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Image search results - "theater"
Philip_Wolf_sestertius.jpg
Philip I AD 244-249 Æ Sestertius (27x31mm, 15.79 g.)
Secular Games issue.
Rome mint, struck AD 249.
Obv. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
Rev. SAECVLARES AVGG, she-wolf standing left, head right, suckling the twins Romulus and Remus.
RIC IV 159

Continuing the tradition of Claudius and Antoninus Pius before him, the celebration of the Secular Games at the end of every century since the founding of Rome culminated during the reign of Philip I, as the city celebrated her 1,000th anniversary in AD 248. The legends on these issues almost exclusively read Saeculares Augg, and feature a similar iconography from previous games, such as the she-wolf suckling the twins, the various wild beasts paraded through the amphitheater, and a cippus inscribed for the preservation of the memory of these events.
2 commentspaul1888
CAF41DC8-9A43-46E2-AE5F-312A5F7DAD88.jpeg
Vespasian, 1 July 69 - 24 June 79 A.D.

SH110254. Silver denarius, RIC II-1 1431; RSC II 276; RPC II 833; BnF III 351; BMCRE II 457, SRCV I 2270, Choice EF, well centered, excellent portrait, light toning, slight double strike, 3.326g, 18.3mm, 180o, Ephesus mint, IMP CAESAR VESPAS AVG COS III TR P P P, laureate head right; reverse PACI AVGVSTAE, Victory advancing right, wreath in extended right hand, palm frond over left shoulder in left hand, EPHE (PHE ligate) lower right; ex Inasta (San Marino) auction 100 (24 Jun 2022), lot 212 Ex: Forum Ancient Coins.

Ephesus peaked during the 1st and 2nd century A.D. when it was second in importance and size only to Rome, with a population estimated at 400,000 to 500,000 in 100 A.D. The city was famous for the Temple of Artemis, the Library of Celsus, and its theater, seating 25,000 spectators. Ephesus also had several large bath complexes and one of the most advanced aqueduct systems in the ancient world. Water powered numerous mills, one of which has been identified as a sawmill for marble. The city and temple were destroyed by the Goths in 263 A.D., marking the decline of the city's splendor.
1 commentspaul1888
tessera1.JPG
ROME
PB Tessera (18mm, 3.06 g, 12 h)
Isis standing left, holding sistrum and situla
IVE/NES
Rostovtsev -


The iuvenes were Roman educational organizations roughly analagous to modern American colleges. Mohler1 argues that, while their athletic program undoubtedly focused on parade and various other activities that relate to war, the group focused equally on education and athletics, rather than as a pseudo-military training program. Inscriptions survive in some theaters and arenas that note reserved seats for iuvenes, leading some to identify these pieces as entrance tickets. I feel they were more likely distributed at the various parades and processions for which the organizations were famous.

The iuvenes tokens are related to those of the sodales, composed of individuals not a part of the organization (younger or older men and women) who still actively supported it.

1. Mohler, S. L. (1937). The Iuvenes and Roman Education. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Society, 68, 442–479.
Ardatirion
00064x00.jpg
JAPAN, Imperial. Meiji Era.1868-1912
AV Ni Bu (13mm, 2.60 g, 12 h)
Edo mint. Struck 1868-1869
Two paulownia flowers; Ni Bu flanking
Mitsusugu
Hartill, Japanese 8.32b; JNDA 09-29

Acquired in the Philippines theater during World War Two.
Ardatirion
coin229.JPG
106. CommodusCommodus

According to Gibbon, the emperor Commodus spent the early years of his reign "in a seraglio of three hundred beautiful women and as many boys, of every rank and of every province." Later, adding bloodshed to his round of pleasures, he launched a career in murder, beginning with the dispatch of the usual senators, ministers and family members and continuing with the slaughter of beasts. Styling himself the Roman Hercules, he went as a performer into the amphitheater, where he cut down before the public a number of ostriches, a panther, a hundred lions, an elephant, a rhinoceros and a giraffe. He then entered the lists as a gladiator. Commodus fought 735 times and paid himself such a high fee for each appearance that a new tax had to be levied. He was strangled by a wrestler while drunk.

Denarius. 192 AD. L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL, laureate head right / P M TR P XVII IMP VIII COS VII P P, Fides standing left holding standard & cornucopiae, star right. RSC 583a. RIC 233
ecoli
LucillaSestVenus.jpg
1bm LucillaWife of Lucius Verus, executed 182 AD

Sestertius
Draped bust, right, LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F
Venus standing facing left holding apple, drawing out robe, VENUS

RIC 1767

Daughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Junior, she married Lucius Verus in 164.

According to Herodian: For the present, however, the memory of his father and his respect for his advisers held Commodus in check. But then a disastrous stroke of ill fortune completely altered his previously mild, moderate disposition. It happened this way. The oldest of the emperor's sisters was Lucilla. She had formerly been married to Lucius Verus Caesar. . . . But after Lucius died, Lucilla, who retained all the privileges of her imperial position, was married by her father to Pompeianus.

Commodus, too, allowed his sister to retain the imperial honors; she continued to occupy the imperial seat at the theaters, and the sacred fire was carried before her. But when Commodus married Crispina, custom demanded that the front seat at the theater be assigned to the empress. Lucilla found this difficult to endure, and felt that any honor paid to the empress was an insult to her; but since she was well aware that her husband Pompeianus was devoted to Commodus, she told him nothing about her plans to seize control of the empire. Instead, she tested the sentiments of a wealthy young nobleman, Quadratus, with whom she was rumored to be sleeping in secret. Complaining constantly about this matter of imperial precedence, she soon persuaded the young man to set in motion a plot which brought destruction upon himself and the entire senate.

Quadratus, in selecting confederates among the prominent senators, prevailed upon Quintianus, a bold and reckless young senator, to conceal a dagger beneath his robe and, watching for a suitable time and place, to stab Commodus; as for the rest, he assured Quintianus that he would set matters straight by bribes.

But the assassin, standing in the entrance to the amphitheater (it was dark there and he hoped to escape detection), drew his dagger and shouted at Commodus that he had been sent by the Senate to kill him. Quintianus wasted time making his little speech and waving his dagger; as a result, he was seized by the emperor's bodyguards before he could strike, and died for his stupidity in revealing the plot prematurely.

This was the initial reason for the young emperor's hatred of the Senate. He took Quintianus' words to heart and, ever mindful of what his attacker had said, now considered the entire Senate his collective enemy.

This incident also gave Perennis sufficient excuse for taking action, for he was always advising the emperor to eliminate and destroy the prominent men. By confiscating their property, Perennis easily made himself the richest man of his time. After the attempt at assassination had been thoroughly investigated by the prefect, Commodus without mercy put to death his sister, all those actually involved in the plot, and any who were under the slightest suspicion as well.
3 commentsBlindado
CrispinaAsJuno.jpg
1bo CrispinaWife of Commodus

As

Draped bust, right, CRISPINA AVGVSTA
Juno, IVNO LVCINA

RIC 680

We know little about Crispina. The Historia Augusta notes, "[W]hen Commodus married Crispina, custom demanded that the front seat at the theater be assigned to the empress. Lucilla found this difficult to endure. . . . His wife, whom he caught in adultery, he drove from his house, then banished her, and later put her to death."
1 commentsBlindado
TitusCommColosseum.jpg
711a, Titus, 24 June 79 - 13 September 81 A.D. TITUS AUGUSTUS AR silver denarius. Struck at Rome, 80 AD. IMP TITVS CAESAR VESPASIAN AVG PM, laureate head right. Reverse - TRP IX IMP XV COS VIII PP, elephant walking left. Fully legible legends, about Very Fine, nice golden toning. Commemmorates the completion and dedication of the Colosseum and the opening of games. SCARCE. RCV 2512, valued at $544 in EF. 17mm, 3.1g. Ex Incitatus.

De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families

Titus Flavius Vespasianus (A.D. 79-81)


John Donahue
College of William and Mary

Titus Flavius Vespasianus was born on December 30, 39 A.D. He was the oldest of the three children of the founder of the Flavian Dynasty, Vespasian. Beginning in the year 70 Titus was named Cæsar and coregent; he was highly educated and a brilliant poet and orator in both Latin and Greek. He won military fame during the Jewish Revolt of 69-70. In April, 70, he appeared before the walls of Jerusalem, and conquered and destroyed the city after a siege of five months. He wished to preserve the Temple, but in the struggle with the Jews who rushed out of it a soldier threw a brand into the building. The siege and taking of the city were accompanied by barbarous cruelties. The next year Titus celebrated his victory by a triumph; to increase the fame of the Flavian dynasty the inscription on the triumphal arch represented the overthrow of the helpless people as a heroic achievement. Titus succeeded his father as Emperor in 79.

Before becoming emperor, tradition records that Titus was feared as the next Nero, a perception that may have developed from his association with Berenice, his alleged heavy-handedness as praetorian prefect, and tales of sexual debauchery. Once in office, however, both emperor and his reign were portrayed in universally positive terms. The suddenness of this transformation raises immediate suspicions, yet it is difficult to know whether the historical tradition is suspect or if Titus was in fact adept at taking off one mask for another. What is clear, however, is that Titus sought to present the Flavians as the legitimate successors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Proof came through the issuing of a series of restoration coins of previous emperors, the most popular being Augustus and Claudius. In A.D. 80 Titus also set out to establish an imperial cult in honor of Vespasian. The temple, in which cult (the first that was not connected with the Julio-Claudians) was housed, was completed by Domitian and was known as the Temple of Vespasian and Domitian.
Legitimacy was also sought through various economic measures, which Titus enthusiastically funded. Vast amounts of capital poured into extensive building schemes in Rome, especially the Flavian Amphitheater, popularly known as the Colosseum. In celebration of additions made to the structure, Titus provided a grand 100-day festival, with sea fights staged on an artificial lake, infantry battles, wild beast hunts, and similar activities. He also constructed new imperial baths to the south-east of the Amphitheater and began work on the celebrated Arch of Titus, a memorial to his Jewish victories. Large sums were directed to Italy and the provinces as well, especially for road building. In response to the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79, Titus spent large sums to relieve distress in that area; likewise, the imperial purse contributed heavily to rebuilding Rome after a devastating fire destroyed large sections of the city in A.D. 80. As a result of these actions, Titus earned a reputation for generosity and geniality. For these reasons he gained the honourable title of "amor et deliciæ generis humani" (the darling and admiration of the human race). Even so, his financial acumen must not be under-estimated. He left the treasury with a surplus, as he had found it, and dealt promptly and efficiently with costly natural disasters. The Greek historian of the third-century A.D., Cassius Dio, perhaps offered the most accurate and succinct assessment of Titus' economic policy: "In money matters, Titus was frugal and made no unnecessary expenditure." In other areas, the brevity of Titus' reign limits our ability to detect major emphases or trends in policy. As far as can be discerned from the limited evidence, senior officials and amici were well chosen, and his legislative activity tended to focus on popular social measures, with the army as a particular beneficiary in the areas of land ownership, marriage, and testamentary freedom. In the provinces, Titus continued his father's policies by strengthening roads and forts in the East and along the Danube.

Titus died in September, A.D. 81 after only 26 months in office. Suetonius recorded that Titus died on his way to the Sabine country of his ancestors in the same villa as his father. A competing tradition persistently implicated his brother and successor, Domitian, as having had a hand in the emperor's demise, but the evidence is highly contradictory and any wrongdoing is difficult to prove. Domitian himself delivered the funeral eulogy and had Titus deified. He also built several monuments in honor of Titus and completed the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, changing the name of the structure to include his brother's and setting up his cult statue in the Temple itself.

Titus was the beneficiary of considerable intelligence and talent, endowments that were carefully cultivated at every step of his career, from his early education to his role under his father's principate. Cassius Dio suggested that Titus' reputation was enhanced by his early death. It is true that the ancient sources tend to heroicize Titus, yet based upon the evidence, his reign must be considered a positive one. He capably continued the work of his father in establishing the Flavian Dynasty and he maintained a high degree of economic and administrative competence in Italy and beyond. In so doing, he solidified the role of the emperor as paternalistic autocrat, a model that would serve Trajan and his successors well. Titus was used as a model by later emperors, especially those known as the Five Good Emperors (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius).

Copyright (C) 1997, John Donahue.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.

Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14746b.htm

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
Titus_Colosseum_Commem_AR_denarius.jpg
711a, Titus, 24 June 79 - 13 September 81 A.D.Titus, 24 June 79 - 13 September 81 A.D. AR denarius, RCV 2512, aVF, struck at Rome, 80 A.D., 17.5mm, 3.4g. Obverse: IMP TITVS CAESAR VESPASIAN AVG PM, laureate head right; Reverse: TRP IX IMP XV COS VIII PP, elephant walking left. Fully legible legends; nice golden toning. This coin was struck in order to commemorate the completion and dedication of the Flavian Amphitheatre (the Colosseum) and its opening games. Very scarce. Ex Incitatus; photo courtesy Incitatus.

De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families

Titus Flavius Vespasianus (A.D. 79-81)


John Donahue
College of William and Mary

Titus Flavius Vespasianus was born on December 30, 39 A.D. He was the oldest of the three children of the founder of the Flavian Dynasty, Vespasian. Beginning in the year 70 Titus was named Cæsar and coregent; he was highly educated and a brilliant poet and orator in both Latin and Greek. He won military fame during the Jewish Revolt of 69-70. In April, 70, he appeared before the walls of Jerusalem, and conquered and destroyed the city after a siege of five months. He wished to preserve the Temple, but in the struggle with the Jews who rushed out of it a soldier threw a brand into the building. The siege and taking of the city were accompanied by barbarous cruelties. The next year Titus celebrated his victory by a triumph; to increase the fame of the Flavian dynasty the inscription on the triumphal arch represented the overthrow of the helpless people as a heroic achievement. Titus succeeded his father as Emperor in 79.

