess of health. She was Hygieia to the Greeks ( Her name is the source of the word "hygiene." ), who believed her to be the daughter of Aesculapius, the god of medicine and healing, and Epione, the goddess of soothing of pain. Her father Asclepius learned the secrets of keeping death at bay after observing one serpent bringing another healing herbs. Woman seeking fertility, the sick, and the injured slept in his temples in chambers where non-poisonous snakes were left to crawl on the floor and provide healing.
*The logo of Pharmacology was taken from Salus 's Patera and snake .Sam
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RPC 2429 VespasianÆ Diobol, 7.57g
Alexandria mint, 70-71 AD
Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒΑ ΟΥΕΣΠΑΣΙΑΝΟΥ; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: Date LΓ; Bust of Sarapis, r.
RPC 2429 (13 spec.). Emmett 218.3. Dattari-Savio 398.
Acquired from Marc Breitsprecher, October 2021.
The cult of Sarapis gained importance during the Flavian dynasty because of Vespasian's vital connection to Egypt during the Civil War. Alexandria was the first city to declare for him in July 69 and in November he arrived there to await the outcome of the war and to secure the grain supply to Rome. According to both Tacitus and Suetonius during Vespasian's sojourn in Alexandria he paid a visit to the temple of Sarapis alone to consult the god about the chances of success in his bid for the empire. After receiving a positive sign he was able to administer healing miracles to the local Alexandrians. Of course, all this was later Flavian propaganda intended to bolster Vespasian's claim to the purple. It then should come as no surprise that Sarapis figured importantly on the local coinage under Vespasian, being commonly struck on the bronze diobol. David Atherton
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RPC 2437 VespasianÆ Diobol, 10.57g
Alexandria mint, 72-73 AD
Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒΑ ΟΥΕΣΠΑΣΙΑΝΟΥ; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: Date LE; Bust of Sarapis, r.
RPC 2437 (17 spec.). Emmett 218.5. Dattari-Savio 400.
Acquired from London Ancient Coins, July 2022.
The cult of Sarapis gained importance during the Flavian dynasty because of Vespasian's vital connection to Egypt during the Civil War. Alexandria was the first city to declare for him in July 69 and in November he arrived there to await the outcome of the war and to secure the grain supply to Rome. According to both Tacitus and Suetonius during Vespasian's sojourn in Alexandria he paid a visit to the temple of Sarapis alone to consult the god about the chances of success in his bid for the empire. After receiving a positive sign he was able to administer healing miracles to the local Alexandrians. Of course, all this was later Flavian propaganda intended to bolster Vespasian's claim to the purple. It then should come as no surprise that Sarapis figured prominently on the local coinage under Vespasian, being commonly struck on the bronze diobol. David Atherton
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RPC 2441 VespasianÆ Diobol, 10.28g
Alexandria mint, 73-74 AD
Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒΑ ΟΥΕΣΠΑΣΙΑΝΟΥ; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: LϚ; Bust of Sarapis, r.
RPC 2441 (16 spec.). Emmett 218.6. Dattari-Savio 401.
Acquired from Tater's Relics, eBay, April 2023.
The cult of Sarapis gained importance during the Flavian dynasty because of Vespasian's vital connection to Egypt during the Civil War. Alexandria was the first city to declare for him in July 69 and in November he arrived there to await the outcome of the war and to secure the grain supply to Rome. According to both Tacitus and Suetonius during Vespasian's sojourn in Alexandria he paid a visit to the temple of Sarapis alone to consult the god about the chances of success in his bid for the empire. After receiving a positive sign from the god he was able to administer healing miracles to the local Alexandrians. Of course, all of this was later Flavian propaganda intended to bolster Vespasian's claim to the purple. It should come as no surprise that Sarapis figured prominently on the local coinage under Vespasian, being commonly struck on the bronze diobol. This fine style example of the type struck in regnal year 6 features neatly engraved obverse and reverse busts.David Atherton
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RPC 2444 VespasianÆ Diobol, 9.84g
Alexandria mint, 74-75 AD
Obv: AYTOK KAIΣ ΣEBA OYEΣΠAΣIANOY; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: Bust of Sarapis r.; date LZ to l.
