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Attica, Athens912 viewsAthens, ca. 449-413 BC. Silver tetradrachm.
Denomination : Silver tetradrachm.
Size : 23.7 x 24.3 mm Weight : 17.20 grams.
Reference : Sear-2526.
Grade : gVF and better centered than usual with a significant part of the crest showing.
Obverse : Head of Athena right.
Reverse : Owl standing right, with an olive sprig and crescent moon over its shoulder, with a AQE to the right.
Ex-Calgary Coin 1150ecoli
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000. Cast of Characters574 viewsecoli
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ATTICA, Athens461 viewsATTICA, Athens. Circa 168/5-50 BC. AR New Style Tetradrachm (30mm, 16.74 gm). Struck circa 136/5 BC. Helmeted head of Athena right / A-QE, owl standing right on amphora; magistrates MI-KI and QEO-FRA; Nike in quadriga right in right field, M on amphora, SW below amphora; all within wreath. Cf. Thompson 315-323 (unlisted dies). EF, lightly toned. Ex -CNG STORE 895ecoli
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605. Zeno449 viewsObv: Laureate, draped bust
Rev: Monogram (type 4)
Mintmark: None
RIC X 961 ecoli
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604. Leo I390 viewsImperator Caesar Flavius Valerius Leo Augustus or Leo I of the Byzantine Empire (401–474), reigned from 457 to 474, also known as Leo the Thracian, was the last of a series of emperors placed on the throne by Aspar, the Alan serving as commander-in-chief of the army. His coronation as emperor on February 7, 457, was the first known to involve the Patriarch of Constantinople. Leo I made an alliance with the Isaurians and was thus able to eliminate Aspar. The price of the alliance was the marriage of Leo's daughter to Tarasicodissa, leader of the Isaurians who, as Zeno, became emperor in 474.
During Leo's reign, the Balkans were ravaged time and again by the West Goths and the Huns. However, these attackers were unable to take Constantinople thanks to the walls which had been rebuilt and reinforced in the reign of Theodosius II and against which they possessed no suitable siege engines.
Leo's reign was also noteworthy for his influence in the Western Roman Empire, marked by his appointment of Anthemius as Western Roman Emperor in 467. He attempted to build on this political achievement with an expedition against the Vandals in 468, which was defeated due to the treachery and incompetence of Leo's brother-in-law Basiliscus. This disaster drained the Empire of men and money.
Leo's greatest influence in the West was largely inadvertent and at second-hand: the great Goth king Theodoric the Great was raised at the Leo's court in Constantinople, where he was steeped in Roman government and military tactics, which served him well when he returned after Leo's death to become the Goth ruler of a mixed but largely Romanized people.
Leo also published a New Constitutions or compilation of Law Code[1], Constitution LV concerned Judaism: "JEWS SHALL LIVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RITES OF CHRISTIANITY. Those who formerly were invested with Imperial authority promulgated various laws with reference to the Hebrew people, who, once nourished by Divine protection, became renowned, but are now remarkable for the calamities inflicted upon them because of their contumacy towards Christ and God; and these laws, while regulating their mode of life, compelled them to read the Holy Scriptures, and ordered them not to depart from the ceremonies of their worship. They also provided that their children should adhere to their religion, being obliged to do so as well by the ties of blood, as on account of the institution of circumcision. These are the laws which I have already stated were formerly enforced throughout the Empire. But the Most Holy Sovereign from whom We are descended, more concerned than his predecessors for the salvation of the Jews, instead of allowing them (as they did) to obey only their ancient laws, attempted, by the interpretation of prophesies and the conclusions which he drew from them, to convert them to the Christian religion, by means of the vivifying water of baptism. He fully succeeded in his attempts to transform them into new men, according to the doctrine of Christ, and induced them to denounce their ancient doctrines and abandon their religious ceremonies, such as circumcision, the observance of the Sabbath, and all their other rites. But although he, to a certain extent, overcame the obstinacy of the Jews, he was unable to force them to abolish the laws which permitted them to live in accordance with their ancient customs. Therefore We, desiring to accomplish what Our Father failed to effect, do hereby annul all the old laws enacted with reference to the Hebrews, and We order that they shall not dare to live in any other manner than in accordance with the rules established by the pure and salutary Christian Faith. And if anyone of them should be proved to, have neglected to observe the ceremonies of the Christian religion, and to have returned to his former practices, he shall pay the penalty prescribed by the law for apostates."
Leo died of dysentery at the age of 73 on January 18, 474.
Bronze AE4, RIC 671, S 4340 var, VG, 1.17g, 10.3mm, 180o, Alexandria mint, obverse D N LEO P F AVG (or similar), pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; reverse Lion standing left, head right, cross above, ALEA in ex; very rare (R3); ex Forumecoli
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Thrace, Cherronesos.375 viewsThrace, Cherronesos. Ca. 400-350 B.C. AR tetrobol (13 mm, 2.40 g). Forepart of a lion right, looking back / Quadripartite incuse; monogram and letter in two quadrants. McClean 4122. EF. Ex-John C Lavender G50
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008. Otho 69 AD340 viewsOTHO. 69 AD.
Otho remains an enigma - part profligate Neronian wastrel and part conscientious military commander willing to give his life for the good of the state. Our sources are at a loss to explain the paradox. Neither Otho's person nor his bearing suggested such great courage. He is said to have been of moderate height, splay-footed and bandy-legged, but almost feminine in his care of his person. He had the hair of his body plucked out, and because of the thinness of his locks wore a wig so carefully fashioned and fitted to his head, that no one suspected it. Moreover, they say that he used to shave every day and smear his face with moist bread, beginning the practice with the appearance of the first down, so as never to have a beard; also that he used to celebrate the rites of Isis publicly in the linen garment prescribed by the cult.
AR Denarius (18mm, 3.20 gm). Bare head left / Securitas standing left, holding wreath and sceptre. RIC I 12; RSC 19. Fine. Ex-CNGecoli
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604a. Leo I and Verina328 viewsAelia Verina (died 484) was the wife of Byzantine emperor Leo I, and the mother-in-law of Zeno, who was married to her daughter Ariadne.
Her origins are unknown. She originally supported Zeno while the young emperor Leo II was still alive, but after Leo II's death in 474 she turned against her son-in-law. She conspired against him with her lover Patricius, her brother Basiliscus, the Isaurian general Illus, and general Theodoric Strabo, forcing Zeno to flee Constantinople in 475. Basiliscus then briefly became the rival emperor, until 476 when Verina reconciled with Zeno.
Verina then conspired against Illus, who discovered the plot, and with Zeno's consent had her imprisoned. This led to another conspiracy led by Verina's son Marcian (a grandson of the emperor Marcian), but Marcian was defeated and exiled.
In 483 Zeno asked Illus to release Verina, but by now Illus was opposed to Zeno's Monophysite sympathies. Illus allied with Verina and declared a general named Leontius emperor, but Zeno defeated them as well. Illus and Verina fled to Isauria, where Verina died in 484.
Bronze AE4, RIC 713-718, obverse D N LE-O (or similar), Pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; reverse Empress Verina standing facing holding cross on globe and transverse scepter, b - E across fields, From uncleaned pile
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202. CARACALLA278 viewsCARACALLA. 198-217 AD.
The emperor visited Alexandria for intellectual and religious reasons, staying at the Serapeum and being present at the temple's sacrifices and cultural events. Earlier, during the German war, the emperor visited the shrine of the Celtic healing-god Grannus. Caracalla also visited the famous temple of Asclepius in Pergamum and fully participated in its program, which involved sleeping inside the temple compound and having his dreams interpreted.
It was this religious devotion that led to Caracalla's murder in 217. Although suspicious of the praetorian prefect Macrinus, Caracalla allowed himself to be accompanied by only a small, select corps of bodyguards on an early spring trip from the camp at Edessa to the temple of the moon-god at Carrhae, about 25 miles away. During the journey back on 8 April 217, Caracalla was killed. The returning guards claimed the emperor was ambushed while defecating, and that the alleged assassin was one of their own, a soldier named Martialis. Martialis was himself killed by the avenging guards, or so the story went. Suspicion was strong that Macrinus arranged the entire affair.
Caracalla's violent end seemed appropriate for an emperor who, early in his reign, had his own brother killed. Yet the moralizing about fratricide by both ancient and modern historians obscures the energetic, reformist and even intellectual character of Caracalla's reign. Some of the reforms, especially the pay raise for soldiers, would prove burdensome for future emperors, but the changes brought about in the little more than five years of Caracalla's sole rule would have long-lasting implications throughout the empire for generations to come.
AR Denarius (19mm, 3.11 gm). Struck 215 AD. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, laureate head right / P M TR P XVIII COS IIII PP, Sol standing left, radiate, raising right hand and holding globe. RIC IV 264a; BMCRE 139; RSC 288. EF
Ex - CNGecoli
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1. Æ Aes Grave Triens269 viewsAnonymous. Circa 280-276 BC. Æ Aes Grave Triens (49mm, 106.35 gm). Thunderbolt; four pellets across field / Dolphin swimming right; four pellets below. Thurlow-Vecchi 3; Crawford 14/3; Haeberlin pl. 39, 7-10. VF, green patina.
Ex Cng Sale 100 lot 105 310/300
The triens (plural trientes) was an Ancient Roman bronze coin produced during the Roman Republic valued at one-third of an as (4 unciae).ecoli
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Macedonia, Amphipolis255 viewsAmphipolis was an ancient city of Macedonia, on the east bank of the river Strymon, where it emerges from Lake Cercinitis, about 3 m. from the sea.
Originally a Thracian town, known as Ennea Odoi ("Nine Roads"), it was colonized by Athenians with other Greeks under Hagnon in 437 BC, previous attempts--in 497, 476 (Schol. Aesch. De fals. leg. 31) and 465--having been unsuccessful.
In 424 BC it surrendered to the Spartan Brasidas without resistance, owing to the gross negligence of the historian Thucydides, who was with the fleet at Thasos. In 422 BC Cleon led an unsuccessful expedition to recover it, in which both he and Brasidas were slain (see Battle of Amphipolis).
The importance of Amphipolis in ancient times was due to the fact that it commanded the bridge over the Strymon, and consequently the route from northern Greece to the Hellespont; it was important also as a depot for the gold and silver mines of the district, and for timber, which was largely used in shipbuilding. This importance is shown by the fact that, in the peace of Nicias (421 BC), its restoration to Athens is made the subject of a special provision, and that about 417, this provision not having been observed, at least one expedition was made by Nicias with a view to its recovery.
Philip of Macedon made a special point of occupying it (357), and under the early empire it became the headquarters of the Roman propraetor, though it was recognized as independent. Many inscriptions, coins, etc., have been found here, and traces of the ancient fortifications and of a Roman aqueduct are visible.