Before becoming emperor, tradition records that Titus was feared as the next Nero, a perception that may have developed from his association with Berenice, his alleged heavy-handedness as praetorian prefect, and tales of sexual debauchery. Once in office, however, both emperor and his reign were portrayed in universally positive terms. The suddenness of this transformation raises immediate suspicions, yet it is difficult to know whether the historical tradition is suspect or if Titus was in fact adept at taking off one mask for another. What is clear, however, is that Titus sought to present the Flavians as the legitimate successors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Proof came through the issuing of a series of restoration coins of previous emperors, the most popular being Augustus and Claudius. In A.D. 80 Titus also set out to establish an imperial cult in honor of Vespasian. The temple, in which cult (the first that was not connected with the Julio-Claudians) was housed, was completed by Domitian and was known as the Temple of Vespasian and Domitian.
Legitimacy was also sought through various economic measures, which Titus enthusiastically funded. Vast amounts of capital poured into extensive building schemes in Rome, especially the Flavian Amphitheater, popularly known as the Colosseum. In celebration of additions made to the structure, Titus provided a grand 100-day festival, with sea fights staged on an artificial lake, infantry battles, wild beast hunts, and similar activities. He also constructed new imperial baths to the south-east of the Amphitheater and began work on the celebrated Arch of Titus, a memorial to his Jewish victories. Large sums were directed to Italy and the provinces as well, especially for road building. In response to the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79, Titus spent large sums to relieve distress in that area; likewise, the imperial purse contributed heavily to rebuilding Rome after a devastating fire destroyed large sections of the city in A.D. 80. As a result of these actions, Titus earned a reputation for generosity and geniality. For these reasons he gained the honourable title of "amor et deliciæ generis humani" (the darling and admiration of the human race). Even so, his financial acumen must not be under-estimated. He left the treasury with a surplus, as he had found it, and dealt promptly and efficiently with costly natural disasters. The Greek historian of the third-century A.D., Cassius Dio, perhaps offered the most accurate and succinct assessment of Titus' economic policy: "In money matters, Titus was frugal and made no unnecessary expenditure." In other areas, the brevity of Titus' reign limits our ability to detect major emphases or trends in policy. As far as can be discerned from the limited evidence, senior officials and amici were well chosen, and his legislative activity tended to focus on popular social measures, with the army as a particular beneficiary in the areas of land ownership, marriage, and testamentary freedom. In the provinces, Titus continued his father's policies by strengthening roads and forts in the East and along the Danube.

Titus died in September, A.D. 81 after only 26 months in office. Suetonius recorded that Titus died on his way to the Sabine country of his ancestors in the same villa as his father. A competing tradition persistently implicated his brother and successor, Domitian, as having had a hand in the emperor's demise, but the evidence is highly contradictory and any wrongdoing is difficult to prove. Domitian himself delivered the funeral eulogy and had Titus deified. He also built several monuments in honor of Titus and completed the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, changing the name of the structure to include his brother's and setting up his cult statue in the Temple itself.

Titus was the beneficiary of considerable intelligence and talent, endowments that were carefully cultivated at every step of his career, from his early education to his role under his father's principate. Cassius Dio suggested that Titus' reputation was enhanced by his early death. It is true that the ancient sources tend to heroicize Titus, yet based upon the evidence, his reign must be considered a positive one. He capably continued the work of his father in establishing the Flavian Dynasty and he maintained a high degree of economic and administrative competence in Italy and beyond. In so doing, he solidified the role of the emperor as paternalistic autocrat, a model that would serve Trajan and his successors well. Titus was used as a model by later emperors, especially those known as the Five Good Emperors (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius).

Copyright (C) 1997, John Donahue.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.

Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14746b.htm

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
3 commentsCleisthenes
acinipo.jpg
Acinipo, grapes and wheatAs. ACINIPO
Obverse: L. FOLCE AEDILE, around bunch of grapes, star top left.
Reverse: ACINIPO, two pins on right & border points.
24.54mm., 7.7 g.
VILL-393.12. I-59. V 105.1. MBC Very scarce
Acinipo was a city created for retired soldiers from the
Roman legions about 20 kilometers from Ronda,
near Seville, southern Spain. The Acinipo ruins
include a Roman theater still in use today. c 45 BCE
NORMAN K
IM002367.JPG
Amman - Forum - OdeonThe Odeon in the Roman Forum in Amman, Jordan. Dating to the 2nd century AD the Odeon was once covered with a wooden roof and was used for musical performances, speeches, etc. SC
IM002362.JPG
Amman - Forum - Temple at top of TheatreA photo of me (from fifteen years ago) looking at the remains of the small temple at the back of the Roman Theatre in Amman. Though the appearance of a temple was no longer required at this time - unlike during the late Republican era when they were included to avoid the legal prohibition against building permanent temples - the tradition of including a small temple at the top rear of Roman theatres prevailed in many cases. SC
IM002361.JPG
Amman - Forum - View Towards Orchestra of TheatreA view down from the top of the theatre in the Roman Forum in Amman. This beautiful and well preserved theatre was built in the reign of Antoninus Pius in the 2nd century AD. It seats 6000. SC
AntoSef0-2.jpg
Antoninus Pius, RIC 622c, Sestertius of AD 140-144 (Temple of Venus & Roma)Æ Sestertius (29,1g, Ø 33mm, 10h). Rome mint. Struck AD 140-144.
Obv.: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III, laureate head left.
Rev.: ROMAE AETERNAE (around) S C (ex.), decastyle temple on podium of four steps with statues on roof and in pediment.
RIC 622(c) (scarce); BMCRE 1345v. (hd. r.); Cohen 702 (12 fr.); Strack 848 (2 spec. for left-headed var.); Banti (I Grandi Bronzi Imperiali II-3) 335 (1 spec. w/o illustration); Sear (Roman Coins and their Values II) 4212v. (hd. r.)
Ex Guy BRAUN collection (France, 2015).
very rare left headed variety

The temple of Roma, designed by Hadrian in 121 and completed by Antoninus Pius in 141, facing the forum, was built back to back with the temple of Venus, which faced the Flavian Amphitheater. The building containing the two temples was referred to as the Temple of Venus and Roma ("Templum Veneris et Romae"). The remains are still visible and show that both temples consisted of ten colums. The coins suggest many decorative details.
Charles S
antose63~0.jpg
Antoninus Pius, RIC 623, Sestertius of AD 141-144 (Temple of Venus and Roma)Æ sestertius (25.11, 6h) Rome mint. Struck AD 141-144.
ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III laureate head of Antoninus Pius facing right
ROMAE AETERNAE (around) S C (in field below) ornamented dekastyle temple with the statue of Roma inside; tympanum adorned with high relief statues; quadriga (suggested) at top and statues at each side.
RIC 623 (scarce); Cohen 703 (12 Fr.); BMCRE 1279; Strack 849; Banti (I Grandi Bronzi Imperiali III) 336 (4 spec.); Foss (Roman Historical Coins) 125:24a
ex CNG EAuction 52 (2002)

The temple of Roma was designed by Hadrian (himself) in AD 121 and completed by Antoninus Pius in 141. It stood facing the forum, and was built back to back with the temple of Venus, which faced the Flavian Amphitheater. The two temples in one building were referred to as the Temple of Venus and Roma ("Templum Veneris et Romae"). Hadrian had to have the colossal statue of Nero removed in order to make room for the temples, which were built on the site of the vestibule of Nero's golden house. (He had Nero's statue placed near the entrance to the Ampitheater, and this provided the nickname, "Colloseum".) Their ruins prove both temples consisted of ten colums, and the coins suggest many decorative details.
Charles S
AntoSe63-2.jpg
Antoninus Pius, RIC 623, Sestertius of AD 141-144 (Temple of Venus and Roma)Æ sestertius (25.11g, 31.5mm 6h) Rome mint. Struck AD 141-144.
ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III laureate head of Antoninus Pius facing right
ROMAE AETERNAE (around) S C (ex.) ornamented dekastyle temple with the statue of Roma inside; tympanum adorned with high relief statues; quadriga (suggested) at top and statues at each side.
RIC 623 (scarce); Cohen 703 (12 Fr.); BMCRE 1279; Strack 849; Banti (I Grandi Bronzi Imperiali II-3) 336 (4 spec.); Sear(Roman Coins and their Values II) 4212 var. (rev. no figure of Roma); Foss (Roman Historical Coins) 125:24a
ex CNG EAuction 52 (2002)

The temple of Roma was designed by Hadrian (himself) in AD 121 and completed by Antoninus Pius in 141. It stood facing the forum, and was built back to back with the temple of Venus, which faced the Flavian Amphitheater. The building with the two temples was referred to as the Temple of Venus and Roma ("Templum Veneris et Romae"). Hadrian had to have the colossal statue of Nero (Colossus) removed in order to make room for the temples, which were built on the site of the vestibule of Nero's golden house. (He had the Colossus placed near the entrance to the amphitheater, and this provided the nickname, "Colosseum".) The ruins show that both temples consisted of ten colums, and the coins suggest many decorative details.
1 commentsCharles S
Temporum.jpg
CaracallaANTONINVS PIVS AVG
Laureate head of Caracalla right

LAETITIA TEMPORVM
The spina of the Circus Maximus decorated as a ship facing l., with the turning posts at its prow and stern, a sail mounted on the central obelisk, and the spina's other monuments visible in between; above the ship, four quadrigas racing l.; below, seven animals: an ostrich at l. and bear at r.; between them a lion and a lioness chasing a wild ass and a panther attacking a bison.

Rome 206 AD

3.34g

Ex-Londinium coins, Ex Professor K.D. White with original envelope.

Sear 6813, RIC 157, BMCRE 257, CSS 793

Very rare! Only 2 examples in the Reka Devnia hoard

Better in hand

Notes by Curtis Clay:

This famous type commemorates the chariot races and animal hunt that took place on the seventh and final day of Severus' Saecular Games in 204 AD, as described in the inscriptional acts of those games which were found in Rome in the 1870s and 1930s. According to the acts, after three days of sacrifices and three days of honorary stage shows, Severus and Caracalla held circus games on the seventh day, consisting of chariot races and then a hunt of 700 beasts, 100 each of "lions, lionesses, panthers, bears, bisons, wild asses, ostriches". Dio Cassius describes the same hunt, adding the detail that the cage from which the animals were discharged was formed like a boat: "The entire receptacle in the theater had been fashioned in the shape of a boat and was capable of receiving or discharging four hundred beasts at once; and then, as it suddenly fell apart, there came rushing forth bears, lionesses, panthers, lions, ostriches, wild asses, bisons, so that 700 beasts in all, both wild and domesticated, at one and the same time were seen running about and were slaughtered. For to correspond with the duration of the festival, which lasted seven days, the number of the animals was also seven times one hundred." In Dio's text this passage follows directly on his account of Severus' Decennalian Games in 202 AD, causing scholars to accuse Dio of misdating the hunt or to postulate that similar hunts of 700 animals were held both in 202 and in 204. But the true explanation, in my opinion, is that Dio's Byzantine epitimator Xiphilinus, on whom we are dependent for this section of Dio's text, has simply jumped without warning or transition from Dio's description of the Decennalian Games of 202 to his description of the circus spectacle concluding the Saecular Games of 204. This hypothesis easily explains why Dio's text as we have it makes no mention of the Saecular Games themselves or of any event of 203: Xiphilinus omitted this whole section of Dio's history! The seven kinds of animals named by both Dio and the inscriptional acts are also depicted in the coin type: on good specimens, especially the aureus BM pl. 34.4, the ostrich and the bear are clear, the lion has a mane, the ass has long ears, the bison has horns and a hump. Two large felines remain, of which we may suppose that the one accompanying the lion is the lioness and the one attacking the bison is the panther. The animals are named somewhat differently in Cohen, BMC, and other numismatic works: though numismatists have long cited Dio's text to explain the coin type, no one previously seems to have posed the question whether the seven animals in the lower part of the type might not be the same seven that Dio and now the inscriptional acts too name! These circus games with the ship and 700 animals were held in 204 AD, but the coin type commemorating them did not appear until two years later: on aurei of Septimius the type is die linked to a dated type of 206 AD, and for Caracalla the type passes from a draped and cuirassed obverse type on the aureus to the "head only" type on his denarii, a transition that took place in 206 AD according to his dated coins.


SOLD October 2014
11 commentsJay GT4
89-2-NAC78-4_36g.jpg
Club, Denarius, Crawford 89/1Denomination: Denarius
Era: c. 208 BC
Metal: AR
Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma r. with peaked visor; “X” behind; Border of dots
Reverse: Dioscuri r.; below, club symbol; in linear frame, “ROMA”.
Mint: Apulia
Weight: 4.36 gm.
Reference: Crawford 89/1
Provenance: NAC 78 part , lot 537, 28-MAY-2014


Comments: The club issue is believed to be closely related by style to the fully anonymous RRC 53/2 group 4. In fact many coins of these two varieties are identical stylistically but for the symbol. It is now believed that all denari of this period of the II Punic war were struck in the war theater, probably in Apulia, rather than in Rome as Crawford suggested.

The reverse of this coin is slightly off-center and there is some indication of over striking, although it is so light the under-type is not discernable. Otherwise lovely iridescent toning, struck on a round flan and EF.
1 comments
4390442.jpg
Crawford 410/4, ROMAN REPUBLIC, Q. Pomponius Musa, AR DenariusRome, The Republic.
Q. Pomponius Musa, mid-50s BCE
AR Denarius (3.96g; 18mm).
Rome Mint.

Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo(?), hair tied-up, facing right; scepter behind.

Reverse: MVSA - Q.POMPONI; Melpomene, muse of tragedy, facing left and holding club and theatrical mask.

References: Crawford 410/4; Sydenham 816; BMCRR 3615-16; Pomponia 14.

Provenance: Ex Fay Beth Wedig Collection [CNG eSale 439 (6 Mar 2019) Lot 442]; NAC 11 (29 Apr 1998), Lot 253.

Q. Pomponius Musa, who punned his name by depicting the Muses on a series of coins, is unknown except for his coins, which makes precise dating of the series difficult. For many years, scholars (including Crawford) dated the series to 66 BCE. However, the absence of any examples of the series in the large Mesagne hoard caused Hersh and Walker to bring down the date of the series to 56 BCE. Michael Harlan, retracting his reticence with the Mesagne dating, later proposed a date of 52 BCE.