RPC 2444 (7 spec.). Emmett 218.7. Dattari-Savio 403.
Acquired from Aegean Numismatics, March 2020.
The cult of Sarapis gained importance during the Flavian dynasty because of Vespasian's vital connection to Egypt during the Civil War. Alexandria was the first city to declare for him in July 69 and in November he arrived there to await the outcome of the war and to secure the grain supply to Rome. According to both Tacitus and Suetonius during Vespasian's sojourn in Alexandria he paid a visit to the temple of Sarapis alone to consult the god about the chances of success in his bid for the empire. After receiving a positive sign he was able to administer healing miracles to the local Alexandrians. Of course, all this was later Flavian propaganda intended to bolster Vespasian's claim to the purple. It then should come as no surprise that Sarapis figured importantly on the local coinage under Vespasian, being commonly struck on the bronze diobol.
This fine example from regnal year 7 is boldly struck on a large flan. The flans of these Alexandrian diobols were created in moulds and then struck by dies. You can actually see the mould channel near the top of Sarapis' head.David Atherton
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Septimius Severus SalusSeptimius Severus Denarius, Rome193 - 211 AD, (struck 197 - 198 AD), 3.1g, 16mm
OBV: L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP X, Laureate head right
REV: SALVTI AVGG, Salus seated left, with patera in right hand feeding snake coiled around altar
RIC 4a 119A, RSC 641, SEAR 6363v
(Salus was a minor Roman goddess, the daughter of Aesculapius, the god of healing,
whose staff, with a snake coiled round it, is symbolic of the practice of medicine)
SCARCESRukke
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Septimus - AfricaObverse: SEVERVS PIVS AVG - Laureate head right
Reverse: AFRICA Africa standing r. wearing elephant-skin headdress, lion at her feet.
Mint : Rome
Date : AD 207
Reference : BM-309, C-25 (3 Fr.), RIC-253
Grade : VF
Weight : 3.43g
Denom: Denarius
Metal : Silver
Acquired: 07/07/04
Comments: Scarce: 18 specimens in Reka Devnia hoard. This type was struck in AD 207 to commemorate an Imperial visit to Severus' home province of Africa that year. During this trip he gave honours to the Punic god of healing (equivalent to the Roman Aesculapius), so it seems very likely that Severus was suffering some illness at the time.Peattie
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Severus Alexander Salus
Hygieia (Roman equivalent: Salus) was a daughter of Asclepius. She was the goddess of health, cleanliness and sanitation (and later: the moon), and played an important part in her father's cult (see also: asklepieion). While her father was more directly associated with healing, she was associated with the prevention of sickness and the continuation of good health.
Though Hygieia had been the subject of a local cult since at least the 7th century BC, she did not begin to spread out until the Oracle at Delphi recognized her, and after the devastating Athens plague in 429 and 427 BC and in Rome in 293 BC. Her primary temples were in Epidaurus, Corinth, Cos and Pergamon.
Pausanias remarked that, at the asclepieion of Titane in Sicyon (founded by Alexanor, Asclepius' grandson), statues of Hygieia were covered by women's hair and pieces of Babylonian clothes. According to inscriptions, the same sacrifices were offered at Paros.
Ariphron, a Sicyonian artist from the 4th century BC wrote a well-known hymn celebrating her. Statues of Hygieia were created by Scopas, Bryaxis and Timotheus, among others.
She was often depicted as a young woman feeding a large snake that was wrapped around her body. Sometimes the snake would be drinking from a jar that she carried. These attributes were later adopted by the Gallo-Roman healing goddess, Sirona.
Severus Alexander Denarius, RIC 14, RSC 218, BMC 33
222 AD. IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right /P M TR P COS P P, Salus seated left, feeding snake arising from altar.
