Here are the combined images, both for
Commodus, of
Apollo Smintheus, a prime source of income for
Alexandria Troas in the Hellenistic and Imperial periods. Above is the cult image, which perhaps they would have called a
xoanon, which implied a claim to great
antiquity (meaning, perhaps, 7th or early 6th century BCE); it was made of
wood or mixed media and was in the temple. Below is the bronze statue which is said to have been by Skopas of Paros, who worked all over the Greek world in the 4th century BCE; it was a bronze
agalma and stood outside in the sanctuary. It is in that favorite resting pose that they loved to use for
Hermes, Poseidon,
Alexander,
Apollo Smintheus, and, just possibly, for Jason (in the late Hellenistic classicizing--or at least that is what Renaissance bookish
men thought). At
Ephesos, the pretty
Artemis with her stag beside her was a sanctuary
agalma, while, of course, the extraordinary stiff old image that
still commanded awe in the time of
St. Paul, was the cult image in the great temple.
Alliance issues use the cult image, while
Roman girls could have their
portrait made in the guise of the later, charming one, which was not the object of cult.
Pat08 IX 00
AE24
Troas,
Alexandria.
Commodus. Draped
bust r.
Rev. Rigid quasi-archaic statue of
Apollo (bow) to r. stg on a high base. Judging from comparison with
Bellinger,
Troy, Suppl. Monogr. 2, pl. 19, A 188, this is to be regarded as an
Apollo Smintheus representation. The legends he gives are COMMODO to l.,
CAE AV
GER to r.;
Rev.,
COL AVG to l., TROAD to r.
His ex. is AE 23.
07-12 02 AE 24 7.23g
Alexandria Troas.
Commodus, laureate,
head to r.
Apollo Smintheus, the late Classical
type.
Bellinger198.