Alexander III, 336-323 BC, Silver Tetradrachm, Price-113, struck 323-320BC at Amphipolis, 17.12 grams, 25.3 mm. Choice VF
Obv: Head of Herakles wearing lion skin headdress
Rev: Zeus enthroned with sceptre and eagle, parallel legs, Macedonian helmet in left field
Well centered and struck with a full EF reverse. Attractive lifetime issue of Alexander III 'The Great'. G5
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LUCANIA, Velia254 viewsLUCANIA, Velia. Circa 365-340 BC. AR Nomos (23mm, 7.57 gm). Head of Athena left, wearing Attic helmet decorated with a griffin; O behind neck / Lion walking right; above. Williams 263 II (O151'/R203); SNG ANS 1296-7 (same dies); HN Italy 1284. VF, struck with deteriorating dies. Ex-Cng B10DV15Eecoli
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201b. Clodius Albinus235 viewsBy the time Severus made it back from the east in 196, the breach with Albinus was beyond repair. The emperor's son Caracalla had been displayed to the army as Caesar and heir. Albinus had been proclaimed emperor and gone into open revolt, crossed the English Channel and gained the support of many aristocrats from Gaul and Spain. Lyon became Albinus' headquarters, from which he minted coins that wishfully hinted at reconciliation. Albinus had taken the title of Augustus, but he still kept the name Septimius.
Albinus was unable to expand his control eastward despite achieving a victory against the governor of Lower Germany. By the middle of the year 196, his momentum had stalled. Gaul was drenched in the blood of Roman soldiers as the two sides repeatedly engaged in indecisive battles.[[8]] The ever increasing chaos in the region even allowed an opportunist to raise his own army to harass Albinus' troops.[[9]]
Time was running out for Albinus. His troops were defeated early in 197 at Tournus, on the river Saône 65 miles north of Lyon.[[10]] Severus could now sweep his armies into Gaul. Albinus retreated to Lyon, where he prepared for one final stand. The battle, one of the fiercest in Roman history, took place 19 February 197 and involved more than 100,000 men.[[11]] In the initial fighting, Albinus' troops forced the Severans into retreat, during which Severus fell off his horse. But Albinus' success was shortlived. The Severan cavalry appeared, and Albinus' army was routed. The battlefield was strewn with bodies, and Severus' victorious troops were allowed to vent their anger by sacking Lyon. Albinus, who was trapped in a house along the river Rhône, committed suicide. Heis wife and children were be ordered killed by Severus, who also had Albinus' head cut off and sent to Rome for display.
Clodius Albinus had the breeding and upbringing to have been a popular emperor among the senatorial aristocracy, but he lacked the cunning and daring of his erstwhile ally and eventual rival Severus. Albinus would never be included among the canonical list of emperors, and his defeat finally ended the period of instability and civil war that originated with the death of Commodus.
CLODIUS ALBINUS, as Caesar. 193-195 AD. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.14 gm). Rome mint. Bare head right / Roma seated left on shield, holding Victory and reversed spear. RIC IV 11b; RSC 61a. VF. Ex - CNGecoli
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CALABRIA, Tarentum204 viewsTaranto was founded in 706 BC by Dorian immigrants as the only Spartan colony, and its origin is peculiar: the founders were Partheniae, sons of unmarried Spartan women and perioeci (free men, but not citizens of Sparta); these unions were decreed by the Spartans to increase the number of soldiers (only the citizens of Sparta could become soldiers) during the bloody Messenian Wars, but later they were nullified, and the sons were forced to leave. According to the legend Phalanthus, the Parthenian leader, went to Delphi to consult the oracle and received the puzzling answer that he should found a city where rain fell from a clear sky. After all attempts to capture a suitable place to found a colony failed, he became despondent, convinced that the oracle had told him something that was impossible, and was consoled by his wife. She laid his head in her lap and herself became disconsolate. When Phalanthus felt her tears splash onto his forehead he at last grasped the meaning of the oracle, for his wife's name meant clear sky. The harbour of Taranto in Apulia was nearby and he decided this must be the new home for the exiles. The Partheniae arrived and founded the city, naming it Taras after the son of the Greek sea god, Poseidon, and the local nymph Satyrion. A variation says Taras was founded in 707 BC by some Spartans, who, the sons of free women and enslaved fathers, were born during the Messenian War. According to other sources, Heracles founded the city. Another tradition indicates Taras himself as the founder of the city; the symbol of the Greek city (as well as of the modern city) is Taras riding a dolphin. Taranto increased its power, becoming a commercial power and a sovereign city of Magna Graecia, ruling over the Greek colonies in southern Italy.
In its beginning, Taranto was a monarchy, probably modelled on the one ruling over Sparta; according to Herodotus (iii 136), around 492 BC king Aristophilides ruled over the city. The expansion of Taranto was limited to the coast because of the resistance of the populations of inner Apulia. In 472 BC, Taranto signed an alliance with Rhegion, to counter the Messapii, Peuceti, and Lucanians (see Iapygian-Tarentine Wars), but the joint armies of the Tarentines and Rhegines were defeated near Kailìa (modern Ceglie), in what Herodotus claims to be the greatest slaughter of Greeks in his knowledge, with 3,000 Reggians and uncountable Tarentines killed. In 466 BC, Taranto was again defeated by the Iapyges; according to Aristotle, who praises its government, there were so many aristocrats killed that the democratic party was able to get the power, to remove the monarchy, inaugurate a democracy, and expel the Pythagoreans. Like Sparta, Tarentum was an aristocratic republic, but became democratic when the ancient nobility dwindled.
However, the rise of the democratic party did not weaken the bonds of Taranto and her mother-city Sparta. In fact, Taranto supported the Peloponnesian side against Athens in the Peloponnesian War, refused anchorage and water to Athens in 415 BC, and even sent ships to help the Peloponnesians, after the Athenian disaster in Sicily. On the other side, Athens supported the Messapians, in order to counter Taranto's power.
In 432 BC, after several years of war, Taranto signed a peace treaty with the Greek colony of Thurii; both cities contributed to the foundation of the colony of Heraclea, which rapidly fell under Taranto's control. In 367 BC Carthage and the Etruscans signed a pact to counter Taranto's power in southern Italy.
Under the rule of its greatest statesman, strategist and army commander-in-chief, the philosopher and mathematician Archytas, Taranto reached its peak power and wealth; it was the most important city of the Magna Graecia, the main commercial port of southern Italy, it produced and exported goods to and from motherland Greece and it had the biggest army and the largest fleet in southern Italy. However, with the death of Archytas in 347 BC, the city started a slow, but ineluctable decline; the first sign of the city's decreased power was its inability to field an army, since the Tarentines preferred to use their large wealth to hire mercenaries, rather than leave their lucrative trades.
In 343 BC Taranto appealed for aid against the barbarians to its mother city Sparta, in the face of aggression by the Brutian League. In 342 BC, Archidamus III, king of Sparta, arrived in Italy with an army and a fleet to fight the Lucanians and their allies. In 338 BC, during the Battle of Manduria, the Spartan and Tarentine armies were defeated in front of the walls of Manduria (nowadays in province of Taranto), and Archidamus was killed.
In 333 BC, still troubled by their Italic neighbours, the Tarentines called the Epirotic king Alexander Molossus to fight the Bruttii, Samnites, and Lucanians, but he was later (331 BC) defeated and killed in the battle of Pandosia (near Cosenza). In 320 BC, a peace treaty was signed between Taranto and the Samnites. In 304 BC, Taranto was attacked by the Lucanians and asked for the help of Agathocles tyrant of Syracuse, king of Sicily. Agathocles arrived in southern Italy and took control of Bruttium (present-day Calabria), but was later called back to Syracuse. In 303 BC-302 BC Cleonymus of Sparta established an alliance with Taranto against the Lucanians, and fought against them.
Arnold J. Toynbee, a classical scholar who taught at Oxford and other prestigious English universities and who did original and definitive work on Sparta (e.g. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. xxxiii 1913 p. 246-275) seemed to have some doubts about Tarentum (Taranto) being of Spartan origin.
In his book The Study of History vol. iii p. 52 he wrote: "...Tarentum, which claimed a Spartan origin; but, even if this claim was in accordance with historical fact..." The tentative phrasing seems to imply that the evidence is neither conclusive or even establishes a high degree of probability of the truth that Tarentum (Taranto) was a Spartan colony.
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 302-281 BC. AR Drachm (17mm, 2.91 gm). Helmeted head of Athena right, helmet decorated with Skylla hurling a stone / Owl standing right head facing, on olive branch; Vlasto 1058; SNG ANS 1312; HN Italy 1015. VF.
Ex-Cng eAuction 103 Lot 2 190/150ecoli
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203. MACRINUS197 viewsMACRINUS. 217-218 AD.
Caracalla's mother, Julia Domna, had toyed with the idea of raising a rebellion against Macrinus shortly after her son's murder, but the empress was uncertain of success and already suffering from breast cancer. She chose to starve herself to death instead.
The grandchildren of her sister, Julia Maesa, would become the focus of the successful uprising that began on 15 May 218. Her 14-year-old grandson Avitus (known to history as Elagabalus) was proclaimed emperor by one the legions camped near the family's hometown of Emesa. Other troops quickly joined the rebellion, but Macrinus marshalled loyal soldiers to crush the revolt. Macrinus also promoted his son to the rank of emperor.
The forces met in a village outside Antioch on 8 June 218. Despite the inexperience of the leaders of the rebel army, Macrinus was defeated. He sent his son, Diadumenianus, with an ambassador to the Parthian king, while Macrinus himself prepared to flee to Rome. Macrinus traveled across Asia Minor disguised as a courier and nearly made it to Europe, but he was captured in Chalcedon. Macrinus was transported to Cappadocia, where he was executed. Diadumenianus had also been captured (at Zeugma) and was similarly put to death.
Contemporaries tended to portray Macrinus as a fear-driven parvenu who was able to make himself emperor but was incapable of the leadership required by the job. An able administrator, Macrinus lacked the aristocratic connections and personal bravado that might have won him legitimacy. His short reign represented a brief interlude of Parthian success during what would prove the final decade of the Parthian empire.
AR Denarius (18mm 3.55 gm). IMP C M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust with short beard right / SALVS PVBLICA, Salus seated left, feeding snake rising up from altar, holding sceptre in left. RIC IV 86; Good VF; Ex-CNGecoli
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BOEOTIA, Thebes186 viewsIn the late 6th century BC the Thebans were brought for the first time into hostile contact with the Athenians, who helped the small village of Plataea to maintain its independence against them, and in 506 repelled an inroad into Attica. The aversion to Athens best serves to explain the unpatriotic attitude which Thebes displayed during the Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC). Though a contingent of 700 was sent to Thermopylae and remained there with Leonidas until just before the last stand when they surrendered to the Persians[1], the governing aristocracy soon after joined King Xerxes I of Persia with great readiness and fought zealously on his behalf at the battle of Plataea in 479 BC. The victorious Greeks subsequently punished Thebes by depriving it of the presidency of the Boeotian League, and an attempt by the Spartans to expel it from the Delphic amphictyony was only frustrated by the intercession of Athens.