Base metal.
ecoli
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Thracia, Deultum, Diadumenian Yurukova 88Diadumenian AD 218
AE 18, 3.45g
obv. M OPEL ANTONINVS DIADV [CAES]
draped bust right
rev. C F P D
Telesphoros standing facing in hooded cloak
Yurukova 88; SNG Bulgaria 239-240; Moushmov 3579
VF, a rare representation of Telesphorus with a visible face
added to www.wildwinds.com
He is a companion of Asklepios. It is a talking name (the completer) of a greek healing god, who belongs to the most problematic figures of the greek religious history. Late as 'new twig' and 'son of Asklepios' coming to the circle of Asklepos, Telesphoros was introduced by an oracle at the end of the 1st century AD in Pergamon. His earliest inscription is from AD 98-102. From here his cult spread out quickly. Because of is child-shape and his hood cloak Telesphoros is identical with the genii cucullati, which were fertility, healing but death gods too.Jochen
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Trebonianus Gallus, AR Antoninianus, AD 252. ApolloImperial Rome, Trebonianus Gallus. AD 251 - 253. AR Antoninianus, AD 252. Rome. 4.18g. IMP CAE C VIB TREB GALLVS AVG, his radiate, draped and cuirassed bust rt. / APOLL SALVTARI, Apollo standing lt., holding a branch and resting hand on a lyre set on a globe. RIC 5. Nice EF with beautiful toning. - Type refers to the plague which was raging within Rome during this time and the appeal to Apollo, the god of healing, for respite.Fausta
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[1004a] Caracalla, 28 January 198 - 8 April 217 A.D.Silver denarius, RIC 2, gF, Rome, 2.662g, 17.2mm, 0o; type from his first issue as Caesar., 196 A.D. Obverse: M AVR ANTONINVS CAES, boy's bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: SECVRITAS PERPETVA (Security Everlasting), Minerva with aegis on breast, standing left, holding spear in left and resting right on shield on the ground; well centered on a tight flan; scarce. Ex FORVM.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla)
Michael L. Meckler,
Ohio State University
Caracalla was born 4 April 188 in Lyon, where his father was serving as governor of the province of Gallia Lugdunensis under the emperor Commodus. The child's name originally seems to have been Lucius Septimius Bassianus, the cognomen commemorating the family of the boy's Syrian mother, Julia Domna. When he was seven years old, his name was changed to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. The name change was a way of connecting the family of Severus to that of the Antonines. Caracalla was a nickname taken from the name of a type of cloak popularized by the emperor, but this nickname, originally derisive, was never used officially.
From the time of his name change to Antoninus, Caracalla was the designated heir of Severus. Less than three years later he was proclaimed emperor, officially joining his father as co-rulers of the empire. At the age of 14 he was married to the daughter of the praetorian prefect Plautianus Publia Fulvia, Plautilla, but the teenager despised his wife. The marriage ended less than three years later after the execution of Plautianus for treason, and there were no children.
Squabbling and rivalry developed between Caracalla and Geta, who was only 11 months younger than his brother. Severus felt the lack of responsibilities in Rome contributed to the ill-will between his sons and decided that the family would travel to Britain to oversee military operations there. Caracalla was involved in directing the army's campaigns, while Geta was given civilian authority and a promotion to joint emperor with his father and brother. Within two years of the imperial family's arrival in Britain, Severus' health began to deteriorate, but his sons' relationship showed no signs of improvement. Severus died 4 February 211. Caracalla was 22 years old, Geta 21.
The brothers returned to Rome as joint emperors, but they eyed each other with suspicion and failed to cooperate on government appointments and policy decisions. Caracalla was being advised to have Geta murdered, and after at least one unsuccessful attempt, Geta was killed in late December 211. The murder led to a wholesale slaughter of Geta's supporters and sympathizers, and soldiers were allowed to wreak havoc on the residents of Rome. The looting and bloodshed lasted for at least two weeks, and one contemporary source claims 20,000 people were killed.
The year 212 saw a flurry of administrative reforms under the young emperor's leadership. Soldiers received increases in pay and in legal rights, but the most noteworthy change was the bestowal of Roman citizenship upon all free residents of the empire. This grant of universal citizenship, called by scholars the Constitutio Antoniniana, allowed for greater standardization in the increasingly bureaucratic Roman state. Construction was also well underway on the magnificant baths in Rome that would bear the emperor's name. The main building seems to have been completed four years later, but the entire complex was not finished until the reign of Alexander Severus.