There are two varieties of Musa denarii: the first depicts Apollo/Hercules Musarum (see my gallery example); the second, of which there are nine sub-varieties, depict Apollo and a Muse. The above coin is of the second variety.

Apollo is often depicted androgynously on ancient coins. The standard references consistently attribute the obverse heads on both varieties of Musa’s coins as Apollo; but the depictions are notably different between the Hercules and Muse varieties. On the Hercules variety, the deity’s hair is down and tied, and generally consistent with many depictions of Apollo on other Roman Republican coins (see, e.g., denarii of L. Calpurnius Piso and C. Calpurnius Piso). Comparatively, the head on the above Muse variety is considerably more feminine in appearance and laureate, though lacking earrings, necklaces or other feminine accents. Admittedly, this more feminine type head has also been attributed by scholars as Apollo on other coin types (see, e.g., denarii of P. Clodius and C. Considius). However, within the same series the different styled heads appear to depict different deities. Given the Muse emblems behind each head on the nine Muse types, it’s possible that the feminine heads do not represent Apollo, but the Muses themselves. Michael Harlan agrees with this interpretation in both editions of "Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins." More research on this issue is needed.

Melpomene, whose name actually means “songstress” was originally one of the muses of song, but her role changed to muse of tragic theater after the development of drama in classical Greece sometime in the sixth century BCE. She is generally depicted holding a club or knife and a tragic mask, which Greek actors wore on stage when performing dramatic plays.
2 commentsCarausius
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Croatia, Ruins of the amphitheater of SolinRuins of the amphitheater of Salona, Dalmatia (Solin, Croatia). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solin,_CroatiaJoe Sermarini
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Faustus Cornelius SullaAR denarius. 56 BC. 4.05 g, 9h. Head of young Hercules right, wearing lion's skin headdress, paws knotted below his chin; SC above FAVSTVS monogram behind. / Globe surrounded by four wreaths, the larger jewelled and tied with fillet; aplustre and stalk of grain below. Crawford 426/4a. RSC Cornelia 61 .
This coin is one of ten million denarii that the Senate of Rome commissioned for the purchase of wheat in the year 56 BC. All those extra denarii, struck alongside the normal coin issues, bear the letters S.C for "Senatus Consulto" (by decree of the Senate) on their obverse, behind the head of Hercules. The ligated letters FAVS refer to the moneyer, Faustus Cornelius Sulla.

The ear of grain on the reverse illustrates that this denarius was indeed minted in connection with the purchase of wheat. Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, who transacted the business, was the father in law of the moneyer Sulla, and effectually used his son in law's position to advertise himself. Three of the wreaths on the reverse commemorate the three triumphs of Pompey: He was the first Roman to celebrate a triumph on each of the three then-known continents. With this Pompey had made Rome a world power, which is symbolized by the globe in the middle. The fourth wreath, larger than the others, stands for the extraordinary honor that Pompey was bestowed with in 63 BC, when he was allowed to wear a golden headdress when going to the circus or the theater.
1 commentsbenito
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Germany, Trier - AmphitheaterUnder the Arena
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Germany, Trier - AmphitheaterThe way into arena
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Germany, Trier - AmphitheaterThe arena, built in the 2nd century A.D. for cruel games with gladiators and animals, had a seating capacity of about 20,000.
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Germany, Trier - Amphitheaterthe entrance
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Greece, Epirus, Kassope Street in Kassope and view to the southGreece, Epirus, Kassope Street in Kassope and view to the south

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kassope_2016-05-09_13.06.21.jpg
9 May 2016 Rjdeadly

Kassope or Cassope was an ancient Greek city in Epirus. Kassope occupies a magnificent and remote site on a high platform overlooking the sea, the Ambracian Gulf and the fertile lands to the south, and with the slopes of the Zalongo mountain to the north. It is considered one of the best remaining examples of a city built on a rectilinear street grid of a Hippodamian plan in Greece. The first settlements on the site are from the Paleolithic. However the city of Kassope was founded in the middle of the 4th century B.C. as the capital of the Kassopaeans, a sub-tribe of the Thesprotians. It belonged to the Aetolian League. Cassope or Cassopia is mentioned in the war carried on by Cassander against Alcetas II of Epirus, in 312 B.C. The city flourished in the 3rd century BC, when large public buildings were built. Kassope also minted its own coins. It was destroyed by Roman forces in 168-167 B.C. Kassope was abandoned in 31 B.C. when the remaining inhabitants resettled to Nikopolis the region’s new capital. The visible remains include the Cyclopean walls, an agora, a theater, the prytaneion.
Joe Sermarini
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Herod I (the Great)Herod I (the Great). 40-4 BCE. Æ 8 Prutot, 22mm, 5.82 g. Samaria mint. Dated RY 3 (40 BCE). O: Ceremonial bowl (lebes) on tripod; date L Γ (Year 3) to left, monogram to right. Greek Inscription: BAΣIΛEΩΣ HPΩΔOÎ¥ (of King Herod.) R: Military helmet with cheek guards and straps, star above, palms flanking. Meshorer 44; Hendin 486; RPC I 4901.


Although there is debate over exactly what year “Year 3” refers to, the monogram TP may well indicate the third year of Herod’s tetrarchy. Josephus writes that Mark Antony appointed Herod as tetrarch (TETPAPXHΣ) in 42 B.C.E., which would bring us to 40/39 B.C.E. This is also when Herod was crowned as King of Judaea by the Roman Senate with the approval of Octavian (soon to be Augustus.)

This dating helps to explain the meaning of the obverse image of a soldier’s helmet. Although Herod was appointed as king, the Hasmonaean king, Mattathias Antigonus, was still ruling over Judea and did not recognize Roman authority. Herod would therefore have to raise an army, which he did, and, after a three month siege, conquered Jerusalem in 37 B.C.E.


Although Herod accomplished a great deal during his thirty-year + reign, including the building of massive palaces and amphitheaters and enlarging the temple, he is most remembered as a jealous, paranoid murderer, willing to do anything to maintain his political power.

Herod ordered the death of his Hasmonaean wife Mariamne and her brother Aristobulus. Later he had his two sons by Mariamne killed as well. This effectively eliminated the most serious threats to his power in Judaea. Caesar Augustus observed that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son. His wickedness reached its peak years later when, in fear of a rival king, he ordered the killing of all the boys two years of age and under in Bethlehem.

The Bible writer Matthew records Jesus’ birth taking place, “in the days of Herod the king.” A star led astrologers to Herod proclaiming the birth “of the one born king of the Jews.” The resulting slaughter of these children fulfilled the prophesy at Jeremiah 31:15, “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘In Ra′mah a voice is being heard, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping over her sons. She has refused to be comforted over her sons, because they are no more.’”
4 commentsNemonater
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Israel, Beth Shean, The Roman TheaterBeit She'an, better known in English as Beth Shean, is a city in the Northern District of Israel. It has played an important role in history due to its geographical location at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the Jezreel Valley. In the Biblical account of the battle of the Israelites against the Philistines on Mount Gilboa, the bodies of King Saul and three of his sons were hung on the walls of Beit She'an (1 Samuel 31:10-12). In Hellenistic and Roman times, the city was named Scythopolis and was the leading city of the Decapolis, a league of pagan cities. The ancient city ruins are now protected within the Beit She'an National Park. 1 commentsJoe Sermarini
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Israel, Jerusalem, Supreme Court Entrance Hall - Mosaic from Hamat Gader Synagogue A section of the mosaic pavement recovered from the ancient Hamat Gader synagogue, now installed in the entrance hall of the Supreme Court of Israel.

Hamat Gader was already a widely known health and recreation site in Roman times. It is mentioned in Strabo, Origen and Eunapius, as well as the Rabbinic literature. Construction of the bath complex began in the 2nd century by the 10th Roman Legion, which was garrisoned in nearby Gadara. The site includes a Roman theater, which was built in the 3rd century CE and contained 2,000 seats. A large synagogue was built in the 5th century CE. The empress Aelia Eudocia composed a poem praising the qualities of the multiple springs which was inscribed so that visitors could see it as they went into the pool.
Joe Sermarini
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Italy- Pompeii- The big theatre and the Odeon small theatreThe Big theater and Odeon the small theatre beside.
This ‘small theatre’, perhaps used for musical performances and poetry readings, was built in the early years of the Sullan colony (around 80 BC). According to inscriptions found here, it had a roof to ensure excellent acoustics: this rested on outer walls that bordered the tiers of seats (cavea), decorated with sculpted telamons: the lower part (ima cavea) has low, wide seating steps (bisellia) reserved for the decurions; a balustrade decorated with winged gryphon paws distinguishes it from the media cavea.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Largo (di Torre) ArgentinaLargo di Torre Argentina is a square in Rome that hosts four Republican Roman temples, and the reminings of Pompey's Theater. It is located in the ancient Campus Martius.

Common knowledge refers the name of the square to a Torre Argentina, which is not related to the South American country, but to the city of Strasbourg, whose original name was Argentoratum. In 1503, in fact, John Burckhardt from Strasbourg built in via del Sudario a palace (now at number 44), Casa del Bucardo, annexing a tower, called Torre Argentoratina from the name of his hometown.

After Italian unification, it was decided to reconstruct part of Rome (1909), demolishing the zone of Torre Argentina, where the remainings of a medieval tower, Torre Papito or Torre Boccamazzi, and of one temple were to be included in the new buildings. During the works (1927), however, the colossal head and arms of a marble statue were discovered. The archeological investigation brought to light the presence of a holy area, dating to the Republican era, with four temples and part of Pompey's Theater.

The buildings
The four temples, designated today by the letters A, B, C, and D, front onto a paved street, which was reconstructed in the imperial era, after 80 AD fire.

Temple A was built in the 3rd century BC, and is probably the Temple of Juturna built by Gaius Lutatius Catulus after his victory against Carthaginians in 241 BC. It was later rebuilt into a church, whoes aprses are still present.

Temple B, a circular temple with six columns remaining, was built by Quintus Lutatius Catulus in 101 BC to celebrate his victory over Cimbri; it was Aedes Fortunae Huiusce Diei, a temple devoted to the Luck of the Current Day. The colossal statue found during excavations and now kept in the Capitoline Museums was the statue of the goddess herself. Only the head, the arms, and the legs were of marble: the other parts, covered by the dress, were of bronze.

Temple C is the most ancient of the three, dating back to 4th or 3rd century BC, and was probably devoted to Feronia the ancient Italic goddess of fertility. After the fire of 80 AD, this temple was restored, and the white and black mosaic of the inner temple cell dates back to this restoration.

Temple D is the largest of the four, dates back to 2nd century BC with Late Republican restorations, and was devoted to Lares Permarini, but only a small part of it has been excavated (a street covers the most of it).

Teatro Argentina is a 18th century theater, where Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville debuted in 1816, as well as Giuseppe Verdi's I due Foscari (1844) and La battaglia di Legnano (1849).

Located in the Largo Argentina is the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary, a no-kill shelter for homeless cats (of which Rome has many). The presence of the shelter proves to be a point of interest for both tourists and locals, as the historical area abounds with various breeds of cat, cavorting and lounging about on the ancient (and semi-ancient) ruins.
Peter Wissing
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Joe Geranio Collection -Cn. Domitius L.f. Ahenobarbus. 41-40 BC. AR Denariushe Republicans. Cn. Domitius L.f. Ahenobarbus. 41-40 BC. AR Denarius (20mm, 3.61 g, 7h). Uncertain mint along the Adriatic or Ionian Sea. Head right / Prow right surmounted by a military trophy. Crawford 519/2; CRI 339; Sydenham 1177; Domitia 21. Fine, lightly toned, minor porosity and scratches, banker’s mark on each side.

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus accompanied his father at Corfinium and Pharsalus on the side of Pompey. After his pardon by Julius Caesar, he retired to Rome in 46 BC. After Caesar's assassination, Ahenobarbus supported Brutus and Cassius, and in 43 BC was condemned under the terms of the Lex Pedia for complicity in the assassination. Ahenobarbus achieved considerable naval success against the Second Triumvirate in the Ionian theater, where this denarius was certainly minted, but finally, through the mediation of Gaius Asinius Pollio, he reconciled with Mark Antony, who thereupon made him governor of Bithynia. He participated in Antony's campaign against the Parthians, and was consul in 32 BC. When war broke out between Antony and Octavian, Ahenobarbus initially supported Antony, but, disgusted by Antony’s relationship with Cleopatra, sided with Octavian shortly before Actium. His only child, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, was married to Antonia Maior, the daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia. Their son, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, married Agrippina Minor, the sister of the emperor Caligula, and was the father of the emperor Nero. Anyone may use as long as credited to Joe Geranio Collection.
Joe Geranio
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Jordan, Petra - TheaterA vieuw on some graves and on the left side a theater.pax
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Jordan, Petra - Theater 2The remains, the side were the artists stood.
The theater was build in 100 a.c., and expanded in 106 when the Romans came.
pax
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Jordan, Petra - Theater 3pax
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Jordan, Petra, The TheaterAt the end of the narrow gorge, the Siq, stands Petra's most elaborate ruin, popularly known as Al-Khazneh ("the Treasury"), hewn into the sandstone cliff. While remaining in remarkably preserved condition, the face of the structure is marked by hundreds of bullet holes made by the local Bedouin tribes that hoped to dislodge riches that were once rumored to be hidden within it. A little farther from the Treasury, at the foot of the mountain called en-Nejr, is a massive theater, positioned so as to bring the greatest number of tombs within view. At the point where the valley opens out into the plain, the site of the city is revealed with striking effect. The theater was cut into the hillside and into several of the tombs during its construction. Rectangular gaps in the seating are still visible. Almost enclosing it on three sides are rose-colored mountain walls, divided into groups by deep fissures and lined with knobs cut from the rock in the form of towers.

Date: 26 October 2006
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/douglaspperkins/286630893/
Author: Douglas Perkins

Joe Sermarini
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Morocco, LixusLixus is the site of an ancient Roman city located in Morocco just north of the modern seaport of Larache on the bank of the Loukkos River. The location was one of the main cities of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana .

Ancient Lixus is located on Tchemmich Hill on the right bank of the Loukkos River (other names: Oued Loukous; Locus River), just to the north of the modern seaport of Larache. The site lies within the urban perimeter of Larache, and about three kilometers inland from the mouth of the river and the Atlantic ocean. From its 80 meters above the plain the site dominates the marshes through which the river flows. To the north, Lixus is surrounded by hills which themselves are bordered to the north and east by a forest of cork oaks.

Among the ruins there are Roman baths, temples, 4th century walls, a mosaic floor, a Christian church and the intricate and confusing remains of the Capitol Hill.

Lixus was first settled by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC and was later annexed by Carthage. Lixus was part of a chain of Phoenician/Carthaginian settlements along the Atlantic coast of modern Morocco; other major settlements further to the south are Chellah (called Sala Colonia by the Romans) and Mogador. When Carthage fell to Ancient Rome, Lixus, Chellah and Mogador became imperial outposts of the Roman province Mauretania Tingitana.

The ancient sources agree to make of Lixus a counter Phoenician, which is confirmed by the archaeological discovery of material dating from 8th century BC. It gradually grew in importance, later coming under Carthaginian domination. After the destruction of Carthage, Lixus fell to Roman control and was made an imperial colony, reaching its zenith during the reign of the emperor Claudius I (AD 41-54).

Some ancient Greek writers located at Lixus the mythological garden of the Hesperides, the keepers of the golden apples. The name of the city was often mentioned by writers from Hanno the Navigator to the Geographer of Ravenna, and confirmed by the legend on its coins and by an inscription. The ancients believed Lixus to be the site of the Garden of the Hesperides and of a sanctuary of Hercules, where Hercules gathered gold apples, more ancient than the one at Cadiz, Spain. However, there are no grounds for the claim that Lixus was founded at the end of the second millennium BC.

Lixus flourished during the Roman Empire, mainly when Claudius established a Roman Colonia with full rights for the citizens. Lixus was one of the few Roman cities in Berber Africa that enjoyed an amphitheater: the amphitheater at Lixus. In the third century Lixus become nearly fully Christian and there are even now the ruins of a paleochristian church overlooking the archeological area. The Arab invasions destroyed the Roman city. Some berber life was maintained there nevertheless until one century after the Islamic conquest of North Africa by the presence of a mosque and a house with patio with the covered walls of painted stuccos.

The site was excavated continuously from 1948 to 1969. In the 1960s, Lixus was restored and consolidated. In 1989, following an international conference which brought together many scientists, specialists, historians and archaeologists of the Mediterranean around the history and archaeology of Lixus, the site was partly enclosed. Work was undertaken to study the Roman mosaics of the site, which constitute a very rich unit. In addition to the vestiges interesting to discover the such mosaics whose one of sixty meters representing Poseidon. Lixus was on a surface of approximately 75 hectares (190 acres). The excavated zones constitute approximately 20% of the total surface of the site.

This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on July 1, 1995 in the Cultural category.
Joe Sermarini
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PergamonThe oldest section of Pergamon, the acropolis or upper city, sits on an impressive steep ridge between two tributaries of the Caicus river. The ridge is naturally fortified on all but the S side which slopes down to the Caicus valley floor. The Caicus valley provides access from Pergamon to the Aegean coast and the port town of Elaea in the W and the Persian Royal Road to the E.

The upper city, which was fortified in the 4th or 3rd century B.C. contains the 3rd century Sanctuary of Athena, the oldest cult center of the city as well as palace quarters, barracks, and arsenals. In the 2nd century B.C. the 10,000 seat theater, the library adjacent to the Sanctuary of Athena, and the Great Altar of Zeus and Athena were added. In the 2nd century A.D. the monumental Trajaneum was erected on what must have been an earlier unknown cult center. From the upper agora a paved main street leads S and downslope to the middle city.

The city of Pergamon began to extend down the S slope in the 3rd century B.C. and during the 2nd century a massive building program completely transformed the entire lower slope. The major construction in the area was the gigantic gymnasium complex which extended down three large terraces linked by vaulted stairways and passages. The complex encorporated three open training courts, a covered track or xystus, a small theater or odeum, several shrines, and two large baths. Other major sections of the middle city included the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore and, below the gymnasium along the main street leading to the Eumenes' Gate, the lower agora. North and E of the gymnasium massive terraces support the streets and houses of the residential quarter. In the first half of the 2nd century B.C. Eumenes II strengthened the entire fortification system of Pergamon and enclosed all of the middle city, which extended almost to the base of the south slope, within the new walls.

During the Roman Imperial period the city continued to expand southward and spread over the plain and the area occuppied by modern Bergama. The large Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods (the "Kizil Avlu"), numerous bridges, and remains of the Roman stadium, theater, and amphitheater remain visible today.

Pergamon emerged as a power during the struggle for territorial control following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. By the middle of the 3rd century Pergamon had been established as an independent state under the leadership of the Attalid dynasty. The power of the Attalids and the city grew as a result of successful battles against the Gauls of central Anatolia and careful political alliances with Rome.

The peak period of Pergamene power and achievement was reached during the reign of Eumenes II (197-159 B.C.). The kingdom had grown to include most of western Anatolia and was rich in agriculture and industry. Noted industrial exports included textiles, fine pottery, and "Pergamene paper" or parchment. The last industry developed when Ptolemy, reportedly jealous of the growing fame of the library in Pergamon, prohibited the export of papyrus from Egypt. Eumenes II enlarged the city of Pergamon to include all of the southern slope and enclosed the city with a new and stronger fortification wall. In addition to the major new constructions in the lower city Eumenes also commissioned the Great Altar of Zeus and Athena, the theater, and the new library in the upper city.

In the 2nd century B.C. Pergamon rivalled Athens and Alexandria as centers of Hellenic culture. The city possessed one of the greatest libraries of antiquity, monumental gymnasia, and numerous religious sanctuaries, including the Asklepion outside the city walls. Pergamon was a haven for noted philosophers and artists and was the center of a major movement in Hellenistic sculpture. The Attalids supported the arts and learning in Pergamon and elsewhere and made major donations, such as the Stoa of Attalos II in Athens.

The last Attalid ruler, Attalos III, bequeathed the kingdom of Pergamon to Rome in 133 B.C. During Roman rule the prosperity of Pergamon continued and the city had a period of commercial expansion. The city itself expanded to the plain S and W of the acropolis across the flat land now occuppied by modern Bergama.

See: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/siteindex?lookup=Pergamon

Cleisthenes
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Pompeii theaterFully intact theater in PompeiiJay GT4
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Pompeii AmpitheaterGladiators view of the seating inside the ampitheater. Much of the seating is still covered in dirt, hence the grass. It is in a remarkable state of preservation.Jay GT4
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RIC 0010 Titus denariusIMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG PM
Laureate head of Titus right

TR P VIII IMP XIII COS VII
Statue of radiate male figure with spear and parazonium on rostral column

Rome, After July 1, 79 CE
2.89g

RIC 10 (R)

Ex-Incitatus

A fairly rare type from the beginning of Titus reign which omits the PP ending. The coin copies a type issued by Vespasian, which itself copies an earlier type for Augustus. Mattingly argues the reverse is the colossus built by Nero which stood in the Domus Aurea. Vespasian renamed the statue Sol by adding a radiate crown and moved it outside of the Flavian amphitheater. The story goes, (according to one of the more popular theories) that the Flavian amphitheater got it's name, the Colesseum because of its proximity to the Colossus.

6 commentsJay GT4
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RIC 0773Vespasian (69-79). AR Denarius (18.08 mm, 3.50 g, 6h). Rome, AD 75.
Obv: Bare head l. R IMP CEASAR VESPASIANUS AUG
Rev: Pax seated l., resting l. elbow on throne and holding branch.
PON MAX TRP COS VI
RIC II 773 (this coin); RSC –. Extremely Rare variety, near VF.
Ex Vecchi sale 13, 1998, 757.
Ex: St Paul Antiques auction 7 Lot 285 June 11, 2017




Vespasian ruled Rome for 10 years, and he was the last emperor in the year of the four emperors. His rule brought stability to the empire. He was famous for his military response to the Jewish revolt, and for the construction of the Flavian amphitheater. The looting of Jerusalem provided the funding for this building project. The colosseum was completed by his son Titus who became emperor after the death of Vespasian. The Flavian era had three emperors, Vespasian, his son Titus and his other son Domitian.

While this coin is worn, please take note of the bare head of Vespasian. There are only 2 known coin types that feature Vespasian with a bare head, all others are laureate. For one coin type there are several examples known to exist. For the coin type displayed below, this coin was, until very recently the only one to have surfaced. A second example has now been found by an expert on Flavian coinage. The reference Roman Imperial Coinage II Part 1 refers to my coin but does not have a photo of the coin. I sent a photo to the co-author of the volume, and I hope that a photo will be added when this edition is updated.
7 commentsorfew
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RIC 0950 [VESPASIAN]Titus. AR Denarius as Caesar, AD 69-79. Rome, under Vespasian, Struck AD 77/8.
(19.04 mm, 3.25 g),
Obv: T CAESAR IMP VESPASIANVS, laureate head of Titus right.
Rev: COS VI, prow of galley right, sides ornameted with intricate cross-hatch and maeander patterns; above, star with sixteen rays. RIC 950 (R); BN 202; BMC 226; RSC 68.
Ex: Incitatus Coins




Titus was very much involved in the suppression of the Jewish revolt in Judea. His other claim to fame was that he completed the construction of the Flavian Amphitheater after the death of his father Vespasian.

Titus had something else in common with his father. Like his father, Titus used coin types that were throwbacks to earlier times. One such example is the coin below. On the reverse you will see a ship's prow and a star overhead. This image hearkens back to the Imperatorial period on coins of Marcus Antonius and Ahenobarbus. However, it goes back even further to the republic when it was used on many bronze coins. On the issue of these coins copying earlier designs, a friend who is also an expert in Flavian coinage has this to say:

"I believe that many of these antiquarian reverse types of Vespasian and Titus were struck because the mint was recycling the finer republican and early imperial denarii. The older denarii were struck at nearly 100% silver fineness, the Flavian denarii at 80% fineness. Thus the mint was able to turn over a tidy profit."

This was not an easy coin to find. I had been looking for unusual reverse of Titus and this one popped up at an opportune time. This coin was minted when Titus was Caesar, or next in line to be emperor.
1 commentsorfew
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RIC 133 TitusÆ Sestertius, 23.26g
Rome mint, 80 AD
Obv: IMP T CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS VIII; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: IVDAEA CAPTA; S C in exergue; Palm tree; to l., Captive stg. r.; to r., Judaea std. r.
RIC 133 (R2). BMC -. BNC -. Hendin 1589.
Acquired from Solidus, March 2023. Ex Solidus Auction 108, 8 November 2022, lot 299.

An extremely rare Judaea Capta commemorative sestertius struck for Titus in early 80, possibly to coincide with the opening of the massive Flavian Amphitheater. A recently discovered dedicatory inscription of the building states "The Emperor Titus Caesar Vespasian Augustus Commanded the New Amphitheater to be Built from the Spoils of War." Combined with the original decoration scheme of palm trees, shields, and captives it is compelling evidence that Titus' 'Judaea Capta' coins were issued during the structure's inaugural games in the late spring or early summer of 80. The reverse copies a similar Judaea Capta type struck for Vespasian in 71, possibly serving as a 'stop-gap' issue until new reverse designs were prepared for Titus (RIC, p.184). The coin features a couple of differences from the more common 'IVD CAP' sestertii struck later in the same year: the obverse legend is counter clockwise with 'VESPASIAN' fully spelled out, and the reverse fully spells 'IVDAEA CAPTA' with some minor differences in the design (figures are reversed around the palm, shield instead of plough near standing captive). RIC places this coin as a Rome mint issue struck in early 80 alongside two other types - Mars and Pax, based on the 'Rome mint' style of the portraits, all of which share the same obverse die. Curtis Clay has proposed (Gemini IX, lot 448) a Thracian origin for the issue because of the flat fabric of the flans (a trademark of the Thracian mint), many of the specimens came to market after the fall of the Iron Curtain, and the reverse designs match those struck later at the Thracian mint. He further argues the 'Rome mint' style can be explained by Roman die engravers being transferred to Thrace. The style indeed mirrors contemporary Rome mint denarii, which can only be a result of the same engravers working on both issues. Despite the flat fabric of the flans, the style does not match up to the later Thracian issues (heavily seriffed letters, large portraits), and the circulation pattern appears to be similar with the Rome mint issues. Therefore, I believe the coins were struck in Rome, possibly for circulation in the East. Missing from both the BM and Paris collections.
2 commentsDavid Atherton
T149.jpg
RIC 149 TitusÆ Sestertius, 25.80g
Rome mint, 80-81 AD
Obv: IMP T CAES VESP AVG P M TR P P P COS VIII; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, l.
Rev: IVD CAP across field; S C in exergue; Palm tree; to l., Judaea std. l. on arms; to r., Captive stg. r., looking back
RIC 149 (C). BMC 165. BNC 157. Hendin 1592.
Ex Bertolami E-Live Auction 236, 24-25 September 2022, lot 800.

The Jewish War was a gift that kept on giving for the Flavian dynasty. This rare Judaea Capta commemorative sestertius was struck a decade after the fall of Jerusalem for Titus as Augustus. The new emperor wished to remind the Roman populace of his military bona fides and his part in the Jewish War. This later variant of the type differs from those stuck under Vespasian by the shortened reverse legend (IVD CAP instead of IVDAEA CAPTA) and the presence of an oblong shield or yoke(?) to the right of the standing captive. COS VIII dates the coin to either 80 or 81, although it's possible the IVD CAP types were struck in 80 to coincide with the opening of the massive Flavian Amphitheater. A recently discovered dedicatory inscription of the building states "The Emperor Titus Caesar Vespasian Augustus Commanded the New Amphitheater to be Built from the Spoils of War." Combined with the original decoration scheme of palm trees, shields, and captives it is compelling evidence the IVD CAP coins were issued during the structure's inaugural games in the late spring or early summer of 80.
1 commentsDavid Atherton
OctavianCuriaRaw.jpg
RIC 266, ROMAN IMPERATORIAL, Octavian, AR DenariusRome. The Imperators.
Octavian, 44-27 BCE.
AR Denarius (3.92g; 20mm).
Italian Mint, Summer 30-29 BCE.