In 457 Sparta, needing a counterpoise against Athens in central Greece, reversed her policy and reinstated Thebes as the dominant power in Boeotia. The great citadel of Cadmea served this purpose well by holding out as a base of resistance when the Athenians overran and occupied the rest of the country (457–447). In the Peloponnesian War the Thebans, embittered by the support which Athens gave to the smaller Boeotian towns, and especially to Plataea, which they vainly attempted to reduce in 431, were firm allies of Sparta, which in turn helped them to besiege Plataea and allowed them to destroy the town after its capture in 427 BC. In 424 at the head of the Boeotian levy they inflicted a severe defeat upon an invading force of Athenians at the Battle of Delium, and for the first time displayed the effects of that firm military organization which eventually raised them to predominant power in Greece.
After the downfall of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War the Thebans, finding that Sparta intended to protect the states which they desired to annex, broke off the alliance. In 404 they had urged the complete destruction of Athens, yet in 403 they secretly supported the restoration of its democracy in order to find in it a counterpoise against Sparta. A few years later, influenced perhaps in part by Persian gold, they formed the nucleus of the league against Sparta. At the battles of Haliartus (395) and Coronea (394) they again proved their rising military capacity by standing their ground against the Spartans. The result of the war was especially disastrous to Thebes, as the general settlement of 387 stipulated the complete autonomy of all Greek towns and so withdrew the other Boeotians from its political control. Its power was further curtailed in 382, when a Spartan force occupied the citadel by a treacherous coup-de-main. Three years later the Spartan garrison was expelled, and a democratic constitution definitely set up in place of the traditional oligarchy. In the consequent wars with Sparta the Theban army, trained and led by Epaminondas and Pelopidas, proved itself the best in Greece. Some years of desultory fighting, in which Thebes established its control over all Boeotia, culminated in 371 in a remarkable victory over the pick of the Spartans at Leuctra. The winners were hailed throughout Greece as champions of the oppressed. They carried their arms into Peloponnesus and at the head of a large coalition permanently crippled the power of Sparta. Similar expeditions were sent to Thessaly and Macedon to regulate the affairs of those regions.
However the predominance of Thebes was short-lived; the states which she protected refused to subject themselves permanently to her control, and the renewed rivalry of Athens, which had joined with Thebes in 395 in a common fear of Sparta, but since 387 had endeavoured to maintain the balance of power against her ally, prevented the formation of a Theban empire. With the death of Epaminondas at Mantinea in 362 the city sank again to the position of a secondary power. In a war with the neighbouring state of Phocis (356–346) it could not even maintain its predominance in central Greece, and by inviting Philip II of Macedon to crush the Phocians it extended that monarch's power within dangerous proximity to its frontiers. A revulsion of feeling was completed in 338 by the orator Demosthenes, who persuaded Thebes to join Athens in a final attempt to bar Philip's advance upon Attica. The Theban contingent lost the decisive battle of Chaeronea and along with it every hope of reassuming control over Greece. Philip was content to deprive Thebes of her dominion over Boeotia; but an unsuccessful revolt in 335 against his son Alexander was punished by Macedon and other Greek states by the severe sacking of the city, except, according to tradition, the house of the poet Pindar.
BOEOTIA, Thebes. Circa 395-338 BC. AR Stater (21mm, 11.98 gm). Boeotian shield / Amphora; magistrate AM-FI. Hepworth, "The 4th Century BC Magistrate Coinage of the Boiotian Confederacy," in Nomismatika Xronika (1998), 2; BMC Central Greece -. Fine.
Ex-Cng eAuction 105, Lot: 34 225/200
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204a. Julia Paula183 viewsIVLIA CORNELIA PAVLA was the daughter of Julius Paulus, who was a Praetorian Praefect under Elagablalus. The Emperor Elagabalus, who arrived in Rome in the autumn of 219, was quickly becoming unpopular. It was probably Julia Maesa, his grandmother, who conceived the plan to marry him to a well-born Roman woman for two reasons: 1) to counter his public displays of homosexual and trans-sexual tendencies, and 2) to soften the disdain Romans felt for Syrians. She became the first wife of the fifteen-year-old Elagabalus 219, but was divorced only one year later, and returned to private life.
JULIA PAULA, wife of Elagabalus. Augusta, 219 AD. AR Denarius (20mm, 2.67 gm). Rome mint. Draped bust right / Concordia seated left holding patera; star in left field. RIC IV 211 (Elagabalus); RSC 6a. Toned;Ex-Cngecoli
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MYSIA, Parion177 viewsMYSIA, Parion. Circa 4th century B.C. AR Hemidrachm (12mm, 2.31 gm). Facing gorgoneion, tounge protruding / Bull standing left, head turned back; PI and star below. SNG France 1367-72. VF, toned. Ex-CNG B69V9Becoli
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CARIA. Rhodos, Rhodes176 viewsISLANDS off CARIA. Rhodos, Rhodes. Circa 125-88 BC. AR Hemidrachm (14mm, 1.25 gm). Magistrate Melantas. Radiate head of Helios facing slightly right / P-O, rose; MELANTAS above, grape bunch to right; all within incuse square. Jenkins, Rhodian, Group D, Series 98; cf. SNG Helsinki 668; SNG Copenhagen -. Near EF. Ex-CNG(295) B127V127ecoli
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2. Anonymous. 206-195 BC. Æ As (33mm, 26.72 gm)169 viewsAnonymous. 206-195 BC. Æ As (33mm, 26.72 gm). Laureate head of Janus; I above / Prow of galley right; meta above, I before. Crawford 124/3; Sydenham 260; BMCRR -. Near VF, brown patina.
Ex Goodman Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 45, 18 March 1998), lot 1306.
Ex Cng sale 100 lot 110. 71/75
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LUCANIA, Thourioi169 viewsGR7
Thurii was one of the latest of all the Greek colonies in this part of Italy, not having been founded until nearly 70 years after the fall of Sybaris. The site of that city had remained desolate for a period of 58 years after its destruction by the Crotoniats; when at length, in 452 BC, a number of the Sybarite exiles and their descendants made an attempt to establish themselves again on the spot, under the guidance of some leaders of Thessalian origin; and the new colony rose so rapidly to prosperity that it excited the jealousy of the Crotoniats, who, in consequence, expelled the new settlers a little more than 5 years after the establishment of the colony. The fugitive Sybarites first appealed for support to Sparta, but without success: their application to the Athenians was more successful, and that people determined to send out a fresh colony, at the same time that they reinstated the settlers who had been lately expelled from thence. A body of Athenian colonists was accordingly sent out by Pericles, under the command of Lampon and Xenocritus; but the number of Athenian citizens was small, the greater part of those who took part in the colony being collected from various parts of Greece. Among them were two celebrated names – Herodotus the historian, and the orator Lysias, both of whom appear to have formed part of the original colony. The laws of the new colony were established by the sophist Protagoras at the request of Pericles
LUCANIA, Thourioi. Circa 400-350 BC. AR Triobol (11mm, 1.18 gm). Helmeted head of Athena right, helmeted decorated with Skylla / Bull butting left; fish in exergue. SNG ANS 1138-47; HN Italy 1806. VF. Ex-CNG BB0VFAecoli
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TROAS, Ilium; Vespasian167 viewsTROAS, Ilium. Vespasian. AD 69-79. Æ 21mm (7.15 g). Laureate head right / TITW KAICAPI D[OMITIAN] W KAI around, ILI below, confronted busts of Titus and Domitian, vis à vis; statue of Athena between. RPC II 893; Bellinger T127; SNG Copenhagen 342. Near VF,
Ex-CNG 145 lot 196
From the Garth R. Drewry Collection.
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001. MARK ANTONY162 viewsJULIUS CAESAR and MARK ANTONY. 43 BC.
Hardly any of his assassins survived Caesar for more than three years, or died a natural death. They were all condemned, and they perished in various ways---some by shipwreck, some in battle; some took their own lives with the self-same dagger with which they had impiously slain Caesar.
Fourré Denarius (19mm, 3.63 gm).
Obv: Bare head of Mark Antony right; lituus behind
Rev: Laureate head of Julius Caesar right, jug behind.
Ref: Crawford 488/1; CRI 118; Sydenham 1165; RSC 2. Near VF, porous, several large breaks in plating revealing the copper core.
Source: Ex Classical Numismatic Group 55 (13 September 2000), lot 1087.
Ex CNG Electronic Auction 105 lot 141 229/150
BFBV
I don't usually buy fourres; but in reality, I have no chance of owning this popular type given my budget. ecoli
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AKARNANIA, Ambracia161 views360-338 BC. 20mm. Helmeted head of Athena left, name of magistrate above / Pegasus flying left, A below. SG 1962v., VF. Very pleasing late classical style. Ex-Sayles V113ecoli
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AKARNANIA, Anaktorion.160 viewsAKARNANIA, Anaktorion
Founding:
Kypselos & Gorgos, 7th century BC
The Corinthians sent by Cypselus and Gorgus took possession of this shore and also advanced as far as the Ambracian Gulf; and both Ambracia and Anactorium were colonized at this time. (Strabo 10,2,8)
AKARNANIA, Anaktorion. Circa 350-300 BC. AR Stater (20mm, 7.89 gm). Pegasos flying left; AN monogram below / Helmeted head of Athena left; NA[Y] to left, AN monogram and ring with pendants behind. Pegasi II pg. 504, 73. Near VF.
Ex-CNG eAuction 105, Lot: 33 116/150ecoli
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502. CONSTANTINE II158 viewsFlavius Claudius Constantinus, known in English as Constantine II, (316 - 340) was Roman Emperor (337 - 340). The eldest son of Constantine I and Fausta, he was born at Arles, and was raised as a Christian.
On March 1, 317, Constantine was made Caesar, and at the age of seven, in 323, took part in his father's campaign against the Sarmatians.
At the age of ten became commander of Gaul, after the death of his half-brother Crispus. An inscription dating to 330 records the title of Alamannicus, so it is probable that his generals won a victory over Alamanni. His military career continued when Constantine I elected his son field commander during the 332 campaign against the Goths.
Following the death of his father in 337, Constantine II became Emperor jointly with his brothers Constantius II and Constans. His section of the Empire was Gaul, Britannia and Hispania.
At first, he was the guardian of his younger brother Constans, whose portion was Italia, Africa and Illyricum. As Constans came of age, Constantine would not relinquish the guardianship and in 340 he marched against Constans in Italy, but was defeated at Aquileia and died in battle. Constans came to control his deceased brother's realm.