Caracalla spent little time in Rome after the spring of 213. A visit to Gaul and a military campaign along the borders of Upper Germany and Raetia occupied much of the rest of the year. Winter may have been spent in Rome, but the following year Caracalla made a journey to the East in preparation for a war against the Parthians. Along the way, the emperor displayed an increasing fascination and identification with Alexander the Great. Like the Macedonian prince, however, Caracalla would not survive an expedition to the East. Only his ashes would return to Rome.
Civil war in the Parthian realm between brothers and rival kings Vologaeses VI and Artabanus V brought instability to the entire region, and Caracalla wished to take advantage of that instability to increase Roman control. Osroene was annexed in 213, but an attempt in the same year to take over Armenia backfired. Caracalla's campaigns in the East seemed designed to harass the Parthians more than anything else. In 215, Caracalla suspended plans to invade Parthia after Vologaeses handed over two political refugees, although Roman troops were sent into Armenia. The following year the emperor led his troops into Mesopotamia after being rebuffed in his request to marry the daughter of Artabanus. Roman armies were generally unopposed in their forays, the Parthian forces having retreated farther east. The Romans returned back across the Euphrates, wintering in Edessa.
Between campaigning seasons, Caracalla made a notorious visit to Alexandria in the fall and winter of 215-16. Rioting accompanied the imperial visit, and retribution was swift. The governor of Egypt was executed as were thousands of the city's young men. Alexandria was cordoned off into zones to prevent the free movement of residents, and games and privileges were revoked.
The emperor visited Alexandria for intellectual and religious reasons, staying at The Serapeum and being present at the temple's sacrifices and cultural events. Earlier, during the German war, the emperor visited the shrine of the Celtic healing-god Grannus. Caracalla also visited the famous temple of Asclepius in Pergamum and fully participated in its program, which involved sleeping inside the temple compound and having his dreams interpreted.
It was this religious devotion that led to Caracalla's murder in 217. Although suspicious of the praetorian prefect Macrinus, Caracalla allowed himself to be accompanied by only a small, select corps of bodyguards on an early spring trip from the camp at Edessa to the temple of the moon-god at Carrhae, about 25 miles away. During the journey back on 8 April 217, Caracalla was killed. The returning guards claimed the emperor was ambushed while defecating, and that the alleged assassin was one of their own, a soldier named Martialis. Martialis was himself killed by the avenging guards, or so the story went. Suspicion was strong that Macrinus arranged the entire affair.
Caracalla's violent end seemed appropriate for an emperor who, early in his reign, had his own brother killed. Yet the moralizing about fratricide by both ancient and modern historians obscures the energetic, reformist and even intellectual character of Caracalla's reign. Some of the reforms, especially the pay raise for soldiers, would prove burdensome for future emperors, but the changes brought about in the little more than five years of Caracalla's sole rule would have long-lasting implications throughout the empire for generations to come.
Copyright (C) 1998, Michael L. Meckler. Published on De Imperatoribus Romanis, An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors; http://www.roman-emperors.org/sepsev.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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[1004b] Caracalla, 28 January 198 - 8 April 217 A.D.Silver denarius, RIC 108, RSC 510, VF, 2.967g, 19.2mm, 180o, Rome mint, 208 A.D.; obverse ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right; reverse PROF PONTIF TR P XI COS III, Emperor on horseback right, captive at feet; scarce. Ex FORVM.
This coin refers to the departure of Caracalla, Septimius, and Geta on their British expedition. Our dating of this departure to the year 208 depends on these coins dated TR P XI for Caracalla and TR P XVI for Septimius (Joseph Sermarini).
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla)
Michael L. Meckler,
Ohio State University
Caracalla was born 4 April 188 in Lyon, where his father was serving as governor of the province of Gallia Lugdunensis under the emperor Commodus. The child's name originally seems to have been Lucius Septimius Bassianus, the cognomen commemorating the family of the boy's Syrian mother, Julia Domna. When he was seven years old, his name was changed to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. The name change was a way of connecting the family of Severus to that of the Antonines. Caracalla was a nickname taken from the name of a type of cloak popularized by the emperor, but this nickname, originally derisive, was never used officially.
