Dear friends of
ancient coins!
In my
collection I have a nice coin from Maionia, which shows
Dionysus in a
centaur biga. Unfortunately, it is not perfectly preserved. Now I have found a second specimen from
Yale University. With it I have succeeded in completing the
legend.
Composed of 2 copies, the
legend on the
reverse reads:
[EΠI IOVΛ
IAN - OV] - T..A. - A.B.APX[ONTOC]
i.e. "[this coin was struck] under the
archon Julianus". The
abbreviations T.A.A.B. cause difficulties.
Other coinages show that there was a 1st and a 2nd
archon in Maionia. EΠI KYEINTOY B AΡX A could then mean "under Quintus, who is 1st
archon for the second time".
It is more difficult with EΠI KYINTOY B AΡX A T B e.g. means "under Quintus, who was 1st
archon (
APX A) for the second time (T B)". Here, however, the B before
APX remains unexplained. 2nd
archon would then be double!
To my coin: T.A. could then mean "for the first time", although the counting usually starts with the second time. Could A.B. then mean 2nd
archon? But then the written
APX[ONTOC] behind it would actually be double.
Can anyone
help me out of this dilemma?
And anyone who does know the female figure under
Dionysos' elbow?
With thanks in advance
Jochen