Obverse: Octavian’s bare head, facing right.

Reverse: Roman Senate House; IMP CAESAR on architrave.

References: RIC 266; HCRI 421; BMCRR 4358; Julia 161.

Provenance: Ex Heritage Auction 3063 (16 Jan 2018) Lot 33381; Spink Num. Circ. Vol LXXVIII, No. 6 (June 1970), inv. #6871, pl. 11.

The coin celebrates the dedication of the Curia Julia, a new meeting house for the Roman Senate, construction of which was commenced under Julius Caesar and completed by Octavian circa 29 BCE. Julius Caesar was assassinated at the Theater of Pompey where the Senate was meeting while construction of this new Senate house was underway. It is both ironic and politically astute that Octavian should commemorate this new Senate house on a coin, given that his hold on power made the Senate effectively irrelevant. The structure still stands today, having been restored through the imperial period and later converted to a church.
3 commentsCarausius
Copy_(1)_of_vespasian43.jpg
Roman Empire, Vespasian, Silver Denarus RIC 43Silver denarius, RIC II, part 1, 43; RSC II 43; BMCRE II 50; BnF III 36; Hunter I 21, weight 3.3 g, maximum diameter 18.2 mm, Rome mint, Jul - Dec 71 CE.
Obverse: IMP CAES VESP AVG P M, laureate head right.
Reverse simpulum, sprinkler, jug and lituus, AVGVR above, TRI POT below

Roman emperor Vespasian was most famous for building the Flavian Amphitheater, also known as the Colosseum. Like many Roman emperors, Vespasian rose in prominence because of his military skills and work ethics. Following his ten year rule, he left behind a record of restored order, stability and good government. He was succeeded by his son Titus in 79 CE, who had been sent to quell the Jewish revolt of 66-70 CE.
NORMAN K
IMG_4648.jpg
Roman Terracotta Theater Token 1st-3rd Century AD.Roman Terracotta Theater Token 1st-3rd Century AD.
female head facing right
2 commentsRandygeki(h2)
HieronII.jpg
Sicily, Hieron IIHead of Poseidon left

ΙΕΡΩ-ΝΟΣ
ornamented trident, dolphins at sides

Bronze AE 20
6.96g, 20mm

Syracuse Sicily mint
270-215 BC

SNG Cop 856, SGCV I 1223?

Ex-ANE

Hieron II was tyrant and then king of Syracuse, c. 270 to 215 B.C. His rule brought 50 years of peace and prosperity, and Syracuse became one of the most renowned capitals of antiquity. He enlarged the theater and built an immense altar. The literary figure Theocritus and the philosopher Archimedes lived under his rule. After struggling against the Mamertini, he eventually allied with Rome.
1 commentsJay GT4
AlbinusBrutus.jpg
SOLD! Junius Brutus AlbinusHead of Pietas right

ALBINVS BRVTI F
Clasped hands holding winged caduceus

3.1g

Rome
48 BC

Sear 427; Crawford 450/2; Sydenham 942; RBW 1577

Decimus Junius Brutus was a distant relative of Marcus Brutus. He was known as one of Caesar's "most intamate associates" and a friend of Mark Antony. Albinus had served under Caesar in both the Gallic Wars and the Civil War. He participated in the siege of Massilia (Marseilles) that held out against Caesar for months. He also commanded a Caesarian fleet.

Plutarch considered Albinus "of no great courage," but Albinus was a faithful and loyal supporter of Caesar. He was to be Consul in 42 BC along with Lucius Plancus. While awaiting the consulship Albinus was to become Governor of Cisalpine Gaul when the post became available in the spring of 44BC

Albinus was approached by Cassius and Labeo to involve him in the conspiracy to murder Caesar. Albinus wanted to make sure Marcus Brutus was involved before agreeing to the plot. After meeting with Brutus he agreed. Both Brutus and Albinus received notification of a meeting of the Senate on March 15th and Albinus agreed to use an exhibition of his Gladiators after the meeting as protection in case things got out of hand after the murder had taken place. Caesar's retired legionaries were all around the city and none of the conspirators knew how they would react at Caesar's death.

Sold to Calgary Coin April 2022
At a dinner at the house of Marcus Lepidus on the night of March 14, 44BC Caesar was in attendence along with Decimus Brutus. Towards the end of the night Caesar's secretary approached for him to sign some letters. As he was signing Albinus posed a philosophical question to him: "What sort of death is best?" Caesar answered "A sudden one"

The next morning the Senate awaited Caesar to arrive. Caesr's wife Calpurnia and the auspeces warned Caesar not to attend the meeting. When Caesar delayed the conspirator's sent Albinus to Caesar's house. Albinus convinced Caesar to at least postpone the meeting in person. Antony was against this idea. Caesar was then murered by the conspirators in the Theater of Pompey in the Campus Martius, Albinus being a key player in the conspiracy.
2 commentsJay GT4
Segbriga_Ampitheater.jpg
Spain, Segobriga - AmpitheaterSegobriga is a former Roman city near Saelices, in the province of Cuenca in Spain. It is possibly one of the most important archaeological sites of the Spanish Meseta. The name Segóbriga derives from two words: "Sego" meaning victory and "briga" meaning city fortress. The translation would be "City of the Victory" or "Victorious City." The site includes an amphitheatre, theater, the city walls and gates, two thermal buildings or Roman baths, and the Forum. There is also a necropolis, and the circus (Roman race track) is being excavated - its outline can be seen from the top of the hill.

The Amphitheater, 75m long and of an irregular elliptic shape, is the biggest monument of Segóbriga and had capacity for 5,500

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seg%C3%B3briga_Circo_04_JMM.jpg
Joe Sermarini
Segbriga_Termas_JMM.jpg
Spain, Segobriga - Roman bathsSegóbriga is a former Roman city near Saelices, in the province of Cuenca in Spain. It is possibly one of the most important archaeological sites of the Spanish Meseta. The name Segóbriga derives from two words: "Sego" meaning victory and "briga" meaning city fortress. The translation would be "City of the Victory" or "Victorious City." The site includes an amphitheatre, theater, the city walls and gates, two thermal buildings or Roman baths, and the Forum. There is also a necropolis, and the circus (Roman race track) is being excavated - its outline can be seen from the top of the hill.

Roman Baths: The monumental baths were not only for hygienic reasons but also for social and business purposes.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seg%C3%B3briga_Termas_JMM.jpg
Joe Sermarini
Theater_Segobriga.jpg
Spain, Segobriga - TheaterSegóbriga is a former Roman city near Saelices, in the province of Cuenca in Spain. It is possibly one of the most important archaeological sites of the Spanish Meseta. The name Segóbriga derives from two words: "Sego" meaning victory and "briga" meaning city fortress. The translation would be "City of the Victory" or "Victorious City." The site includes an amphitheatre, theater, the city walls and gates, two thermal buildings or Roman baths, and the Forum. There is also a necropolis, and the circus (Roman race track) is being excavated - its outline can be seen from the top of the hill.

Construction of the theater began under the emperor Tiberius and was completed during the Flavian dynasty, circa AD 79. The orchestra had three tiers of seats for VIP's and is preserved together with seats for spectators divided into sections according to their social classes. The upper cavea was built on the city wall on a vault over a street

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Theater_Segobriga.jpg
Photographer: Art Davis
25 September 2011
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Joe Sermarini
Syracuse_Hieron_II.jpg
Syracuse, Sicily, Hieron II 275 - 215 B.C.Bronze AE 27, Sear GCV 1 1221 var., Lindgren 587 var. 18.022g, 27.4mm, 270 deg, Syracuse mint, c. 275-215 B.C.; Obv. diademed head of Hieron left, beardless; Rev. horseman prancing right, holding couched spear, N below (E in Sear example, Pi in Lindgren), no legend shows in ex. (as in both ref. examples), could be off flan; rough mottled green patina.
Ex Forvm Ancient Coins

photo and Historical background: by Forvm Ancient Coins

Historical background;

Hieron II was tyrant and then king of Syracuse, c. 270 to 215 B.C. His rule brought 50 years of peace and prosperity, and Syracuse became one of the most renowned capitols of antiquity. He enlarged the theater and built an immense altar. The literary figure Theocritus and the philosipher Archimedes lived under his rule. After struggling against the Mamertini, he eventually allied with Rome.
8 commentsSteve E
coins61.JPG
Syria, ApameiaApamea is located on the right bank of the Orontes river about 55 km to the north west of Hama. It overlooks the Ghab valley and was built by Seleucus Nicator, the first king of the Seleucids in Syria in 300 BC. He named it after his parisian wife, Afamea.

The city flourished to an extent that its population numbered half a million. As an Eastern crossroads, it received many distinguished visitors: Cleopetra, Septimus Severus and the Emperor Caracalla. In the Christian era, Apamea became a center of philosophy and thought, especially of Monophostism.

Most of the uncovered ruins in it date back to the Roman and Byzantine ages. It is distinguished for its high walls and the main thoroughfare surrounded by columns with twisted fluting. The street is 1850 meters long and 87 meters wide. The ruins of the Roman theater which have been frequently disturbed, are now a great mass of stone.

Its colonnade (The Cardo Maximus) is 145 meters long. Erected in the 2nd century, it was destroyed in the 12th century by two violent earthquakes; some columns are still standing nevertheless.

To the west of the city, stands the Mudiq citadel, which once formed a defense line along the Orontes.

Fierce battles with Crusaders attempting to conquer it took place in the 12th century, and Nour Eddin finally surrendered it in 1149.

The citadel has huge towers, overlooking the Ghab valley. It also has a Khan (Inn) built by Ottomans in the 16th century which was transformed into an archaeological museum housing Apamea's wonderful mosaics, paintings, and 15,000 cuneiform clay tablets.

Apameia, Syria: Athena / Nike

2nd c. BC. 22mm. Helmeted bust of Athena right / Nike walking left, As SG 5868 but variant legend. aVF. Ex-Sayles
ecoli
Apamea_ad_Orontes_2000.jpg
Syria, The Great Colonnade at ApameaApamea, on the right bank of the Orontes River, was a treasure city and stud-depot of the Seleucid kings, and was the capital of Apamene. Its site is found about 55 km (34 mi) to the northwest of Hama, Syria, overlooking the Ghab valley.

Previously known as Pharmake, it was fortified and enlarged by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 B.C., who so named it after his Bactrian wife, Apama. The fortress was placed upon a hill; the windings of the Orontes, with the lake and marshes, gave it a peninsular form. Seleucus had his commissariat there, 500 elephants, with 30,000 mares, and 300 stallions. The pretender, Diodotus Tryphon, made Apamea the basis of his operations.

Josephus relates, that Pompey marching south from his winter quarters, probably at or near Antioch, razed the fortress of Apamea in 64 B.C. and the city was annexed to the Roman Republic. In the revolt of Syria under Q. Caecilius Bassus, it held out against Julius Caesar for three years till the arrival of Cassius, 46 B.C.
Located at a strategic crossroads for Eastern commerce, the city flourished to the extent that its population eventually numbered half a million. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis. The city boasted one of the largest theaters in the Roman world, and a monumental colonnade.

On the outbreak of the Jewish War, the inhabitants of Apamea spared the Jews who lived in their midst, and would not suffer them to be murdered or led into captivity.
Destroyed by Chosroes I in the 6th century, it was partially rebuilt and known in Arabic as Famia, and destroyed by an earthquake in 1152. In the Crusades it was still a flourishing and important place and was occupied by Tancred.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apamea,_Syria

The ancient city has been damaged as a result of the ongoing civil war in Syria.
Joe Sermarini
Jableh_2.jpg
Syria, The Roman theater of Gabalah (Jableh, Syria)Jableh (Arabic: جبلة‎ Ǧabla), also spelt Jebleh, Jabala, Jablah or Gabala, is a coastal city on the Mediterranean in Syria, 25 km north of Baniyas and 25 km south of Latakia, with c. 80,000 inhabitants (2008). In antiquity Jableh was an important Roman city, one of the main remains of this period is an amphitheater, capable of housing c. 7,000 spectators. Near the seashores even older remains were found dating to the Iron Age or Phoenician Era. Less than 1 kilometer of the city center lies the ancient site of Gibala, today known as Tell Tweini. This city was inhabited from the third millennium BCE until the Persian period. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JablehJoe Sermarini
Vlasto_789.jpg
Taras, Calabria276-272 BC (Period VII - The Pyrrhic Hegemony)
AR Didrachm (20mm, 6.44g)
Apollo(...) magistrate.
O: Helmeted warrior on horse cantering left, carrying two javelins and a large round shield decorated with eight-rayed star; ΞΩ behind, [AΠOΛΛΩ] (magistrate) below.
R: Taras (of the plump Dionysiac type) astride dolphin left, holding bunch of grapes in extended right hand, distaff over left shoulder; ANΘ to right, TAPAΣ below.
D'Andrea XLII, 1203; Vlasto 789-91; Evans VII, F2 or F6; Cote 413; SNG France 1920; McGill II, 84; HGC I, 887; SNG ANS 1131-1133; HN Italy 1013
ex Numisantique

The helmeted warrior shown here behind a large shield is a definite departure from the typical image found on this coinage. The earlier naked skirmishers have been replaced by the fully armored cavalryman presented here. This was of course a gradual process, but the evolution becomes more apparent on later issues where the rider is clearly depicted wearing a cuirass.
This plump rendition of Taras also differs greatly from previous images and is actually meant to represent a young Iacchus, the son of Dionysus and Persephone. Similar images can be found on kraters and terracotta votives found in the region. The attributes of Dionysus which he carries show the foreign influence of the chthonic cult of Dionysus upon the city of Taras. This relatively new mystery cult was introduced along side the earlier ouranic cults of Poseidon and Apollo, and the inclusion of Iacchus here represents a distinct link to the Mysteries of Eleusis.
The distaff, in this context, is probably a reference to Ariadne, a wife of Dionysus, but its’ phallic nature also symbolizes the god of ecstasy Himself.