From the time of his name change to Antoninus, Caracalla was the designated heir of Severus. Less than three years later he was proclaimed emperor, officially joining his father as co-rulers of the empire. At the age of 14 he was married to the daughter of the praetorian prefect Plautianus Publia Fulvia, Plautilla, but the teenager despised his wife. The marriage ended less than three years later after the execution of Plautianus for treason, and there were no children.
Squabbling and rivalry developed between Caracalla and Geta, who was only 11 months younger than his brother. Severus felt the lack of responsibilities in Rome contributed to the ill-will between his sons and decided that the family would travel to Britain to oversee military operations there. Caracalla was involved in directing the army's campaigns, while Geta was given civilian authority and a promotion to joint emperor with his father and brother. Within two years of the imperial family's arrival in Britain, Severus' health began to deteriorate, but his sons' relationship showed no signs of improvement. Severus died 4 February 211. Caracalla was 22 years old, Geta 21.
The brothers returned to Rome as joint emperors, but they eyed each other with suspicion and failed to cooperate on government appointments and policy decisions. Caracalla was being advised to have Geta murdered, and after at least one unsuccessful attempt, Geta was killed in late December 211. The murder led to a wholesale slaughter of Geta's supporters and sympathizers, and soldiers were allowed to wreak havoc on the residents of Rome. The looting and bloodshed lasted for at least two weeks, and one contemporary source claims 20,000 people were killed.
The year 212 saw a flurry of administrative reforms under the young emperor's leadership. Soldiers received increases in pay and in legal rights, but the most noteworthy change was the bestowal of Roman citizenship upon all free residents of the empire. This grant of universal citizenship, called by scholars the Constitutio Antoniniana, allowed for greater standardization in the increasingly bureaucratic Roman state. Construction was also well underway on the magnificant baths in Rome that would bear the emperor's name. The main building seems to have been completed four years later, but the entire complex was not finished until the reign of Alexander Severus.
Caracalla spent little time in Rome after the spring of 213. A visit to Gaul and a military campaign along the borders of Upper Germany and Raetia occupied much of the rest of the year. Winter may have been spent in Rome, but the following year Caracalla made a journey to the East in preparation for a war against the Parthians. Along the way, the emperor displayed an increasing fascination and identification with Alexander the Great. Like the Macedonian prince, however, Caracalla would not survive an expedition to the East. Only his ashes would return to Rome.
Civil war in the Parthian realm between brothers and rival kings Vologaeses VI and Artabanus V brought instability to the entire region, and Caracalla wished to take advantage of that instability to increase Roman control. Osroene was annexed in 213, but an attempt in the same year to take over Armenia backfired. Caracalla's campaigns in the East seemed designed to harass the Parthians more than anything else. In 215, Caracalla suspended plans to invade Parthia after Vologaeses handed over two political refugees, although Roman troops were sent into Armenia. The following year the emperor led his troops into Mesopotamia after being rebuffed in his request to marry the daughter of Artabanus. Roman armies were generally unopposed in their forays, the Parthian forces having retreated farther east. The Romans returned back across the Euphrates, wintering in Edessa.
Between campaigning seasons, Caracalla made a notorious visit to Alexandria in the fall and winter of 215-16. Rioting accompanied the imperial visit, and retribution was swift. The governor of Egypt was executed as were thousands of the city's young men. Alexandria was cordoned off into zones to prevent the free movement of residents, and games and privileges were revoked.
The emperor visited Alexandria for intellectual and religious reasons, staying at The Serapeum and being present at the temple's sacrifices and cultural events. Earlier, during the German war, the emperor visited the shrine of the Celtic healing-god Grannus. Caracalla also visited the famous temple of Asclepius in Pergamum and fully participated in its program, which involved sleeping inside the temple compound and having his dreams interpreted.