CONSTANTINE II, as Caesar. 317-337 AD. Æ Reduced Follis (18mm, 2.74 gm). Siscia mint. Struck 321-324 AD. Laureate head right / VOT / X in two lines across field; all within wreath; SIS sunburst. RIC VII 182. Ex-CNGecoli
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009. Vitellius 69 AD157 viewsVITELLIUS. 69 AD.
Without doubt, the most fortuitous moment in Vitellius' political career was his appointment as governor of Lower Germany by the emperor Galba late in 68.
Vitellius has not escaped the hostility of his biographers. While he may well have been gluttonous, his depiction as indolent, cruel, and extravagant is based almost entirely on the propaganda of his enemies. On the other hand, whatever moderating tendencies he did show were overshadowed by his clear lack of military expertise, a deficiency that forced him to rely in critical situations on largely inneffective lieutenants. As a result he was no match for his Flavian successors, and his humiliating demise was perfectly in keeping with the overall failure of his reign.
AR Denarius (20mm, 3.24 gm). Rome mint. Laureate head right / Tripod-lebes; dolphin above, raven below. RIC I 109; RSC 111. Ex-Cngecoli
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007. Galba (68 AD - 69 AD)157 viewsGALBA. 68-69 AD.
Galba had displayed talent and ambition during his lengthy career. He enjoyed distinguished ancestry, moved easily among the Julio-Claudian emperors (with the exception of Nero towards the end of his principate), and had been awarded the highest military and religious honors of ancient Rome. His qualifications for the principate cannot be questioned. Even so, history has been unkind to him. Tacitus characterized Galba as "weak and old," a man "equal to the imperial office, if he had never held it." To be sure, Galba's greatest mistake lay in his general handling of the military. His treatment of the army in Upper Germany was heedless, his policy towards the praetorians short sighted. Given the climate in 68-69, Galba was unrealistic in expecting disciplina without paying the promised rewards.
AR Denarius (18mm, 2.97 gm). Rome mint. Bare head right / Legend in three lines within oak wreath. RIC I 167; RSC 287. Ex-CNGecoli
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CARTHAGE157 viewsCARTHAGE. Circa 400-350 BC. Æ 16mm (2.59 gm). Wreathed head of Tanit left, wearing pendant necklace / Horse standing right, palm behind; pellet above, trefoil of pellets before. Alexandropoulos 18f; SNG Copenhagen 119; Müller 167. Nice VF, green patina. Ex-CNG(77) B54V64ecoli
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Troas, Gergis155 viewsTroas, Gergis (4th cent. BC).
Obv.: Laureate head of the Sibyl Herophile three-quarter facing to right.
Rev.: Sphinx seated to right.
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Troas, Gergis155 viewsTroas, Gergis (4th cent. BC).
Obv.: Laureate head of the Sibyl Herophile three-quarter facing to right.
Rev.: Sphinx seated to right.
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Linicinius II Arles IOVI CONSERVATORI154 viewsRIC VII Arles 126 R4
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Licinius II, Antioch154 viewsDN VAL LICIN LICINIVS NOB C
IOVI CONS-ERVATORI CAESS
SMANT
RIC VII Antioch 29 R1
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512. Procopius152 viewsProcopius (326 - May 27, 366), was a Roman usurper against Valentinian I, and member of the Constantinian dynasty.
According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Procopius was a native of Cilicia. On his mother's side, Procopius was cousin of Emperor Julian.
Procopius took part in the emperor Julian's campaign against the Persian Empire in 363. He was entrusted of leading 30,000 men towards Armenia, joining King Arsaces, and later return to Julian camp. At the time of Julian's death, there were rumors that he had intended Procopius to be his successor, but when Jovian was elected emperor by the Roman army, Procopius went into hiding to preserve his life. The ancient historians differ on the exact details of Procopius' life in hiding, but agree that he returned to public knowledge at Chalcedon before the house of the senator Strategius suffering from starvation and ignorant of current affairs.
By that time, Jovianus was dead, and Valentinian I shared the purple with his brother Valens. Procopius immediately moved to declare himself emperor. He bribed two legions that were resting at Constantinople to support his efforts, and took control of the imperial city. Shortly after this he proclaimed himself Emperor on September 28, 365, and quickly took control of the provinces of Thrace, and later Bithynia.
Valens was left with the task of dealing with this rebel, and over the next months struggled with both cities and units that wavered in their allegiance. Eventually their armies met at the Battle of Thyatira, and Procopius' forces were defeated. He fled the battlefield, but was betrayed to Valens by two of his remaining followers. Valens had all three executed May 27, 366.
Procopius - Usurper in the east, 365-6 , AE-3, Nicomedia mint
2.90g
Obv: Bust of Procopius, beared left "DN PROCOPIVS PF AVG"
Rev: Procopius standing head right, foot resting on a prow and leaning on a shield. "REPARATIO FEL TEMP" "SMNG" in the exergue.
RIC 10
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504. CONSTANTIUS II152 viewsFlavius Iulius Constantius, known in English as Constantius II, (7 August 317 - 3 November 361) was a Roman Emperor (337 - 361) of the Constantinian dynasty
Constantius was the second of the three sons of Constantine I and his second wife Fausta. Constantius was born in Sirmium (in Illyricum) and named Caesar by his father. When Constantine died in 337, Constantius II led the massacre of his relatives decended from the second marriage of his grandfather Constantius Chlorus and Theodora, leaving himself, his older brother Constantine II, his younger brother Constans and two cousins (Gallus and his half-brother Julian) as the only surviving adult males related to Constantine. The three brothers divided the Roman Empire among them, according to their father's will. Constantine II received Britannia, Gaul and Hispania; Constans ruled Italia, Africa, and Illyricum; and Constantius ruled the East.
This division changed when Constantine II died in 340, trying to overthrow Constans in Italy, and Constans become sole ruler in the Western half of the empire. The division changed once more in 350 when Constans was killed in battle by forces loyal to the usurper Magnentius. Until this time, Constantius was preoccupied with fighting the Sassanid Empire, and he was forced to elevate his cousin Gallus to Caesar of the East to assist him, while he turned his attention to this usurper.
Constantius eventually met and crushed Magnentius in the Battle of Mursa Major, one of the bloodiest battles in Roman history, in 351. Magnentius committed suicide in 353, and Constantius soon after put his cousin Gallus to death. However, he still could not handle the military affairs of both the Eastern and German frontiers by himself, so in 355 he elevated his last remaining relative, Julian, to Caesar. As Julian was hailed Augustus by the army in Gaul, Constantius saw no alternative but to face the usurper with violent force. As the two armies sought engagement, Constantius died from a fever near Tarsus on November 3, 361, and Julian was hailed Augustus in the whole of the Roman empire.
Constantius took an active part in the affairs of the Christian church, frequently taking the side of the Arians, and he called the Council of Rimini in 359.
Constantius married three times, first to a daughter of Julius Constantius, then to Eusebia, and last to Faustina, who gave birth to a posthumous daughter, Faustina Constantia, who later married Emperor Gratian.
CONSTANTIUS II. 337-361 AD. Æ 18mm (2.41 gm). Siscia mint. Struck 351-355 AD. D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right / FEL TEMP REPARATIO, soldier spearing falling enemy horseman who wears conical hat; at right, shield on ground; ASIS. RIC VIII 350. Good VF, green patina. Ex CNGecoli
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308b. Saloninus (AD 258-260)151 viewsSon of Gallienus
Publius Licinius Cornelius Saloninus (242 - 260) was Roman Emperor in 260. His full title was IMP CAESAR CORNELIUS LICINIUS SALONINUS VALERIANUS PF INVICTUS AUG.
Saloninus was born around the year 242. His father was the later emperor Gallienus. In 258 Saloninus was appointed Caesar by his father (just like his older brother Valerian II, who had then just died, two years earlier was) and sent to Gaul, to make sure his father's authority was respected there. Saloninus lived in Cologne during that time of his life.
In 260 (probably in july) Saloninus and his protector, the praetorian prefect Silvanus, had an argument with the usurper Postumus about the distribution of some booty. Both fled to Cologne with some loyal troops and were besieged by Postumus. The troops elevated Saloninus to the rank of Augustus but the city was soon captured by Postumus, and both Saloninus and Silvanus were murdered. Gallienus, being on the other side of the empire could do nothing to stop him. Saloninus was probably emperor for about one month only.
AE Antoninianus (as Caesar)
OB: Radiate, draped bust, right
SALON. VALERIANVS NOB. CAES.
REV: Spes presenting flower to Saloninus
SPES PVBLICA
RIC, Vol. V, Part 1, #36
Antioch mint
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Maximinus II IOVI CONSERVATORI Thessalonica150 viewsThessalonica
Thessalonica was located at the intersection of two major Roman roads, one leading from Italy eastward (Ignatia Way) and the other from the Danube to the Aegean. Thessalonica’s location and use as a port made it a prominent city. In 168 B.C. it became the capital of the second district of Macedonia and later it was made the capital and major port of the whole Roman province of Macedonia (146 B.C.). In 42 B.C., after the battle at Philippi, Thessalonica was made a free city.
Very little has been uncovered at ancient Thessalonica because Thessaloniki sits atop the remains. The area pictured above and at right was formerly a bus station; when it was moved in 1962, this 1st or 2nd century A.D. forum was revealed. Excavators found a bathhouse and mint dating to the 1st century A.D. below pavement surrounding an odeum. An inscription (30 B.C. to 143 A.D.) from the Vardar gate bears the word politarches, the word Luke used in reference to the officials of the city before whom Jason was brought by the mob (Acts 17:6). The word does not appear in any other Greek literature but does match the archaeology of the site.
Paul (with Silas and Timothy) came to Thessalonica from Philippi on his second missionary journey, stopping in Amphipolis and Apollonia before arriving here (Acts 17). He preached in the city’s synagogue, the chief synagogue of the region, for at least three weeks. His ministry was strong, and he established a Jewish-Gentile church, although it was more heavily Gentile (1 Thes. 1:9). When Paul faced great persecution at the hands of the mob, he fled to Berea, but Thessalonians eventually forced him to leave there also (Acts 17:13-14).