- The Tarantinians Carouse -
The theaters are full, music everywhere,
here debauchery and lewdness, and there
athletic and sophistical contests.
An unwithering wreath adorns the statue
of Dionysus. Not an earthly nook remains
unsprinkled by libations...
~ Kavafy (1933)
2 commentsEnodia
antose63.jpg
TEMPLE, ANTONINUS PIUS, Temple of Romaorichalcum sestertius (25.11, 6h) Rome mint. Struck AD 141-143.
aNT[-]ONINVS AVG [-] PIVS P P TR P COS III laureate head of Antoninus Pius facing right
ROMAE AETERNAE [/] S C ornamented dekastyle temple with the statue of Roma inside; quadriga (suggested) at top.
RIC 623 (scarce); Cohen 703(fr.12); BMC 1279; Foss (Roman Historical Coins) 125:24a
ex CNG EAuction 52

The temple of Roma was designed by Hadrian (himself) in AD 121 and completed by Antoninus Pius in 141. It stood facing the forum, and was built back to back with the temple of Venus, which faced the Flavian Amphitheater. The two temples in one building were referred to as the Temple of Venus and Roma ("Templum Veneris et Romae"). Hadrian had to have the colossal statue of Nero removed in order to make room for the temples, which were built on the site of the vestibule of Nero's golden house. (He had Nero's statue placed near the entrance to the Ampitheater, and this provided the nickname, "Colloseum".) Their ruins prove both temples consisted of ten colums, and the coins suggest many decorative details.
3 commentsCharles S
TEATROpb9DaR.jpg
Theater ticketRugser
tesserapb01DaR.jpg
Theater ticketRugser
Titus_RIC_II_108.jpg
Titus RIC II 0108Titus. 79-81 A.D. Rome Mint. 80 A.D. 1 Jan.-30 June. (3.24g, 18.6mm, 5h). Obv: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, laureate head r. Rev: TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P, curule chair, above wreath. RIC II 108, BMC 66, RSC 318. Toned. EF. Ex Harry N. Sneh collection.

A stellar example of a common coin. I’ve had the left facing bust of this type for some time, and was finally able to add the more common right in a high quality.

One of the new series of pulvinaria series thought to be issued to commemorate the opening of the Flavian Amphitheater.
6 commentsLucas H
Titus_RIC_II_0109.jpg
Titus RIC II 0109Titus 79-81 A.D. AR Denarius. Rome Mint. 1 Jan.-30 June 80 A.D. (2.87g, 17.9m, 6h). Obv: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG PM, laureate head left. Rev: TRP IX IMP XV COS VIII PP, curule chair, wreath above. RIC II 109 (R),

With the more scarce left facing head, this is one of a new series of pulvinaria types, thought to be related to the inauguration of the Flavian Amphitheater. This coin is dated before 1 July, as Titus took TRP X on that date. The largest output of Titus’ denarii fell in the first six months of 80 A.D, thought perhaps to be due to the great fire in Rome.
Lucas H
Titus_RIC_II_109.jpg
Titus RIC II 0109Titus 79-81 A.D. AR Denarius. Rome Mint. 80 , 1 Jan.-30 June A.D. (2.91gm 18.9mm 6h). Obv: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG PM, laureate head left. Rev: TRP IX IMP XV COS VIII PP, curule chair, wreath above. RIC II 109 (R), BMC 70, RSC 319.

Another left facing head on a pulvinaria type, thought to be related to the inauguration of the Flavian Amphitheater. This coin is dated before 1 July, as Titus took TRP X on that date. I rarely upgrade, but this example was well priced and much nicer than the example I previously had in my collection.
2 commentsLucas H
11_Titus_RIC_II_112.jpg
Titus RIC II 0112Titus. 79-81 A.D. AR Denarius. Rome Mint. 80 A.D. 1 Jan- 30 June. (3.46 g, 18.87 mm, 6h). Obv: r. to l, out-IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M. Rev: l. to r., in-TRP IX IMP XV COS VIII PP, dolphin coiled around anchor. RIC 112, RSC 309, BMC 72, Sear 2517. Ex David Hendin.

This type may have been issued as a part of a series to commemorate the opening of the Flavian Amphitheater, or Colosseum which was begun under Vespasian and financed, at least in part, by the treasure plundered from the Jewish Temple during the sack of Jerusalem.
8 commentsLucas H
Titus_RIC_II_119.jpg
Titus RIC II 0119Titus. 79-81 A.D. AR Denarius. Rome Mint, 80, 1 Jan.-30 June A.D. (3.3 g, 18.07 mm, 6 o) Obv: IMP TITVS CɅES VESPɅSIɅN ɅVG PM, laureate head right. Rev: TRP IX IMP XV COS VIII PP, winged thunderbolt on draped table or chair. RIC II 119, Sear 2513, BMC 51, RSC 316. Ex David Hendin.

This is a part of a pulvinaria (supplication to the gods) series by Titus in 80 A.D.. This could be to celebrate the opening of the Flavian Amphitheater, or, in the alternative, it could be to supplicate the gods after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D.
2 commentsLucas H
Titus_RIC_II_123.jpg
Titus RIC II 0123Titus. 79-81 A.D. AR Denarius. Rome Mint. 80 A.D. 1 Jan.- 30 June. (3.13g, 18.3mm, 6h). IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG PM, laureate head left. Rev: TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII, PP, Seat, draped; above, semicircular frame with three crescents. RIC II 123, BMC 60, RSC 311.

Another left facing head on a pulvinaria type, thought to be related to the inauguration of the Flavian Amphitheater. Still listed as common, the left facing specimens seem fewer and father between than their right facing counterparts. This coin has a tight flan, but maintains full legends and devices.
Lucas H
060617a.jpg
Titus, 24 June 79 - 13 September 81 A.D.
SH70237. Silver denarius, RIC II, part 1, 124; RSC II 313a; BMCRE II 61;
BnF III 50; SRCV I 2515, F, nice portrait, toned, Rome mint, weight 3.418g,
maximum diameter 17.5mm, die axis 135o, 1 Jan - 30 Jun 80 A.D.;
obverse IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN P M•, laureate head right;
reverse TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P, facing empty throne of a deity (pulvinar)

with a triangular back, back ornamented with uncertain objects and a cross
at the peak, seat draped with a fringed cover

At the Circus Maximus, a stone platform (pulvinar) was raised high above the
track-side seats with empty thrones (also called pulvinar) for the gods to watch
the games. The imperial family watched from there, alongside the gods.
This coin, struck at the time the Colosseum opened, likely depicts one of the
seats reserved for the gods in the new amphitheater
Sold 2-2018
1 commentsNORMAN K
Titus_RIC_115.jpg
Titus, denarius.Titus, denarius.
RIC 115, RSC 303.
Rome Mint, A.D. 80.
19 mm 3.32 gr.
Obv. IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, right.
Rev. TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P; Elephant walking left.

The elephant on this issue represents one of the numerous species displayed in the newly constructed Flavian Amphitheater, or Colosseum. During the opening ceremonies a great number of animals, including elephants, were both exhibited and slaughtered.
4 commentsMarsman
LimyraTheater.jpg
Turkey, Antalya Province, Limyra - TheaterLimyra was a small city in Lycia on the southern coast of Asia Minor, on the Limyrus River, about 5 1/2 KM from the mouth of that river. The ruins are about 5 km northeast of the town of Finike (ancient Phoenicus) in Antalya Province, Turkey. It was a prosperous city, and one of the oldest cities in Lycia. It had rich and abundant soil, and gradually became one of the finest trade settlements in Greece. Pericles adopted it as the capital of the Lycian League. The city came under control of the Persian Empire after it was conquered by Cyrus the Great. He later annexed Lydia and its territories after a decisive victory at the Battle of Thymbra and the Siege of Sardis, where he defeated armies twice as large as his. Cyrus then got his greatest general: Harpagus of Media to conquer the much smaller kingdoms in Anatolia, while he went to conquer the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Anatolia would become an important place for the Persian monarchs who succeeded Cyrus. The massive Royal road constructed by Darius went from the Persian capital of Persepolis, to the Anatolian city of Sardis. Limyra would stay under Persian control until it was conquered and sacked by Alexander the Great. It is mentioned by Strabo (XIV, 666), Ptolemy (V, 3, 6) and several Latin authors. Gaius Caesar, adopted son of Augustus, died there (Velleius Paterculus, II, 102). Ruins consist of a theater, tombs, sarcophagi, bas-reliefs, Greek and Lycian inscriptions etc. About 3 km east of the site is the Roman Bridge at Limyra, one of the oldest segmented arch bridges of the world.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LimyraTheater1.jpg
Photo by Kpisimon, 8 May 1988
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Joe Sermarini
Aspendos_1.JPG
Turkey, Aspendos - Theater's entranceMay 2011FlaviusDomitianus
Theater_Elaiussa.jpg
Turkey, Elaioussa Sebaste, Islands off Cilicia, TheaterElaiussa, meaning olive, was founded in the 2nd century B.C. on a tiny island attached to the the southern coast of Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey) by a narrow isthmus in Mediterranean Sea. During the reign of Augustus, the Cappadocian king Archelaus founded a new city on the isthmus. Archelaus called it Sebaste, which is the Greek equivalent word of the Latin "Augusta." The city entered a golden age when Vespasian purged Cilicia of pirates in 74 A.D. Towards the end of the 3rd century A.D. however its importance began to wane, due in large part to incursions by the Sassanian King Shapur I in 260 and later by the Isaurians. When its neighbor Corycus began to flourish in the 6th century A.D., Elaiussa Sebaste slowly disappeared from history.

The theater, dating to the 2nd century A.D., is small with only 23 rows of seats, whose steps and decorations unfortunately succumbed to centuries of plunder. Next to the theater is the agora, built in all great probability during the imperial period. At the entrance of the agora, which is surrounded by a semi-destroyed defense wall once rose two monumental fountains in the shape of lions. Inside the agora stands a large church, its floor is covered by sand to protect the mosaic pavement. Elaiussa's only temple stands outside the city on a hill overlooking the sea; only two of the Corinthian columns of this temple, which had 12 on the long and 6 on the short side originally, are standing today. A large bath complex among the lemon groves between the temple and the agora was built with a Roman technique little used in Anatolia. The necropolis is the richest and most impressive of cities of ancient Cilicia. The "Avenue of Graves," located on a hill to the north of the city, preserves close to a hundred graves of various shapes and sizes scattered among the lemon trees. The ancient aqueducts that carried water to the ruins from the Lamos ("Lemon") river also adorn the city’s two entrances. The aqueduct to the west of the city in particular is in relatively good condition. Centuries ago the aqueduct actually ran all the way to Corycus.
Joe Sermarini
ephtheat.jpg
Turkey, Ephesus - TheaterOne of the largest in the ancient world. The apostle Paul spoke here before getting booted out for causing riots.1 comments
Teatro.JPG
Turkey, Hierapolis of Phrygia - TheaterMay 2011FlaviusDomitianus
View_of_agora_from_bouleuterion_of_Iasos_AvL.JPG
Turkey, Iasos, View of the agora from the bouleuterionTurkey, Iasos, View of the agora from the bouleuterion

Iasos or Iassos, Latinized as Iasus or Iassus, was a Greek city in ancient Caria located on the Gulf of Iasos (now called the Gulf of Gulluk), opposite the modern town of Gulluk, Turkey. It was originally on an island, but is now connected to the mainland, near the village of Kiyikislacik, about 31 km from the center of Milas. Iasos was a member of the Delian League and was involved in the Peloponnesian War, 431–404 B.C. After the Sicilian expedition of the Athenians, Iasos was attacked by the Spartans and their allies; it was governed at the time by Amorges, a Persian chief, who had revolted from Darius II. It was taken by the Spartans, who captured Amorges and delivered him up to Tissaphernes. The town itself was plundered on that occasion. It became part of the Hecatomnid satrapy in the 4th century and was conquered by Alexander. We afterwards find it besieged by Philip V, king of Macedon, who, however, was compelled by the Romans to restore it to Ptolemy V of Egypt. It seems to have been abandoned in about the 15th–16th century, in the Ottoman period. Part of the city walls still exist, and are of a regular, solid, and handsome structure. In the side of the rock a theater with many rows of seats still remains, and several inscriptions and coins have been found there.

Photo source: By AlexanderVanLoon - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47358665
Joe Sermarini
Metropolis_from_the_east.jpg
Turkey, Metropolis, Ionia from the EastMetropolis was on the road between Smyrna and Ephesus. Neolithic, Hittite, Mycenaean, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods are represented at the site. Metropolis was a part of the Kingdom of Pergamum during the Hellenistic period, the time when the city reached a zenith of cultural and economic life. Metropolis had a temple dedicated to Ares, one of only two known dedicated to the war god. Strabo wrote that the district produced excellent wine. The ruins are of a Hellenistic city heavily Romanized, with Byzantine remains laid across it – a church to the east of the city, and fortification walls laid across city that connect to the Hellenistic defenses on the Acropolis. Excavations began in 1989. A Hellenistic marble seat of honor with griffins was found in the Ancient Theater. The original seat is in the Ä°zmir Archeological Museum and a replica has been placed at the site.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(Anatolia)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metropolis_from_the_east.jpg
By David Hill (DiaboloDave), 2003.
Released to the public domain.
Joe Sermarini
Amph_theatre_Metropolis.JPG
Turkey, Metropolis, Ionia, the Roman TheaterMetropolis was on the road between Smyrna and Ephesus. Neolithic, Hittite, Mycenaean, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods are represented at the site. Metropolis was a part of the Kingdom of Pergamum during the Hellenistic period, the time when the city reached a zenith of cultural and economic life. Metropolis had a temple dedicated to Ares, one of only two known dedicated to the war god. Strabo wrote that the district produced excellent wine. The ruins are of a Hellenistic city heavily Romanized, with Byzantine remains laid across it – a church to the east of the city, and fortification walls laid across city that connect to the Hellenistic defenses on the Acropolis. Excavations began in 1989. A Hellenistic marble seat of honor with griffins was found in the Ancient Theater. The original seat is in the Ä°zmir Archeological Museum and a replica has been placed at the site.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(Anatolia)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amph_theatre_Metropolis.JPG
By David Hill (DiaboloDave), 2007.
Released to the public domain.
Joe Sermarini
Miletos_Theatre.jpg
Turkey, Miletos - TheaterEaster 2007Potator II
Laodicea.JPG
Turkey, near Denizli, Laodicea on the LycusLaodicea on the Lycus was an ancient city built on the river Lycus (Curuksu), in Lydia, later the Roman Province of Phrygia Pacatiana. It contained one of the Seven churches of Asia mentioned in the Book of Revelation. It is now near the modern city of Denizli. In 2013 the archaeological site was identified as a of World Heritage Site. The existing remains attest to its former greatness. Its many buildings include a stadium, baths, temples, a gymnasium, theaters, and a bouleuterion (Senate House). On the eastern side, the line of the ancient wall may be distinctly traced, with the remains of the Ephesus gate; there are streets traversing the town, flanked by colonnades and numerous pedestals. North of the town, towards the Lycus, are many sarcophagi, with their covers lying near them, partly embedded in the ground, and all having been long since rifled.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laodicea_(2).JPG

Photo by Rjdeadly, 16 May 2012
Joe Sermarini
Sunrise_apollo_side.jpg
Turkey, Side, Pamphylia Temple of Apollo The ruins of the Temple of Apollo at Side, Antalya, Turkey.