It was this religious devotion that led to Caracalla's murder in 217. Although suspicious of the praetorian prefect Macrinus, Caracalla allowed himself to be accompanied by only a small, select corps of bodyguards on an early spring trip from the camp at Edessa to the temple of the moon-god at Carrhae, about 25 miles away. During the journey back on 8 April 217, Caracalla was killed. The returning guards claimed the emperor was ambushed while defecating, and that the alleged assassin was one of their own, a soldier named Martialis. Martialis was himself killed by the avenging guards, or so the story went. Suspicion was strong that Macrinus arranged the entire affair.
Caracalla's violent end seemed appropriate for an emperor who, early in his reign, had his own brother killed. Yet the moralizing about fratricide by both ancient and modern historians obscures the energetic, reformist and even intellectual character of Caracalla's reign. Some of the reforms, especially the pay raise for soldiers, would prove burdensome for future emperors, but the changes brought about in the little more than five years of Caracalla's sole rule would have long-lasting implications throughout the empire for generations to come.
Copyright (C) 1998, Michael L. Meckler. Published on De Imperatoribus Romanis, An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors; http://www.roman-emperors.org/sepsev.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
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[2400a] Pergamon, Mysia: AE14, ca. 300 BCMYSIA, PERGAMON, Æ14, ca. 300 BC. BMC 15, SGC 3965. 2.0 gm. VF/aVF; Pergamon mint. Obverse: Head of Athena right, in close fitting crested helmet; Reverse; ATHENAS - NIKHFOPOY either side of owl standing, facing, wings closed; all within olive-wreath. Obverse device a clean strike of a lovely Athena. Ex Inclinatiorama.
The city of ancient Pergamon (or Pergamum, today's Bergama) was created by the newly-founded royal dynasty in the mid-third century BCE. It became one of the classic late-Hellenistic cities, on a dramatically steep site, with imaginatiave solutions to the urban design problems created by the site, wonderfully embellished by the generous attention of its royal (and other) patrons. The site divides into two main sections, the steep upper town and the flat lower town. Though today's Bergama is entirely in the lower areas, a number of important remains have survived even there: the Asklepieion, one of the major healing centres of antiqity, the Red Hall (Serapeum), the stadium, a Roman Bridge and tunnel. But it is the upper town that captures the imagination, with its extensive remains, innovations, and drama.
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~prchrdsn/pergamon.htm
The Attalids, the descendants of Attalus, the father of Philetaerus who came to power in 282 BC, were among the most loyal supporters of Rome among the Hellenistic successor states. Under Attalus I, they allied with Rome against Philip V of Macedon, during the first and second Macedonian Wars, and again under Eumenes II, against Perseus of Macedon, during the Third Macedonian War. For support against the Seleucids, the Attalids were rewarded with all the former Seleucid domains in Asia Minor.
The Attalids ruled with intelligence and generosity. Many documents survive showing how the Attalids would support the growth of towns through sending in skilled artisans and by remitting taxes. They allowed the Greek cities in their domains to maintain nominal independence. They sent gifts to Greek cultural sites like Delphi, Delos, and Athens. They defeated the invading Celts. They remodeled the Acropolis of Pergamum after the Acropolis in Athens. When Attalus III died without an heir in 133 BC he bequeathed Pergamon to Rome, in order to prevent a civil war.
The Great Altar of Pergamon is in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. The base of this altar remains on the upper part of the Acropolis. Other notable structures still in existence on the upper part of the Acropolis include: a Hellenistic theater with a seating capacity of 10,000; the Sanctuary of Trajan (also known as the Trajaneum); the Sancturay of Athena; the Library; royal palaces; the Heroön; the Temple of Dionysus; the Upper Agora; and the Roman baths complex. Pergamon's library on the Acropolis is the second best in the ancient Greek civilisation (the ancient Library of Pergamum), after that of Alexandria. When the Ptolemies stopped exporting papyrus, partly because of competitors and partly because of shortages, the Pergamenes invented a new substance to use in codices, called pergaminus or parchment after the city. This was made of fine calf skin, a predecessor of vellum. The lower part of the Acropolis has the following structures: the Upper Gymnasium, the Middle Gymnasium, the Lower Gymnasium, the Temple of Demeter, the Sanctuary of Hera, the House of Attalus, the Lower Agora and the Gate of Eumenes.