IMP C MAXIMINVS PF AVG
IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG NN
dot TS dot B dot
RIC VI Thessalonica 61a
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AKARNANIA, Leukas141 viewsAKARNANIA, Leukas. Circa 345-307 BC. AR Stater (20mm, 7.66 gm). Pegasos flying right; L below / Helmeted head of Athena left; small L and hippocamp behind. Pegasi II pg. 424, 118; SNG Copenhagen -. VF
Ex-CNG eAuction 104, Lot: 47 150/200 ecoli
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201c. Pescennius Niger141 viewsGaius Pescennius Niger was governor of Syria in the year 193 when he learned of the emperor Pertinax's murder. Niger's subsequent attempt to claim the empire for himself ended in failure in Syria after roughly one year. His life before becoming governor of Syria is not well known. He was born in Italy to an equestrian family. He seems to have been older than his eventual rival Septimius Severus, so his birth should perhaps be placed ca. AD 135-40. Niger may have held an important position in the administration of Egypt. He won renown, along with Clodius Albinus, for participation in a military campaign in Dacia early in Commodus' reign. Although Niger could have been adlected into the senate before the Dacian campaign, he was by now pursuing a senatorial career and must have been held in high esteem by Commodus. Niger was made a suffect consul, probably in the late 180s, and he was sent as governor to the important province of Syria in 191.
Niger was a well-known and well-liked figure to the Roman populace. After Pertinax became emperor at the beginning of 193, many in Rome may have hoped that the elderly Pertinax would adopt Niger as his Caesar and heir, but Pertinax was murdered without having made succession plans. When Didius Julianus arrived at the senate house on 29 March 193, his first full day as emperor, a riot broke out among the Roman crowd. The rioters took over the Circus Maximus, from which they shouted for Niger to seize the throne. The rioters dispersed the following day, but a report of their demonstration may well have arrived in the Syrian capital, Antioch, with the news that Pertinax had been murdered and replaced by Julianus.
Spurred into action by the news, Niger had himself proclaimed emperor in Antioch. The governors of the other eastern provinces quickly joined his cause. Niger's most important ally was the respected proconsul of Asia, Asellius Aemilianus, and support began to spread across the Propontis into Europe. Byzantium welcomed Niger, who now was preparing further advances. Niger took the additional cognomen Justus, "the Just." Justice was promoted as the theme of his intended reign, and personifications of Justice appeared on his coins.
Other provincial governors, however, also set their sights on replacing Julianus. Albinus in Britain and Septimius Severus in Upper Pannonia (western Hungary) had each aspired to the purple, and Severus was marching an army on Rome. Severus was still 50 miles from the city when the last of Julianus' dwindling authority disappeared. Julianus was killed in Rome 1 June 193.
Niger sent messengers to Rome to announce his acclamation, but those messengers were intercepted by Severus. A deal was struck between Severus and Albinus that kept Albinus in Britain with the title of Caesar. The larger armies of the western provinces were now united in their support for Severus. Niger's support was confined to the east. Severus had Niger's children captured and held as hostages, and a legion was sent to confront Niger's army in Thrace.
The first conflict between the rival armies took place near Perinthus. Although Niger's forces may have inflicted greater casualties on the Severan troops, Niger was unable to secure his advance; he returned to Byzantium. By the autumn of 193, Severus had left Rome and arrived in the region, though his armies there continued to be commanded by supporters. Niger was offered the chance of a safe exile by Severus, but Niger refused.
Severan troops crossed into Asia at the Hellespont and near Cyzicus engaged forces supporting Niger under the command of Aemilianus. Niger's troops were defeated. Aemilianus attempted to flee but was captured and killed. Not long after, in late December 193 or early January 194, Niger was defeated in a battle near Nicaea and fled south to Antioch. Eastern provincial governors now switched their loyalty to Severus, and Niger faced revolts even in Syria. By late spring 194, the Severan armies were in Cilicia preparing to enter Syria. Niger and his army met the Severan troops near Issus. The battle was a decisive defeat for Niger, who fled back to Antioch. The Syrian capital that only one year earlier had cheered as Niger was proclaimed emperor now waited in fear for the approach of its new master. Niger prepared to flee once more, but outside Antioch he was captured and killed.
Despite his popularity with the Roman mob, Pescennius Niger lacked both the strong loyalty of other senatorial commanders and the number of soldiers that his rival Severus enjoyed. Niger was ultimately unable to make himself the true avenger of Pertinax, and his roughly one-year control of the eastern provinces never qualified him to be reckoned a legitimate emperor.
BITHYNIA, Caesarea. Pescennius Niger. AD 193-194. Æ 22mm (6.35 g). Laureate head right / KAICAREIAC GERMANIKHC, coiled serpent left. RG p. 282, 9, pl. XLIV, 8 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen -; SNG von Aulock -. Near VF, brown patina, rough surfaces. Very rare. Ex-CNGecoli
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Egypt, Alexandria141 viewsPtolemaic Kingdom, Ptolemy VI Philometor and Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Physcon), c. 170 - 164 B.C.
Two eagles in the reverse may symbolize joint ruleecoli
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![RIC_0391[carac]a.jpg](albums/userpics/12015/thumb_RIC_0391%5Bcarac%5Da.jpg "Filename=RIC_0391[carac]a.jpg
Filesize=49KiB
Dimensions=500x235
Date added=Dec 01, 2004")
201a. JULIA DOMNA139 viewsJULIA DOMNA, mother of Caracalla.
When Septimius Severus claimed the empire after Didius Julianus had succeeded Pertinax in 193, two serious rivals challenged him, Pescennius Niger in the East and Clodius Albinus in the West. Julia accompanied her husband in the campaign against Pescennius, having been honored with the title mater castrorum. After this successful campaign, there was another campaign in the East, against the Parthians, in 197. Afterwards, she was with Severus on a journey to Egypt and other parts of the empire. She was widely honored with inscriptions throughout this period, and numerous coin issues emphasized her imperial position.
She opposed Plautianus, the praetorian prefect and father-in-law of Caracalla, and was partially responsible for his downfall and his daughter Plautilla's disgrace. She was often accused of adultery; nonetheless, the emperor chose to ignore these charges, if true, and the marriage continued. Among her passions were literature and philosophy; she gathered writers and philosophers in a kind of salon, and urged Philostratus to write the life of Apollonius of Tyana.
In 212, Caracalla murdered Geta while he sought succor in his mother's arms; covered with his blood, she was forbidden by Caracalla to grieve. Her relationship with Caracalla during the six years of his reign was mixed. She had some public duties but largely devoted herself to philosophy. She accompanied Caracalla to the east on campaign against the Parthians in 217; when she learned, in Antioch, that he had been assassinated, she resolved upon death, which followed her refusal to take food.
AR Denarius
(19mm, 2.86 gm). IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, draped
bust right / VESTA, Vesta, veiled, seated left,
holding simpulum and sceptre. RIC IV 391 (Caracalla); BMCRE 31 (same); RSC 226. EF. Ex-CNG
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Thrace, Mesembria139 viewsThrace, Mesembria.
Originally a Thracian settlement, known as Menebria, the town became a Greek colony when settled by Dorians from Megara at the beginning of the 6th century BC, and was an important trading centre from then on and a rival of Apollonia (Sozopol). It remained the only Dorian colony along the Black Sea coast, as the rest were typical Ionian colonies. At 425-424 BC the town joined the Delian League, under the leadership of Athens. Remains from the Hellenistic period include the acropolis, a temple of Apollo, and an agora. A wall which formed part of the fortifications can still be seen on the north side of the peninsula. Bronze and silver coins were minted in the city since the 5th century BC and gold coins since the 3rd century BC. The town fell under Roman rule in 71 BC, yet continued to enjoy privileges such as the right to mint its own coinage.
GR4 Circa Fourth Century BC. AR Diobol (1.18 gm) 11.25 mm. Crested helmet / Radiate wheel of four spokes; M-E-T-A within. SNG BM Black Sea 268. Very fine. ecoli
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102a. Plotina137 viewsPlotina, wife of Trajan.
Under Trajan, his female relations played enormously important roles in the empire's public life, and received honors perhaps unparalleled. Trajan's wife, Pompeia Plotina, is reported to have said, when she entered the imperial palace in Rome for the first time, that she hoped she would leave it the same person she was when she entered. She received the title Augusta no later than 105. She survived Trajan, dying probably in 121, and was honored by Hadrian with a temple, which she shared with her husband, in the great forum which the latter had built.
Æ trial strike of denarius dies (23 mm, 7.42 g). Rome. [PL]OTINA AVG IMP TRAIANI, diademed and draped bust right, hair in queue down neck / CAES AVG GERMA [D]A[C] COS V[I P P], Vesta seated left, holding palladium in right hand, sceptre in left. Cf. RIC 730 (Trajan); cf. BMC 526 (Trajan); cf. RSC 3. VF, rough green patina. Very unusual and probably unique. Ex Spink 160 (9-10 October 2002), 852. ecoli
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003a. Drusus136 viewsDrusus
Tiberius' son, Drusus Caesar, d. 23, called Drusus Junior, served in the provinces Pannonia ( 15) and in Illyricum ( 17? 20). In 22 he was made tribune. Meanwhile, Sejanus, Tiberius' minister, had become jealous of Drusus' power and tried to turn Tiberius against him. Drusus may have been poisoned by Sejanus or by his wife under Sejanus' influence.
As. Sear 2594, restitution issue by Titus. 10.0 g, 26x27 mm. Glossy dark green patina with slight roughness. OBV.: Drusus left, DRVSVS CAESAR TI AVG F DIVI AVG N. REV.: IMP T CAES DIVI VESP F AVG REST around SC. ecoli
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TROAS, Birytis133 viewsTROAS, Birytis 300-250 B.C. AE 1.23 g. Bearded head of Kabiros l., wearing pileus. Rev. Î’-Ι/Ρ-Î¥ Club, whole in laurel wreath. SNG Munich 170. SNG Tübingen 2574.ecoli
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001. Julius Caesar131 viewsJulius Caesar. 49-48 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.60 g). Military mint traveling with Caesar. Elephant walking right, trampling on serpent / Simpulum, sprinkler, axe (surmounted by a wolf’s head), and priest’s hat. Crawford 443/1; CRI 9; Sydenham 1006; RSC 49. VF, toned
Ex-Cngecoli
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302. BALBINUS130 viewsBALBINUS. 238 AD.
The relation between Balbinus and Pupienus had been clouded with suspicion from the start, with both fearing an assassination from the other. They were planning an enormous double campaign, Pupienus against the Parthians and Balbinus against the Carpians, but they quarrelled frequently. It was during one of these heavy discussions, on July 29, that the Praetorian guard decided to intervene. They stormed into the room containing the emperors and killed them both. On the same day, Gordian III, only 13 years old, was proclaimed emperor.
Together they ruled a little more than three months. Coins from their short reign show one of them on one side and two clasped hands on the other to show their joint power.
AR Denarius (21mm, 2.92 gm). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Victory standing facing, head left, holding wreath and palm. RIC IV 8; BMCRE 37; RSC 27. Good VF, toned, Ex- CNGecoli
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005b. Britannicus127 viewsBritannicus (son of Claudius) AE17. Ionia, Smyrna
Britannicus (41 - 55 A.D.) was the son of the Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Messalina. His original name was "Germanicus" but was changed in honor of his father's conquest of Britain in 43 AD.
