Dear Message Board Enthusiasts!
Thank you for your
help,
Patricia! Indeed, calling Abonoteichus/Ionopolis a Syrian city doesn't fit like you said; sorry about that. Yes, I have read a lot of Lucian lately. Also, I did cite a source for the coins that I previously described:
RPC IV.
Hopefully this link works:
http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/search/quick/?q=Glykon+serpent&search=
I know of only one very obvious Glykon-looking specimen from
Marcus as
Caesar, found here (as well as in the previous link):
http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3197/?search&stype=quick&q=Glykon+
serpent&rno=12
Happily, it refers to a magistrate, listed as "Quartos,
strategos for the second time."
Again, however, I am uncertain if it is
contemporary with the
Antoninus Pius issues which are simply listed as 138-161 AD. None of them carry a magistrate's name. Volker Heuchert
had told me it may be possible to narrow the dating based on the
style of portraiture, although I do not know if he exactly meant the Pius issues. I am particularly interested in narrowing the date range of the
Verus coins, which involves a theory I discuss in the article.
I am surprised that no one has yet quoted
Alexander's famous petition to the emperor.
"Was it not also a great piece of impudence on the
part of
Alexander that he should petition the Emperor to change the name of Abonoteichus and call it Ionopolis, and to strike a new coin bearing on one
side the likeness of Glycon and on the other that of
Alexander, wearing the fillets of
his grandfather
Asclepius and holding the falchion of
his maternal ancestor
Perseus?" (
Alex. 58)
As the famous translator A. M. Harmon said in the satire's introduction:
"Although
Alexander achieved honour not only in
his own country, a small city in remote
Paphlagonia, but over a large
part of the
Roman world, almost nothing is known of him except from the pages of Lucian. Gems, coins, and inscriptions corroborate Lucian as far as they go, testifying to Alexander's actual existence and widespread influence, and commemorating the name and even the appearance of Glycon,
his human-headed
serpent. But were it not for Lucian, we should not understand their full significance."
Thus, we find the significance of
Alex. 58 in any discussion of "Glykon coins"
By the way, does anyone know where I may obtain permission to use an image of an excellent looking map like the one
Patricia copied, or one of the statues/statuettes of Glykon?
Thank you for continuing the discussion.
Best regards,
Mark Fox