The great ruins of Side are among the most notable in Asia Minor. The well-preserved city walls provide an entrance to the site through the Hellenistic main gate (Megale Pyle) of the ancient city, although this gate from the 2nd century BC is badly damaged. Next comes the colonnaded street, whose marble columns are no longer extant; all that remains are a few broken stubs near the old Roman baths. The street leads to the public bath, restored as a museum displaying statues and sarcophagi from the Roman period. Next is the square agora with the remains of the round Tyche and Fortuna temple (2nd century BC), peripteral with twelve columns, in the middle. In later times it was used as a trading center where pirates sold slaves. The remains of the theater, which was used for gladiator fights and later as a church, and the monumental gate date back to the 2nd century. The early Roman Temple of Dionysus is near the theater. The fountain gracing the entrance is restored. At the left side are the remains of a Byzantine Basilica. A public bath has also been restored. The remaining ruins of Side include three temples, an aqueduct, and a nymphaeum.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sunrise_apollo_side.jpg
Photo by Saffron Blaze, via http://www.mackenzie.co
Date: 21 October 2011
Authorization: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
Joe Sermarini
Side_Commercial_agora_panorama_2.jpg
Turkey, Side, Pamphylia The Commercial AgoraTurkey, Side, Pamphylia the Commercial Agora

The great ruins of Side are among the most notable in Asia Minor. The well-preserved city walls provide an entrance to the site through the Hellenistic main gate (Megale Pyle) of the ancient city, although this gate from the 2nd century BC is badly damaged. Next comes the colonnaded street, whose marble columns are no longer extant; all that remains are a few broken stubs near the old Roman baths. The street leads to the public bath, restored as a museum displaying statues and sarcophagi from the Roman period. Next is the square agora with the remains of the round Tyche and Fortuna temple (2nd century BC), peripteral with twelve columns, in the middle. In later times it was used as a trading center where pirates sold slaves. The remains of the theater, which was used for gladiator fights and later as a church, and the monumental gate date back to the 2nd century. The early Roman Temple of Dionysus is near the theater. The fountain gracing the entrance is restored. At the left side are the remains of a Byzantine Basilica. A public bath has also been restored. The remaining ruins of Side include three temples, an aqueduct, and a nymphaeum.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Side_Commercial_agora_panorama_2.jpg
Author, Date: Dosserman, 20 February 2015
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Joe Sermarini
Side_Theatre.jpg
Turkey, Side, Pamphylia Theater 2nd Century ADThe great ruins of Side are among the most notable in Asia Minor. They cover a large promontory which a wall and a moat separate from the mainland. There are colossal ruins of a theater complex, the largest in Pamphylia, built in the 2nd century A.D. Following design it relies on arches to support the sheer verticals. The Roman style was adopted because Side lacked a convenient hillside that could be hollowed out in the usual Greek fashion more typical of Asia Minor. In Greek fashion, the seating (for 15,000–20,000 people) curves 210° vice the usual 180° for a Roman theater. The stage building was ornately adorned but the decorations and the theater are damaged, in part due to a strong earthquake. The theater was converted into an open-air sanctuary with two chapels during the 5th or 6th century (Byzantine times).

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Side_Theatre_4192.jpg

Author, Date: Dosseman, 21 March 2011

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Joe Sermarini
Side_TH_au.JPG
Turkey, Side, Pamphylia Theater 2nd Century AD ExteriorTurkey, Side, Pamphylia theater 2nd century AD, exterior. The great ruins of Side are among the most notable in Asia Minor. They cover a large promontory which a wall and a moat separate from the mainland. There are colossal ruins of a theater complex, the largest in Pamphylia, built in the 2nd century A.D. Following design it relies on arches to support the sheer verticals. The Roman style was adopted because Side lacked a convenient hillside that could be hollowed out in the usual Greek fashion more typical of Asia Minor. In Greek fashion, the seating (for 15,000–20,000 people) curves 210° vice the usual 180° for a Roman theater. The stage building was ornately adorned but the decorations and the theater are damaged, in part due to a strong earthquake. The theater was converted into an open-air sanctuary with two chapels during the 5th or 6th century (Byzantine times).

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Side_TH_au.JPG

Author, Date: Dosseman, 21 March 2011

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Joe Sermarini
Side_Theatre_panorama.jpg
Turkey, Side, Pamphylia Theater 2nd Century AD panoramaTurkey, Side, Pamphylia, theater 2nd century AD, panorama

The great ruins of Side are among the most notable in Asia Minor. They cover a large promontory which a wall and a moat separate from the mainland. There are colossal ruins of a theater complex, the largest in Pamphylia, built in the 2nd century A.D. Following design it relies on arches to support the sheer verticals. The Roman style was adopted because Side lacked a convenient hillside that could be hollowed out in the usual Greek fashion more typical of Asia Minor. In Greek fashion, the seating (for 15,000–20,000 people) curves 210° vice the usual 180° for a Roman theater. The stage building was ornately adorned but the decorations and the theater are damaged, in part due to a strong earthquake. The theater was converted into an open-air sanctuary with two chapels during the 5th or 6th century (Byzantine times).

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Side_Theatre_panorama.jpg

Author, Date: Dosseman, 21 March 2011

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Joe Sermarini
0521175.jpg
Vespasian silver denarius RIC 43Silver denarius, RIC II, part 1, 43; RSC II 43; BMCRE II 50;
BnF III 36; Hunter I 21, weight 3.3 g, maximum diameter 18.2 mm,
Rome mint, Jul - Dec 71 CE.
Obverse: IMP CAES VESP AVG P M, laureate head right.
Reverse simpulum, sprinkler, jug and lituus, AVGVR above, TRI POT below
Roman emperor Vespasian was most famous for building the Flavian
Amphitheater, also known as the Colosseum. Like many Roman emperors,
Vespasian rose in prominence because of his military skills and work ethics.
Following his ten year rule, he left behind a record of restored order,
stability and good government. He was succeeded by his son Titus in 79 CE,
who had been sent to quell the Jewish revolt of 66-70 CE.
2 commentsNORMAN K
Vespasian~0.jpg
Vespasian. AD 69-79. Renaissance MedalRenaissance Medal, Paduan (after Cavino, ca. 1500-1570). Vespasian. AD 69-79.
Bronze Sestertius (30mm. 13.02g). Laureate head of Vespasian right. Reverse: Aerial view of
the Flavian Ampitheater (Colosseum) between meta sudans and portico. Cf. Klawans p.
62, 2 (Vespasian) and p. 66, 1 (Titus); Lawrence -.
1 commentsddwau
CyzARHemio.jpg
[103e] Cyzikos, Mysia, Asia Minor (2)Cyzikos, Mysia, 480 - 400 B.C. Silver hemiobol, BMC 120, S 1505, VF, Cyzikus mint, .343g, 9.5mm, 0o, 480 - 400 B.C.; Obverse: forepart of boar running left, tunny fish upwards behind; Reverse: head of roaring lion left, star of four rays above, all in incuse square. Ex FORVM.

Cyzkios (Cyzicum, Kyzikos): Located in modern Turkey, at the northern end of the isthmus between the Kapidag peninsula and the mainland, beside the Bandirma road about 10km/6mi southwest of Erdek, lie the remains of the ancient trading colony of Kyzikos (or Belkis), known by the poetic name of Dindymos. It was probably settled from Miletus in the second millennium B.C. and was certainly inhabited by Miletian settlers by 756 B.C. It is mentioned in the story of Jason and the Argonauts which tells how in error they killed the hospitable king who had earlier made them welcome. In 334 Alexander the Great built two bridges joining the southern tip of the island to the mainland. After Kyzikos declined, sand continuously washing up against the piles of the bridges caused the channel slowly to silt up and the isthmus was formed. Following Lucullus's decisive victory over Mithridates, Kyzikos became a "free" city and capital of Mysia. Badly damaged on several occasions by earthquakes (particularly in 543 and 1063) and by Arab assault (673), and further ravaged in fighting between Byzantines, Seljuks and Crusaders, it was finally abandoned in 1224. Little now remains to be seen, only a section of the walls, the site of the theater and some ruins of the amphitheater and of Hadrian's Temple to Zeus from which in the 16th century columns were removed to embellish Istanbul's mosques. Finds from Kyzikos are displayed in the museum in Erdek.
http://www.planetware.com/bandirma/kyzikos-tr-bl-bakz.htm

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.

Cleisthenes
PergaAthenaOwl.jpg
[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.
Cleisthenes
PergamomAE17_SCGVII_3962var.jpg
[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.

Cleisthenes
CommodusRSC190.jpg
[906a]Commodus, March or April 177 - 31 Dec 192 A.D.COMMODUS AR silver denarius. RSC 190. RCV 5644. 16.5mm, 2.3g. F. Obverse: L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL, bust of Commodus wearing lion skin in imitation of Hercules and Alexander the Great, facing right; Reverse: HER-CVL RO-MAN AV-GV either side of club of Hercules, all in wreath. RARE. Ex Incitatus.

This coin refers to Commodus' belief that he was Hercules reincarnated. According to the historian Herodian, "he issued orders that he was to be called not Commodus, son of Marcus, but Hercules, son of Jupiter. Abandoning the Roman and imperial mode of dress, he donned the lion-skin, and carried the club of Hercules..." (Joseph Sermarini).

De Imperatoribus Romanis:
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors


Commodus (A.D. 180-192)


Dennis Quinn

Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus, the son of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his wife-cousin Faustina, was born in Lanuvium in 161 AD. Commodus was named Caesar at the age of 5, and co-Augustus at the age of 17, spending most of his early life accompanying his father on his campaigns against the Quadi and the Marcomanni along the Danubian frontier. His father died, possibly of the plague, at a military encampment at Bononia on the Danube on 17 March 180, leaving the Roman Empire to his nineteen-year-old son.[[1]] Upon hearing of his father's death, Commodus made preparations for Marcus' funeral, made concessions to the northern tribes, and made haste to return back to Rome in order to enjoy peace after nearly two decades of war. Commodus, and much of the Roman army behind him, entered the capital on 22 October, 180 in a triumphal procession, receiving a hero's welcome. Indeed, the youthful Commodus must have appeared in the parade as an icon of new, happier days to come; his arrival sparked the highest hopes in the Roman people, who believed he would rule as his father had ruled.[[2]]

The coins issued in his first year all display the triumphant general, a warrior in action who brought the spoils of victory to the citizens of Rome.[[3]] There is a great deal of evidence to support the fact that Commodus was popular among many of the people, at least for a majority of his reign. He seems to have been quite generous.[[4]]. Coin types from around 183 onward often contain the legend, Munificentia Augusta[[5]], indicating that generosity was indeed a part of his imperial program. Coins show nine occasions on which Commodus gave largesses, seven when he was sole emperor.[[6]] According to Dio, the emperor obtained some of this funding by taxing members of the senatorial class.[[7]] This policy of munificence certainly caused tensions between Commodus and the Senate. In 191 it was noted in the official Actus Urbis that the gods had given Commodus to Populus Senatusque Romanus. Normally the phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus was used. [[8]] While the Senate hated Commodus, the army and the lower classes loved him.[[9]] Because of the bad relationship between the Senate and Commodus as well as a senatorial conspiracy,[[10]] Rome "...was virtually governed by the praetorian prefects Perennis (182-185) and Cleander (186-9)."[[11]]

Commodus began to dress like the god Hercules, wearing lion skins and carrying a club.[[12]] Thus he appropriated the Antonines' traditional identification with Hercules, but even more aggressively. Commodus' complete identification with Hercules can be seen as an attempt to solidify his claim as new founder of Rome, which he now called the Colonia Lucia Annia Commodiana. This was legitimized by his direct link to Hercules, son of Father Jupiter.[[13]] He probably took the title of Hercules officially some time before mid-September 192.[[14]]

While the literary sources, especially Dio, Herodian, and the Historia Augusta, all ridicule the antics of his later career, they also give important insight into Commodus' relationship to the people.[[15]] His most important maneuver to solidify his claims as Hercules Romanus was to show himself as the god to the Roman people by taking part in spectacles in the amphitheater. Not only would Commodus fight and defeat the most skilled gladiators, he would also test his talents by encountering the most ferocious of the beasts.[[16]]

Commodus won all of his bouts against the gladiators.[[17]] The slayer of wild beasts, Hercules, was the mythical symbol of Commodus' rule, as protector of the Empire.[[18]]

During his final years he declared that his age should be called the "Golden Age."[[19]] He wanted all to revel in peace and happiness in his age of glory, praise the felicitas Commodi, the glorious libertas, his pietas, providential, his victoria and virtus aeterna.[[20]] Commodus wanted there to be no doubt that this "Golden Age" had been achieved through his munificence as Nobilissimus Princeps. He had declared a brand new day in Rome, founding it anew in 190, declaring himself the new Romulus.[[21]] Rome was now to be called Colonia Lucia Annia Commodiana, as noted above, and deemed "the Immortal," "the Fortunate," "the Universal Colony of the Earth."[[22]] Coins represent the archaic rituals of city-[re]foundation, identifying Commodus as a new founder and his age as new days.[[23]]

Also in 190 he renamed all the months to correspond exactly with his titles. From January, they run as follows: Lucius, Aelius, Aurelius, Commodus, Augustus, Herculeus, Romanus, Exsuperatorius, Amazonius, Invictus, Felix, Pius.[[24]] According to Dio Cassius, the changing of the names of the months was all part of Commodus' megalomania.[[25]] Commodus was the first and last in the Antonine dynasty to change the names of the months.