Nobody is sure why Claudius made Nero his successor and not Britannicus, although the fact that Britannicus may have been Caligula's son is a factor. Britannicus was killed by (partisans of) his step-brother (and brother-in-law) Nero so that Nero could become emperor of Rome.
His sister Octavia is the heroine of the play written at some time after the death of Nero. It's title is titled her name, but its central message is the wrong done to the Claudian house because of the wrong done to its last male member and its last hope.
Britannicus. Before 54 AD. AE 17mm (4.31 g), Minted at Ionia, Smyrna. Bare head right 'ZMYP' below bust / Nike flying right. cf S(GIC) 516. Scarce. Some dirt and patina chipping.
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SICILY, Akragas127 viewsSICILY, Akragas. Before 406 BC. Æ Tetras (20mm, 9.16 gm). Eagle right, clutching dead hare in its talons / Crab; three pellets and crayfish left below. Calciati I pg. 180, 54; SNG ANS 1034ff.. Near VF/VF, dark green patina, old gouge in obverse patina. From the Tony Hardy Collection. Ex-CNG B8FVAFecoli
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Star within wreath127 viewsHelena. Augusta, AD 324-328/30. Æ19 Follis (2.31mm, ). Thessalonica mint. Struck 318-319 AD. Draped bust right / Eight-pointed star in laurel wreath. RIC VII 50; LRBC 821. Good VF Ex-CNG
The coinage of Helena as Augusta commenced with her elevation to full imperial status in 324 and continued until her death five years later. Preceding these issues, however, was a remarkable series struck circa 318 AD at the Thessalonica mint on which both Helena and her daughter-in-law Fausta are accorded the lesser title of Nobilissima Femina (N F). Both ladies had borne this rank for some considerable time, Helena since her son's elevation to imperial status in 306, Fausta since her marriage to Constantine in March of the following year. The significance of the anepigraphic reverse with star within wreath remains unexplained, though presumably it contains some reference to divine providence and destiny. ecoli
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Trajanopolis; Callacalla125 viewsCallacalla
From Slokind:
Dionysos. Look for traces of the ribbon bow on the staff of his thyrsos (but don't worry if it's lacking). The thing in his r. hand is a kantharos (wine cup specific to him). The animal is his panther, looking back over its shoulder up at him. Even for Caracalla, Traianopolis is not a very common mint. Pat L.
No large Dionysos found listed in Varbanov III. Not in Lindgren II-III (N.B., Lindgren confutes Tranianopolis with Augusta Traiana: they are separate places, but he's not there, anyhow). Not in SNG Cop. II (though that keeps the two towns separate, and there you can see a Dionysos for Caracalla at the much commoner Augusta Traiana mint). I suppose you already have checked Wildwinds and CoinArchives, where I bet you didn't find him. P.L.
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SYRIA, Commagene, Zeugma. Lucius Verus124 viewsSYRIA, Commagene, Zeugma. Lucius Verus. AD 161-169. Æ 20mm (7.81 g). Laureate and draped bust left, seen from behind / ZEVGMA/TEWN/D, legend in three lines in wreath. BMC Galatia pg. 126, 17; SNG Copenhagen -; SNG München 426. VF, black patina with red dirt depositsecoli
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320. Carus122 viewsMarcus Aurelius Carus (c. 230 - late July/early August, 283), Roman emperor (282-283), was born probably at Narbona (more correctly, Narona -- now the ruins at Vid, Croatia) in Illyria, but was educated at Rome. He was a senator, and had filled various civil and military posts before he was appointed prefect of the Praetorian Guard by the emperor Probus. After the murder of Probus at Sirmium, Carus was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers.
Although Carus severely avenged the death of Probus, he was himself suspected of having been an accessory to the deed. He does not seem to have returned to Rome after his accession, but contented himself with an announcement of the fact to the Senate.
Bestowing the title of Caesar upon his sons Carinus and Numerian, he left Carinus in charge of the western portion of the empire, and took Numerian with him on the expedition against the Persians which had been contemplated by Probus. Having defeated the Quadi and Sarmatians on the Danube, Carus proceeded through Thrace and Asia Minor, conquered Mesopotamia, pressed on to Seleucia and Ctesiphon, and carried his arms beyond the Tigris.
His hopes of further conquest were cut short by his death. One day, after a violent storm, it was announced that he was dead. His death was variously attributed to disease, the effects of lightning, or a wound received in a campaign against the Huns. However it seems more probable that he was murdered by the soldiers, who were averse to further campaigns against Persia, at the instigation of Arrius Aper, prefect of the Praetorian Guard.
VF/VF Carus AE Antoninianus / Virtus
Attribution: VM 16
Date: 282-283 AD
Obverse: IMP C M AVR CARVS P F AVG, radiate bust r.
Reverse: VIRTVS AVGGG, Carus receiving globe from Jupiter
Size: 20.32 mm
Weight: 2.7 grams
Description: An attractive Carus ant
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315. Quintillus114 viewsQuintillus, August or September - October or November 270 A.D.
Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus (d. 270) was brother of the Roman Emperor Claudius II, and became the Emperor himself in 270.
Historia Augusta reports that he became Emperor in a coup d'état. Eutropius reports Quintillus to have been elected by soldiers of the Roman army immediately following the death of his brother. The choice was reportedly approved by the Roman Senate. Joannes Zonaras however reports him elected by the Senate itself.
Records however agree that the legions which had followed Claudius in campaigning along the Danube were either unaware or disapproving of Quintillus' elevation. They instead elevated their current leader Aurelian to the rank of Augustus. Historia Augusta reports Aurelian to have been chosen by Claudius himself as a successor, apparently in a deathbed decision.
The few records of Quintillus' reign are contradictory. They disagree on the length of his reign, variously reported to have lasted as few as 17 days and as many as 177 days (about six months). Records also disagree on the cause of his death. Historia Augusta reports him murdered by his own soldiers in reaction to his strict military discipline. Jerome reports him killed, persumably in conflict with Aurelian. John of Antioch and Joannes Zonaras reported Quintillus to have committed suicide by opening his veins and bleeding himself to death. John reports the suicide to have been assisted by a physician. Claudius Salmasius pointed that Dexippus recorded the death without stating causes. All records however agree in placing the death at Aquileia.
Quintillus was reportedly survived by his two sons.
Historia Augusta reports Claudius and Quintillus having another brother named Crispus and through him a niece, Claudia. who reportedly married Eutropius and was mother to Constantius Chlorus. Historians however suspect this account to be a genealogical fabrication to flatter Constantine the Great.
Surviving Roman records considered Quintillus a moderate and capable Emperor. He was seen as a champion of the Senate and thus compared to previous Emperors Servius Sulpicius Galba and Publius Helvius Pertinax. All three were highly regarded by Senatorial sources despite their failure to survive a full year of reign.
Bronze antoninianus, RIC 58, C-47, S 3246, EF, 3.37g, 19.9mm, 180o, Mediolanum mint, obverse IMP QVINTILLVS AVG, radiate and draped bust right; reverse MARTI PACI, Mars holding olive branch and spear, P in ex; found in England; Ex Forumecoli
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405a. Helena109 viewsFlavia Iulia Helena, also known as Saint Helena, Saint Helen, Helena Augusta, and Helena of Constantinople, (c.248 - c.329) was the first wife of Constantius Chlorus, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I. She is traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross.
Many legends surround her. She was allegedly the daughter of an innkeeper. Her son Constantine renamed the city of Drepanum on the Gulf of Nicomedia as 'Helenopolis' in her honor, which led to later interpretions that Drepanum was her birthplace.
Constantius Chlorus divorced her (c.292) to marry the step-daughter of Maximian, Flavia Maximiana Theodora. Helena's son, Constantine, became emperor of the Roman Empire, and following his elevation she became a presence at the imperial court, and received the title Augusta.
She is considered by the Orthodox and Catholic churches as a saint, famed for her piety. Eusebius records the details of her pilgrimage to Palestine and other eastern provinces. She is traditionally credited (but not by Eusebius) with the finding of relics of the True Cross (q.v.), and finding the remains of the Three Wise Men, which currently reside in the Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral. Her feast day as a saint of the Orthodox Christian Church is celebrated with her son on May 21, the Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal to the Apostles. Her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church falls on August 18.
At least 25 sacred wells currently exist in Britain that were dedicated to her. She is also the patron saint of Colchester.
Helena Follis. FL HELENA AVGVSTA, diademed and draped bust right / SECVRITAS REIPVBLICE, Securitas standing left, holding branch in right hand; PTR(crescent) in ex.ecoli
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501. Constantine I 109 viewsIn the year 320, Licinius, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, reneged on the religious freedom promised by the Edict of Milan in 313 and began another persecution of the Christians. This was a puzzling inconsistency since Constantia, half-sister of Constantine and wife of Licinius, was an influential Christian. It became a challenge to Constantine in the west, climaxing in the great civil war of 324. The armies were so large another like these would not be seen again until at least the 14th century. Licinius, aided by Goth mercenaries, represented the past and the ancient faith of Paganism. Constantine and his Franks marched under the Christian standard of the labarum, and both sides saw the battle in religious terms. Supposedly outnumbered, but fired by their zeal, Constantine's army emerged victorious. With the defeat and death of Licinius (Constantine was known for being ruthless with his political enemies: Constantine had publicly promised to spare his life, but a year later he accused him of plotting against him and had him executed by strangulation), Constantine then became the sole emperor of the entire Roman Empire.[
RIC VII Siscia 235 c3
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Moesia Inferior, Nikopolis; Septimius Severus105 views"Presumably reflecting Septimius' capture of Ctesiphon in Jan. 198, since we know from IGBulg. II, 659 (Boteva pp. 166-7) that Tertullus was governor when news of that victory and the promotions of Caracalla to Augustus and Geta to Caesar reached Lower Moesia.
Obv. die seems the same as Varbanov 2750 = Bulg. ed. 2163
rev. type apparently unpublished"ecoli
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309b. Valerian II (AD 256-258)104 viewsCornelius Licinius Valerianus, also known as Valerian II, was the eldest son of the Roman emperor, Gallienus.
Valerian was raised to the title of Caesar shortly after his father was raised to co-emperor with his father, Valerian. He was killed somewhere around the year 257, possibly by Ingenuus who had been charged with his education.
Valerian II (AD 256-258)
AE Antoninianus (AD 255)
OB: Radiate, draped bust, right
VALERIANVS NOBIL CAES.
REV: Prince standing left, holding shield and spear, and crowning trophy
PRINC. IVVENTVTIS
RIC, Vol. V, Part 1, #49
Antioch mint
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202. Caracalla104 viewsIn Roman mythology, Victoria was the goddess of victory. She is the Roman version of the Greek goddess Nike Nike INC , and was associated with Bellona. She was adopted by the Sabine agricultural goddess Vacuna.