Three km south of the Acropolis was the Sanctuary of Asclepius (also known as the Asclepeion), the god of healing. In this place people with health problems could bath in the water of the sacred spring, and in the patients' dreams Asklepios would appear in a vision to tell them how to cure their illness. Archeology has found lots of gifts and dedications that people would make afterwards, such as small terracotta body parts, no doubt representing what had been healed. Notable extant structures in the Asclepeion include the Roman theater, the North Stoa, the South Stoa, the Temple of Asclepius, a circular treatment center (sometimes known as the Temple of Telesphorus), a healing spring, an underground passageway, a library, the Via Tecta (or the Sacred Way, which is a colonnaded street leading to the sanctuary) and a propylon.
Pergamon's other notable structure is the Serapis Temple (Serapeum) which was later transformed into the Red Basilica complex (or Kızıl Avlu in Turkish), about 1 km south of the Acropolis. It consists of a main building and two round towers. In the first century AD, the Christian Church at Pergamon inside the main building of the Red Basilica was one of the Seven Churches to which the Book of Revelation was addressed (Revelation 1:12, ESV).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
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[2420] Pergamon, Mysia,c. 200 - 133 B.C.Bronze AE 17, SGCV II 3962 var; BMC Mysia p. 133, 202, VF, weight 3.600 g, maximum diameter 16.5 mm, die axis 0o, Pergamon mint, c. 200 - 133 B.C.; Obverse: head Athena right wearing crested helmet with star, hair in curls down neck; Reverse: AQH-NAS / NIKHFOROU, owl standing facing on palm frond, wings spread, AP and MH monograms at sides. Ex FORVM.
The city of ancient Pergamon (or Pergamum, today's Bergama) was created by the newly-founded royal dynasty in the mid-third century BCE. It became one of the classic late-Hellenistic cities, on a dramatically steep site, with imaginatiave solutions to the urban design problems created by the site, wonderfully embellished by the generous attention of its royal (and other) patrons. The site divides into two main sections, the steep upper town and the flat lower town. Though today's Bergama is entirely in the lower areas, a number of important remains have survived even there: the Asklepieion, one of the major healing centres of antiqity, the Red Hall (Serapeum), the stadium, a Roman Bridge and tunnel. But it is the upper town that captures the imagination, with its extensive remains, innovations, and drama.
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~prchrdsn/pergamon.htm
The Attalids, the descendants of Attalus, the father of Philetaerus who came to power in 282 BC, were among the most loyal supporters of Rome among the Hellenistic successor states. Under Attalus I, they allied with Rome against Philip V of Macedon, during the first and second Macedonian Wars, and again under Eumenes II, against Perseus of Macedon, during the Third Macedonian War. For support against the Seleucids, the Attalids were rewarded with all the former Seleucid domains in Asia Minor.
The Attalids ruled with intelligence and generosity. Many documents survive showing how the Attalids would support the growth of towns through sending in skilled artisans and by remitting taxes. They allowed the Greek cities in their domains to maintain nominal independence. They sent gifts to Greek cultural sites like Delphi, Delos, and Athens. They defeated the invading Celts. They remodeled the Acropolis of Pergamum after the Acropolis in Athens. When Attalus III died without an heir in 133 BC he bequeathed Pergamon to Rome, in order to prevent a civil war.
The Temple of Athena:
Built in the 3rd century B.C.E., this is the oldest cult center of the city. The Doric order building was constructed on a peripteral plan with six columns on the facade and ten on the long sides. The krepis (the basement of the Temple) is formed by two steps and measures 41.7 x 71.4 ft. (12.72 x 21.77 m). The naos or cella (the inner sanctum) is divided in two and was dedicated to Goddess Athena but also to God Zeus.