The legions were renamed Commodianae, the fleet which imported grain from Africa was called Alexandria Commodiana Togata, the Senate was deemed the Commodian Fortunate Senate, his palace and the Roman people were all given the name Commodianus.[[26]] The day that these new names were announced was also given a new title: Dies Commodianus.[[27]] Indeed, the emperor presented himself with growing vigor as the center of Roman life and the fountainhead of religion. New expressions of old religious thought and new cults previously restricted to private worship invade the highest level of imperial power.[[28]]

If Eusebius of Caesarea [[29]] is to be believed, the reign of Commodus inaugurated a period of numerous conversions to Christianity. Commodus did not pursue his father's prohibitions against the Christians, although he did not actually change their legal position. Rather, he relaxed persecutions, after minor efforts early in his reign.[[30]] Tradition credits Commodus's policy to the influence of his concubine Marcia; she was probably his favorite,[[31]] but it is not clear that she was a Christian.[[32]] More likely, Commodus preferred to neglect the sect, so that persecutions would not detract from his claims to be leading the Empire through a "Golden Age."[[33]]

During his reign several attempts were made on Commodus' life.[[34]] After a few botched efforts, an orchestrated plot was carried out early in December 192, apparently including his mistress Marcia. On 31 December an athlete named Narcissus strangled him in his bath,[[35]] and the emperor's memory was cursed. This brought an end to the Antonine Dynasty.


SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alföldy, G. "Der Friedesschluss des Kaisers Commodus mit den Germanen," Historia 20 (1971): 84-109.

Aymard, J. "Commode-Hercule foundateur de Rome," Revue des études latines 14 (1936): 340-64.

Birley, A. R. The African Emperor: Septimius Severus. -- rev. ed.-- London, 1988.
________. Marcus Aurelius: A Biography. London, 1987.

Breckenridge, J. D. "Roman Imperial Portraiture from Augustus to Gallienus," ANRW 2.17. 1 (1981): 477-512.

Chantraine, H. "Zur Religionspolitik des Commodus im Spiegel seiner Münzen," Römische Quartalschrift für christliche Altertumskunde und für Kirchengeschichte 70 (1975): 1-31.

Ferguson, J. The Religions of the Roman Empire. Ithaca, 1970.

Fishwick, D. The Imperial Cult in the Latin West. Leiden, 1987.

Gagé, J. "La mystique imperiale et l'épreuve des jeux. Commode-Hercule et l'anthropologie hercaléenne," ANRW 2.17.2 (1981), 663-83.

Garzetti, A. From Tiberius to the Antonines. A History of the Roman Empire A. D. 14-192. London, 1974.

Grosso F. La lotta politica al tempo di Commodo. Turin, 1964.

Hammond, M. The Antonine Monarchy. Rome, 1956.

Helgeland, J. "Roman Army Religion," ANRW II.16.2 (1978): 1470-1505.

Howe, L. L. The Praetorian Prefect from Commodus to Diocletian (A. D. 180-305). Chicago, 1942.

Keresztes, P. "A Favorable Aspect of Commodus' Rule," in Hommages à Marcel Renard 2. Bruxelles, 1969.

Mattingly, R. The Roman Imperial Coinage. Volume III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. London, 1930.

Nock, A. D. "The Emperor's Divine Comes," Journal of Roman Studies 37 (1947): 102-116.

Parker, H. M. D. A History of the Roman World from A. D. 138 to 337. London, 1935.
________. and B.H. Warmington. "Commodus." OCD2, col. 276.

Raubitschek, A. E. "Commodus and Athens." Studies in Honor of Theodore Leslie Shear. Hesperia, Supp. 8, 1948.

Rostovtzeff, M. I. "Commodus-Hercules in Britain," Journal of Roman Studies 13 (1923): 91-105.

Sordi, M. "Un senatore cristano dell'éta di Commodo." Epigraphica 17 (1959): 104-112.

Speidel, M. P. "Commodus the God-Emperor and the Army," Journal of Roman Studies 83 (1993): 109-114.

Stanton, G. R. "Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, and Commodus: 1962-1972." ANRW II.2 (1975): 478-549.

Notes
[[1]] For a discussion of the circumstances surrounding the death of Marcus Aurelius, see A. R. Birley, Marcus Aurelius: A Biography -- rev. ed. -- (London, 1987), 210.
Aurelius Victor, De Caes. 16.4, writing around the year 360, claimed Aurelius died at Vindobona, modern Vienna. However, Tertullian, Apol. 25, who wrote some seventeen years after Marcus' death, fixed his place of death at Sirmium, twenty miles south of Bononia. A. R. Birley (Marcus Aurelius, 209-10) cogently argues Tertullian is much more accurate in his general description of where Marcus was campaigning during his last days.
For the dating of Marcus Aurelius' death and the accession of Commodus, see M. Hammond, The Antonine Monarchy (Rome, 1956), 179-80.

[[2]] For the army's attitude toward peace, the attitude of the city toward the peace, and the reception of the emperor and his forces into Rome, see Herodian, 1.7.1-4; for Commodus' subsequent political policies concerning the northern tribes, see G. Alföldy, "Der Friedesschluss des Kaisers Commodus mit den Germanen," Historia 20 (1971): 84-109.
For a commentary on the early years of Commodus in the public perception as days of optimism, see A. Garzetti, From Tiberius to the Antonines. A History of the Roman Empire A. D. 14-192 (London, 1974), 530. For a more critical, and much more negative portrayal, see the first chapter of F. Grosso, La lotta politica al tempo di Commodo (Turin, 1964).

[[3]]The gods Minerva and Jupiter Victor are invoked on the currency as harbingers of victory; Jupiter Conservator on his coins watches over Commodus and his Empire, and thanks is given to divine Providence (H. Mattingly, The Roman Imperial Coinage. Volume III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus, [London, 1930] 356-7, 366-7). In 181, new coin types appear defining the new reign of Commodus. Victory and peace are stressed. Coins extol Securitas Publica, Felicitas, Libertas, Annona, and Aequitas (ibid., 357).
By 186 Commodus is depicted as the victorious princes, the most noble of all born to the purple. Herodian (1.5.5) describes how Commodus boasted to his soldiers that he was born to be emperor. See also H. Chantraine, "Zur Religionspolitik des Commodus im Spiegel seiner Münzen," Römische Quatralschrift für christliche Altertumskunde und für Kirchengeschichte 70 (1975), 26. He is called Triumphator and Rector Orbis, and associated with the Nobilitas of Trojan descent (Mattingly, RIC III.359; idem, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum. Volume IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus, [Oxford, 1940], clxii).

[[4]] Dio tells us that Commodus liked giving gifts and often gave members of the populace 140 denarii apiece (Cass. Dio, 73.16), whereas the Historia Augusta reports that he gave each man 725 denarii (SHA, Comm., 16.3).

[[5]]Mattingly, RIC, III.358.

[[6]] Idem., CBM, IV.clxxiv.

[[7]]Cass. Dio, 73.16.

[[8]]M. P. Speidel, "Commodus the God-Emperor and the Army," Journal of Roman Studies 83 (1993), 113.

[[9]]Mattingly, CBM, IV.xii. Commodus was also popular amongst the northern divisions of the army because he allowed them to wield axes in battle, a practice banned by all preceding emperors. See, Speidel, JRS 83 (1993), 114.

[[10]]Infra, n. 34.

[[11]] H. Parker and B.H. Warmington, OCD2, s.v. "Commodus," col. 276; after 189, he was influenced by his mistress Marcia, Eclectus his chamberlain, and Laetus (who became praetorian prefect in 191 (Idem.).

[[12]]Herodian, 1.14.8. Hadrian appears on medallions in lion skins; but as far as the sources tell us, he never appeared in public in them. See J. Toynbee, Roman Medallions,(New York, 1986), 208.
He would often appear at public festivals and shows dressed in purple robes embroidered with gold. He would wear a crown made of gold, inlaid with the finest gems of India. He often carried a herald's staff as if imitating the god Mercury. According to Dio Cassius, Commodus' lion's skin and club were carried before him in the procession, and at the theaters these vestiges of Hercules were placed on a gilded chair for all to see (Cass. Dio, 73.17). For the implications of the golden chair carried in procession in relation to the imperial cult, see D. Fishwick, The Imperial Cult in the Latin West, (Leiden, 1987-91 ), 555.

[[13]] H. M. D. Parker, A History of the Roman World from A. D. 138 to 337, (London, 1935), 34; For medallions that express the relationship between Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus extolling Hercules as a symbol of civic virtue, see Toynbee, Roman Medallions, 208. For a general statement on the symbolism of Hercules in the Antonine age, see M. Hammond, The Antonine Monarchy, 238.
For a discussion of Commodus' association with Hercules, see
Rostovtzeff, "Commodus-Hercules," 104-6.
Herodian spells out the emperor's metamorphosis in detail (1.14.8).

[[14]]See Speidel, "Commodus the God-Emperor," 114. He argues this general date because a papyrus from Egypt's Fayum records Hercules in Commodus' title on 11 October 192.

[[15]]For a preliminary example, Herodian writes (1.13.8), "people in general responded well to him."

[[16]]As Dio reports, Commodus, with his own hands, gave the finishing stroke to five hippopotami at one time. Commodus also killed two elephants, several rhinoceroses, and a giraffe with the greatest of ease. (Cass. Dio, 73.10), and with his left hand (ibid., 73.19). Herodian maintains that from his specially constructed terrace which encircled the arena (enabling Commodus to avoid risking his life by fighting these animals at close quarters), the emperor also killed deer, roebuck, various horned animals, lions, and leopards, always killing them painlessly with a single blow. He purportedly killed one hundred leopards with one hundred javelins, and he cleanly shot the heads off countless ostriches with crescent-headed arrows. The crowd cheered as these headless birds continued to run around the amphitheater (1.15-4-6; for Commodus' popularity at these brutal spectacles, see Birley, The African Emperor, 86) (and Dio tells his readers that in public Commodus was less brutal than he was in private [73.17ff]).

[[17]] According to Herodian (1.15-17), "In his gladiatorial combats, he defeated his opponents with ease, and he did no more than wound them, since they all submitted to him, but only because they knew he was the emperor, not because he was truly a gladiator."

[[18]]Webber, "The Antonines," CAH, XI.360.

[[19]]Cass. Dio, 73.15.

[[20]] Mattingly, RIC, III.361. For Commodus' propaganda of peace, see W. Webber, "The Antonines," CAH, XI.392.

[[21]] W. Webber, "The Antonines," CAH, XI.392-3. In 189 a coin type was issued with the legend Romulus Conditor, perhaps indicating he began the official renaming process during that year. For a discussion on Commodus as Romulus, see A. D. Nock, "The Emperor's Divine Comes," Journal of Roman Studies 37 (1947), 103.

[[22]] HA, Comm. 7.1; Cass. Dio, 73.15.

[[23]]Mattingly, RIC, III.361. See also, Webber, "The Antonines," CAH, XI.386.

[[24]]The title Felix is first used by the emperor Commodus, and is used in the titles of almost all successive emperors to the fifth century. See, D. Fishwick, The Imperial Cult in the Latin West (Leiden, 1987-91), 473.
HA, Comm., 12.315; Cass. Dio, 73.15; Herodian, I.14.9. These new names for the months seem to have actually been used, at least by the army, as confirmed by Tittianus' Altar. See M. P. Speidel, "Commodus the God-Emperor and the Army," Journal of Roman Studies 83 (1993), 112.

[[25]] Cass. Dio, 73.15.

[[26]]Legions:Idem.; the Grain fleet: SHA, Comm., 12.7. For a further discussion of Commodus' newly named fleet, see, A. Garzetti, From Tiberius to the Antonines, 547. For coins issued extolling the fleet, see Mattingly, CBM, IV.clxix; RIC, III.359; the Senate: Cass. Dio, 73.15; the Imperial Palace: SHA, Comm., 12.7; the Roman People: Ibid., 15.5.

[[27]]Cass. Dio, 73.15.

[[28]]Mattingly, CBM, IV.clxxxiv.

[[29]]Eusebius, Hist.Ecc., 5.21.1.

[[30]]For a discussion of the treatment of Christianity during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus as well as persecutions during the reign of Commodus, see Keresztes, "A Favorable Aspect," 374, 376-377.

[[31]]Herodian, 1.16.4; Dio, 73.4. A Medallion from early 192 shows Commodus juxtaposed with the goddess Roma, which some scholars have argued incorporates the features of Marcia. See, Roman Medallions, "Introduction." Commodus was married, however, to a woman named Crispina. He commissioned several coins early in his rule to honor her.

[[32]]The Christian apologist Hippolytus tells that she was a Christian (Philos. 9.2.12), Dio tells that she simply favored the Christians (73.4). Herodian does not take a stand on the matter either way (1.16.4).

[[33]]Cass. Dio, 73.15. He pronounces Commodus' edict that his rule should be henceforth called the "Golden Age."

[[34]]H. Parker and B.H. Warmington note that Commodus..."resorted to government by means of favorites...which was exacerbated by an abortive conspiracy promoted by Lucilla and Ummidius Quadratus (182)." (OCD2, col. 276).

[[35]]Herodian, 1.17.2-11; Dio Cass., 73.22; SHA, Comm.,17.1-2.

Copyright (C) 1998, Dennis Quinn. This file may be copied on the condition that the entire contents, including the header and this copyright notice, remain intact. Used by Permission.

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.


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