Caracalla Denarius. 211 AD. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate head right / P M TR P XIIII COS III P P, Victory advancing right on prow with wreath & palm. RSC 188.ecoli
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Mesembria, Thrace: AE 21 / Athena103 viewsMesembria, Thrace: AE 21 / Athena
2nd c. BC. Diademed head of female right / Athena Promachos standing left, hurling spear. SG 1676, VF with green patina. Nicely centered on a compact flan. Ex-Sayles g29ecoli
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Ionia, Miletos103 viewsIonia, Miletos, late 6th-early 4th century BC, AR 1/12th Stater (1.16 gm.). Obv.: Head lion left. Rev.: Star. SNG Helsinki II , 267. Attractive very fine. g23ecoli
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201. SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS102 viewsSEPTIMIUS SEVERUS. 193-211 AD.
The order Severus was able to impose on the empire through both the force of arms and the force of law failed to extend to his own family. His now teenaged sons, Caracalla and Geta, displayed a reckless sibling rivalry that sometimes resulted in physical injury. The emperor believed the lack of responsibilities in Rome contributed to the ill-will between his sons and decided that the family would travel to Britain to oversee military operations there. Caracalla was involved in directing the army's campaigns, while Geta was given civilian authority and a promotion to joint emperor with his father and brother.
RI6
AR Denarius (19mm, 3.41 gm). Struck 200-201 AD. SEVERVS AVG PART MAX, laureate head right / RESTITVTOR VRBIS, Septimius standing left, holding patera
in right hand over tripod altar, and spear in left. RIC IV 167; BMCRE 202; RSC 9. Good VF. Ex-CNGecoli
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012a. Domitia102 viewsDomitia, wife of Domitian. Augusta, 82-96 AD.
In 70, Domitia was married to Lucius Aelius Lamia, but she attracted the attention of Domitian, son of emperor Vespasian. Shortly afterwards she was taken from her husband and remarried with the future emperor. They had a son in the next year and a daughter in 74, both died young. Domitian was very fond of his wife and carried her in all his travels. In 83, Domitia Longina's affair with the actor Paris was disclosed. Paris was executed and Domitia received her letter of divorce from Domitian. She was exiled, but remained close to Roman politics and to Domitian.
CILICIA, Epiphanea. Æ 21mm (7.18 gm). Dated year 151 (83/84 AD). Draped bust right / Athena standing left, righ hand extended, left resting on shield; ANP (date) left. RPC I 1786; SNG Levante 1813; SNG France -; SNG Copenhagen -. VF, dark green patina, some smoothing. Very rare, only 1 specimen (the Levante specimen), recorded in RPC. Ex-CNGecoli
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SICILY, Syracuse102 viewsSICILY, Syracuse. Circa 425-415 BC. Æ Onkia (11mm, 0.80 gm). Female head right / Octopus. Calciati I pg. 29, 9; SNG ANS 383; SNG Morcom 679. VF, dark brown patina. EX-CNG B58V78ecoli
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PAMPHYLIA, Aspendos102 viewsPAMPHYLIA, Aspendos. Circa 380-325 BC.
Greek ASPENDOS, modern BELKIS, ancient city of Pamphylia, now in southwestern Turkey. It is noted for its Roman ruins. A wide range of coinage from the 5th century BC onward attests to the city's wealth. Aspendus was occupied by Alexander the Great in 333 BC and later passed from Pergamene to Roman rule in 133 BC. According to Cicero, it was plundered of many of its artistic treasures by the provincial governor Verres. The hilltop ruins of the city include a basilica, an agora, and some rock-cut tombs of Phrygian design. A huge theatre, one of the finest in the world, is carved out of the northeast flank of the hill. It was designed by the Roman architect Zeno in honour of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (reigned AD 161-180)
The present-day Belkiz was once situated on the banks of the River Eurymedon, now known as the Kopru Cay. In ancient times it was navigable; in fact, according to Strabo, the Persians anchored their ships there in 468 B.C., before the epic battle against the Delian Confederation.
It is commonly believed that Aspendos was founded by colonists from Argos. One thing is certain: right from the beginning of the 5th century, Aspendos and Side were the only two towns to mint coins. An important river trading port, it was occupied by Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. because it refused to pay tribute to the Macedonian king. It became an ally of Rome after the Battle of Sipylum in 190 B.C. and entered the Roman Empire.
The town is built against two hills: on the "great hill" or Buyuk Tepe stood the acropolis, with the agora, basilica, nymphaeum and bouleuterion or "council chamber". Of all these buildings, which were the very hub of the town, only ruins remain. About one kilometer north of the town, one can still see the remains of the Roman aqueduct that supplied Aspendos with water, transporting it from a distance of over twenty kilometers, and which still maintains its original height.
Aspendos' theatre is the best preserved Roman theatre anywhere in Turkey. It was designed during the 2nd century A.D. by the architect Zeno, son of Theodore and originally from Aspendos. Its two benefactors— the brothers Curtius Crispinus and Curtius Auspicatus —dedicated it to the Imperial family as can be seen from certain engravings on the stones. Discovered in 1871 by Count Landskonski during one of his trips to the region, the theatre is in excellent condition thanks to the top quality of the calcareous stone and to the fact that the Seljuks turned it into a palace, reinforcing the entire north wing with bricks. Its thirty-nine tiers of steps—96 meters long—could seat about twenty thousand spectators. At the top, the elegant gallery and covered arcade sheltered spectators. One is immediately struck by the integrity and architectural distinction of the stage building, consisting of a Irons scacnae which opens with five doors onto the proscenium and scanned by two orders of windows which also project onto the outside wall. There is an amusing anecdote about the construction of this theatre—in which numerous plays are still held, given its formidable acoustics — and the aqueduct just outside the town: in ancient times, the King of Aspendos had a daughter of rare beauty named Semiramis, contended by two architects; the king decided to marry her off to the one who built an important public work in the shortest space of time. The two suitors thus got down to work and completed two public works at the same time: the theatre and the aquaduct. As the sovereign liked both buildings, he thought it right and just to divide his daughter in half. Whereas the designer of the aquaduct accepted the Solomonic division, the other preferred to grant the princess wholly to her rival. In this way, the sovereign understood that the designer of the theatre had not only built a magnificent theatre— which was the pride of the town—, but would also be an excellent husband to his daughter; consequently he granted him her hand in marriage
AR Stater (21mm, 10.76 g). Two wrestlers grappling; DA between / Slinger to right; triskeles in field. Tekin Series D; SNG France 87 (same reverse die). Ex-CNG B9FV15Eecoli
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THESSALY, Pharsalos100 viewsTHESSALY, Pharsalos. Circa 400-344 BC. AR Drachm (20mm, 5.53 gm). Helmeted head of Athena right / Warrior on horseback right, holding mace over shoulder. SNG Copenhagen 220-1; BMC Thessaly pg. 43, 6. Fine. Ex-Cng B5AV6Eecoli
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Western Han Dynasty100 viewsWestern Han Dynasty 4-zhu Ban Liang is called as Deng Tong Ban Liang, whose feature is the bars on obverse. Deng Tong cast these coins privately under the authority of Emperor Wu Di. Diameter: 23.5 mm. This coin has 2 bars above and below the square holeecoli
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Wang Mang99 viewsEF Wang Mang Chinese cash coin. From the time of Christ. Minted 7-22 AD. 27 mm, 5.8 g.
Schjoth 125ecoli
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501d. Hanniballianus95 viewsHanniballianus. A.D. 335-337.
Dalmatius's second son, Hannibalianus, was appointed Governor of Pontus, as well as Cappadocia and Lesser or Roman Armenia. Hannibalianus also received the title Rex Regum, which some scholars believe suggests that Constantine intended to install him as a client king over Persia once his contemplated campaign against Rome’s eastern enemy was brought to a successful conclusion. In a further gesture of reconciliation between the two branches of the imperial family, Hannibalianus was married to Constantia, one of Constantine's daughters.
Æ 15 mm (1.20 g). Constantinople, as Rex Regum, A.D. 336-337. FL HANNIBALLIANO REG[I], bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust right / [SE]CVRITAS PVBLIC[A], river-god Euphrates reclining right, beside urn and reed; [CONSS]. RIC 147; LRBC 1034. Near VF/VF, attractive dark green patina with earthen highlights.ecoli
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CARTHAGE94 viewsCARTHAGE. Circa 370-340 BC. Æ 13mm (1.37 gm). Sicilian mint. Wreathed male head left / Horse prancing right. Calciati III pg. 377, 4; SNG Copenhagen 98. VF, dark brown, green and red patina, some roughness. Scarce. EX-CNG B33V4B
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010. VESPASIAN92 viewsAR denarius (18mm, 3.51g). Rome mint. Struck under Titus, AD 80-81.
DIVVS AVGVSTVS VESPASIANVS. Laureate head right / Two capricorns support shield inscribed S C, globe below. RIC II-1 357 (Titus). RSC 497.
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005d. Agrippina II91 viewsLYDIA, Hypaepa. Agrippina Jr., mother of Nero. Augusta, 50-59 AD. Æ 14mm (2.33 gm). Draped bust of Agrippina right / Cult statue of Artemis. RPC I 2541; SNG Copenhagen -.
Julia Vipsania Agrippina Minor or Agrippina Minor (Latin for "the younger") (November 7, AD 15 – March 59), often called "Agrippinilla" to distinguish her from her mother, was the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina Major. She was sister of Caligula, granddaughter and great-niece to Tiberius, niece and wife of Claudius, and the mother of Nero. She was born at Oppidum Ubiorum on the Rhine, afterwards named in her honour Colonia Agrippinae (modern Cologne, Germany).
Agrippina was first married to (1st century AD) Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. From this marriage she gave birth to Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who would become Roman Emperor Nero. Her husband died in January, 40. While still married, Agrippina participated openly in her brother Caligula's decadent court, where, according to some sources, at his instigation she prostituted herself in a palace. While it was generally agreed that Agrippinilla, as well as her sisters, had ongoing sexual relationships with their brother Caligula, incest was an oft-used criminal accusation against the aristocracy, because it was impossible to refute successfully. As Agrippina and her sister became more problematic for their brother, Caligula sent them into exile for a time, where it is said she was forced to dive for sponges to make a living. In January, 41, Agrippina had a second marriage to the affluent Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus. He died between 44 and 47, leaving his estate to Agrippina.