Present state: Only some of the stepped foundations and the tunnel to the theater have survived.
http://www.goddess-athena.org/Museum/Temples/Pergamon.htm
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
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[2470] Asclepios AE16, Pergamon (Mysia), 133 BC - Imperial Times. Mysia, Pergamon. 133 BC - Imperial Times. SNG BN Paris 1828. AE 16mm (3.76 gm). Very fine. Obverse: head Asclepios right. Reverse: [A]ΣKΛHΠIO[Y] - [ΣΩ]THP[OΣ], Serpent curled around scepter of Asclepios. Ex Tom Vossen.
Asclepius
by Ron Leadbetter
Asclepius was a Greek hero who later become the Greek god of medicine and healing. The son of Apollo and Coronis, Asclepius had five daughters, Aceso, Iaso, Panacea, Aglaea and Hygieia. He was worshipped throughout the Greek world but his most famous sanctuary was located in Epidaurus which is situated in the northeastern Peloponnese. The main attribute of Asclepius is a physician's staff with an Asclepian snake wrapped around it; this is how he was distinguished in the art of healing, and his attribute still survives to this day as the symbol of the modern medical profession. The cock was also sacred to Asclepius and was the bird they sacrificed as his altar.
The mother of Asclepius, Coronis, was a mortal, the daughter of Phlegyas, a king of Thessaly. Coronis was unfaithful to Apollo, and Artemis, Apollo's twin sister, killed her for her unfaithfulness. Coronis was placed upon a funeral pyre. (One version says that Apollo cast her into the fires of his own anger.) As her body started to burn, Apollo felt sorrow for his unborn son and snatched the child Asclepius from his mother's corpse, saving him from death. Apollo then handed Asclepius to the Centaur Chiron who became his tutor and mentor.
Chiron taught Asclepius the art of healing. According to Pindar (Pythian Odes), Asclepius also acquired the knowledge of surgery, the use of drugs, love potions and incantations, and according to Apollodorus (the Library), Athena gave Asclepius a magic potion made from the blood of the Gorgon. Legend tells that the blood of the Gorgon has a different effect depending from which side the blood was taken. If taken from the right side of the Gorgon, it has a miraculous effect and is said to be able to bring the dead back to life, but taken from the left side it is a deadly poison.
With these gifts Asclepius exceeded the fringes of human knowledge. However, he offended the great god Zeus by accepting money in exchange for raising the dead. (In one version it was the goddess Artemis who implored Asclepius to resurrect Hippolytus, a favourite of hers.) In the eyes of Zeus, Asclepius' action upset the natural order of the universe - a mere mortal helping man evade death. With one swift action, the great Zeus sent down a thunderbolt killing both men. (In some versions Zeus only killed Asclepius.)
Realising the good Asclepius had brought to man, the great Zeus made him into a god, placing him among the stars, transforming Asclepius into the constellation Ophiuchus (the serpent-bearer). The snake was used in the healing ritual; non-poisonous snakes were left in the dormitory where the sick slept overnight on the bare ground.
The cult of Asclepius became very popular during the 300s BCE and the cult centres (known as an Asclepieion) were used by priests to cure the sick. Invalids also came to the shrines of Asclepius to find cures for their ailments (in the same fashion pilgrims visit Lourdes today.) The process of healing was known as incubation. The patient would spend the night in a dormitory. During the night they would supposedly be visited by the god in a dream. Priests would interpret the dreams and then recommend a remedy or give advice on how they could be cured with perhaps a recommended visit to the baths and gymnasiums. There were many centres and schools of medicine, from Trikkis in Thessaly to the island of Cos. It is believed that Hippocrates, a great doctor of antiquity, plied his trade on the island of Cos. It is also said that Hippocrates was a descendant of Asclepius.
The Romans adopted the cult of Asclepius, but changed his name to Latin; they called him Aesculapius.
"Asclepius." Encyclopedia Mythica. 2008. Encyclopedia Mythica Online.
10 Apr. 2008 .
The Asklepion of Pergamon dates from the 4th century BC. This therapeutic center was of the same type as the one in Kos- a large health center. Most of the remains today of this center belong to the changes that were carried out by Emperor Hadrian.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
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