As a widow, Agrippina was courted by the freedman Pallas as a possible marriage match to her own uncle, Emperor Claudius, and became his favourite councillor, even granted the honor of being called Augusta (a title which no other queen had ever received). They were married on New Year's Day of 49, after the death of Claudius's first wife Messalina. Agrippina then proceeded to persuade Claudius to adopt her son, thereby placing Nero in the line of succession to the Imperial throne over Claudius's own son, Brittanicus. A true Imperial politician, Agrippina did not reject murder as a way to win her battles. Many ancient sources credited her with poisoning Claudius in 54 with a plate of poisened mushrooms, hence enabling Nero to quickly take the throne as emperor.
For some time, Agrippina influenced Nero as he was relatively ill-equipped to rule on his own. But Nero eventually felt that she was taking on too much power relative to her position as a woman of Rome. He deprived her of her honours and exiled her from the palace, but that was not enough. Three times Nero tried to poison Agrippina, but she had been raised in the Imperial family and was accustomed to taking antidotes. Nero had a machine built and attached to the roof of her bedroom. The machine was designed to make the ceiling collapse — the plot failed with the machine. According to the historians Tacitus and Suetonius, Nero then plotted her death by sending for her in a boat constructed to collapse, intending to drown Agrippina. However, only some of the crew were in on the plot; their efforts were hampered by the rest of the crew trying to save the ship. As the ship sank, one of her handmaidens thought to save herself by crying that she was Agrippina, thinking they would take special care of her. Instead the maid was instantly beaten to death with oars and chains. The real Agrippina realised what was happening and in the confusion managed to swim away where a passing fisherman picked her up. Terrified that his cover had been blown, Nero instantly sent men to charge her with treason and summarily execute her. Legend states that when the Emperor's soldiers came to kill her, Agrippina pulled back her clothes and ordered them to stab her in the belly that had housed such a monstrous son.
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317. Tacitus 91 viewsMarcus Claudius Tacitus, (c.200 - 276) Roman Emperor from September 25, 275, to April 276, was a native of Interamna (Terni) in Umbria.
In the course of his long life he discharged the duties of various civil offices, including that of consul in 273, with universal respect.
Six months after the assassination of Aurelian, he was chosen by the senate to succeed him, and the choice was cordially ratified by the army. During his brief reign he set on foot some domestic reforms, and sought to revive the authority of the senate, but, after a victory over the Alans near the Palus Maeotis, he was assassinated at Tyana in Cappadocia.
Tacitus, besides being a man of immense wealth (which he bequeathed to the state) had considerable literary culture, and was proud to claim descent from the historian Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, whose works he caused to be transcribed at the public expense and placed in the public libraries.
However, modern research has cast considerable suspicion on this traditional image of Tacitus as a venerable old senator. Quite the contrary, evidence (from coins, for example) indicates that Tacitus was just another military emperor, whose only distiction from other short-lived emperors of the time was his attempt to cultivate the image of a learned man.
Tactitus Silvered AE Antoninianus. Gaul mint. IMP C M CL TACITVS P F AVG, radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right / FELICITAS SAECILI (sic), Felicity standing left, sacrificing over altar, holding a long cauduceus Ric 21
Checkecoli
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C POBLICIUS Q F. 80 BC91 viewsHelmeted bust of Roma right / Hercules strangling the Nemean lion; bow and quiver at left; club below. Cr. 380/1.
POBLICIA, a plebian family, but of consular rank. Its cognomen on coins is Malleolus. There are fifteen varieties, all of silver, on some of which a small hammer or mallett is engraved, evidently alluding to the surname Malleolus.
The first of Heracles' twelve labours, set by King Eurystheus (his cousin) was to slay the Nemean lion.
According to one version of the myth, the Nemean lion took women as hostages to its lair in a cave near Nemea, luring warriors from nearby towns to save the damsel in distress. After entering the cave, the warrior would see the woman (usually feigning injury) and rush to her side. Once he was close, the woman would turn into a lion and kill the warrior, devouring his remains and giving the bones to Hades.
Heracles wandered the area until he came to the town of Cleonae. There he met a boy who said that if Heracles slew the Nemean lion and returned alive within 30 days, the town would sacrifice a lion to Zeus; but if he did not return within 30 days or he died, the boy would sacrifice himself to Zeus.[3] Another version claims that he met Molorchos, a shepherd who had lost his son to the lion, saying that if he came back within 30 days, a ram would be sacrificed to Zeus. If he did not return within 30 days, it would be sacrificed to the dead Heracles as a mourning offering.
While searching for the lion, Heracles fetched some arrows to use against it, not knowing that its golden fur was impenetrable; when he found and shot the lion and firing at it with his bow, he discovered the fur's protective property when the arrow bounced harmlessly off the creature's thigh. After some time, Heracles made the lion return to his cave. The cave had two entrances, one of which Heracles blocked; he then entered the other. In those dark and close quarters, Heracles stunned the beast with his club and, using his immense strength, strangled it to death. During the fight the lion bit off one of his fingers. Others say that he shot arrows at it, eventually shooting it in the unarmoured mouth.
After slaying the lion, he tried to skin it with a knife from his belt, but failed. He then tried sharpening the knife with a stone and even tried with the stone itself. Finally, Athena, noticing the hero's plight, told Heracles to use one of the lion's own claws to skin the pelt.
When he returned on the thirtieth day carrying the carcass of the lion on his shoulders, King Eurystheus was amazed and terrified. Eurystheus forbade him ever again to enter the city; in future he was to display the fruits of his labours outside the city gates. Eurystheus warned him that the tasks set for him would become increasingly difficult. He then sent Heracles off to complete his next quest, which was to destroy the Lernaean hydra.
The Nemean lion's coat was impervious to the elements and all but the most powerful weapons. Others say that Heracles' armour was, in fact, the hide of the lion of Cithaeron.ecoli
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China, Tang Dynasty, Emperor Su Zong, AD 756-763, Large AE 5 Cash (35mm • 14,79gm). Double Rim Reverse.90 viewsO: Qian Yuan Zhong Bao. R: Double rim. Jen 144v. Nice VF with attractive green and earthen patina.
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China, Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Hui Zong89 viewsChina, Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Hui Zong, AD 1101-1126, Large AE 10 Cash (41mm • 18.22gm).
O: Da Guan Tong Bao. R: Plain. Jen 282. Good VF.
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303. Gordian III88 viewsGordian III was a child emperor, but his reign was not perceived as having been burdened by the troubles faced by other young emperors. Competent administrators held important posts, and cultural traditions appear to have been upheld. Gordian III's unlikely accession and seemingly stable reign reveal that child emperors, like modern-day constitutional monarchs, had their advantage: a distance from political decision-making and factionalism that enabled the emperor to be a symbol of unity for the various constituency groups in Roman society. The paucity of information about Gordian III's reign makes it difficult to know whether the young emperor truly lived up to such an ideal, but the positive historical tradition about him gives one the suspicion that perhaps he did.
Antoninianus. IMP GORDIANVS PVS FEL AVG, radiate draped bust right / IOVI STATORI, Jupiter standing right with scepter & thunderbolt. RIC 84, RSC 109ecoli
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CILICIA, Seleucia ad Calycadnum. Septimius Severus88 viewsCILICIA, Seleucia ad Calycadnum. Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. Æ (28mm, 11.64 g, 12h). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Athena standing left, holding shield and spear, about to attack serpent-legged Giant to right. SNG France -; SNG Levante 736 var. (view of bust); SNG Levante Suppl. -; SNG Copenhagen -. Near VF, dark green and brown patina, two scratches before bust.
Ex - CNG Esale 239 lot 320
230/100
After Zeus had defeated the Titans in the Titantomachy and apportioned their former relatives to his fellow Olympians, he was compelled to resolve a conflict with the Giants, offspring of Gaia and Cronus. Known as the Gigantomachy, these chthonic half-man, half-serpent creatures attempted to wrestle power from the Olympians by casting them out of Olympus. To accomplish this, the Giants attempted to reach Olympus by heaping up one mountain range on top of the other. From above, Zeus and the other Olympians defended themselves by hurling their weapons. In the end, however, it was the assistance of Hercules, that won the day.
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507a. Decentius86 viewsMagnus Decentius (d. 18 August 353) was a Roman usurper against Roman Emperor Constantius II.
Probably brother of Magnentius, Decentius was made Caesar by him in winter 350/351, and was consul in 352 and 353. When Magnentius was defeated by Constantius at the Battle of Mons Seleucus and killed himself, Decentius, who was leading reenfocement, hanged at Senonae.
Decentius as Caesar, AD 350-353, AE Double Cententionalis (25mm, 8.11g)
O: DN DECENTIVS NOB CAES; Cuirassed bust facing right.
R: SALVS DD NN AVG ET CAES; Large Chi-Rho flanked by A and w; LSLG in exergue.
RIC 155 (Scarce), VM 6.
This is a full weight AE1 size of this Christogram series.
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003. Constans Siscia GLORIA EXERCITVS85 viewsFL CONSTANTIS BEA C
GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS
ASIS
RIC VII Siscia 255 r4
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202b. Geta85 viewsGeta, as Caesar,
Publius Septimius Geta was the younger son of the emperor Septimius Severus. Geta's rivalry with his older brother, Caracalla, culminated in Geta's murder less than a year after Severus' death. Tradition soon idealized this victim of fratricide as a gentle prince taken by treachery far too soon. Critics of Caracalla looked back wistfully at the murdered prince, who came to be described as a lamb devoured by his ferocious, lion-like brother. The little reliable evidence about Geta's personality does not seem to support the idealized picture of a gentle prince, but the shocking nature of his death at the instigation of his brother transformed Geta's life into legend.
Denarius. P SEPT GETA CAES PONT, draped bust right / PRINC IVVENTVTIS, Geta, in military dress, standing left with baton & scepter, trophy behind. RIC 18, RSC 157ecoli
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Philip II, 359-336 BC 84 viewsPhilip II, 359-336 BC, Bronze AE18, SNG ANS-842, struck 359-336BC at Macedonia, 6.23 grams, 17.3 mm. Near EF
Obv: Head of Apollo facing right, hair bound with tainia
Rev: Naked youth on horse prancing right, legend above and monogram below
A lovely example with a light green patina and of an earlier than normal style. Just a touch of strike weakness at the very center of both surfaces prevent this piece from being a full EF. Overall quite attractive and desireable. Ex-Glenn Woods
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China, Six Dynasties, Northern Zhou, Emperor Wu Di83 viewsChina, Six Dynasties, Northern Zhou, Emperor Wu Di, AD 561-578, AE 10 Bu (4.46gm).
O: Wu Xing Da Bu. R: Plain. Jen 135. Cast AD 574. Crusty F-VF.
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China, Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Guang Zong, AD 1190-1195, Iron 2 Cash (7.24gm), Tongan Mint, Anhui, year 3.82 viewsSong script. O: Shao Xi Yuan Bao. R: Tong and numeral 3. Cf. Jen 1171. VF.
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