Fine Coins Showcase
Antiquities Showcase
Show Empty Categories
Shop Search
Shopping Cart
My FORVM
Contact Us
About Forum
Shopping at Forum
Our Guarantee
Payment Options
Shipping Options & Fees
Privacy & Security
Forum Staff
Selling Your Coins
Identifying Your Coin
FAQs
zoom.asp
Constantius Gallus, Caesar, Mid-March 351 - Winter 354 A.D.
In 351, Constantius Gallus built a new church in honor of Saint Babylas at Daphne, a suburb of Antioch, and transferred the remains of the bishop to it to neutralize the pagan effects of the nearby temple of Apollo. In 362, Julian consulted the oracle of Apollo at the temple in Daphne, but received no answer, and was told that it was because of the proximity of the saint. He had the sarcophagus of the martyr exhumed and removed. A few days later, on October 22, a mysterious fire broke out consuming the roof of the temple and the statue of the god, copied from Phidias' statue of Zeus at Olympia. Julian, suspecting angry Christians, closed the cathedral of Antioch and ordered an investigation. Ammianus Marcellinus reports "a frivolous rumor" laid blame on candles lit by a worshipper late the previous night (XXII, 13). John Chrysostom claimed a bolt of lightning set the temple on fire. The remains of Babylas were reinterred in a church dedicated to him on the other side of the River Orontes.RL91660. Billon maiorina, RIC VIII Alexandria 77, LRBC II 2841, SRCV V 18998, Cohen VIII 17, Hunter V -, aVF, well centered, nice portrait, edge crack, reverse die wear, 4th officina, Alexandria mint, weight 4.055g, maximum diameter 21.8mm, die axis 0o, 28 Sep 351 - 253 A.D.; obverse D N CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES, bare-headed, draped, and cuirassed, bust right, seen from the front, Δ behind; reverse FEL TEMP REPARATIO (happy times restored), soldier advancing left, spearing fallen horseman who extends arm toward soldier, shield on ground at feet, ALEΔ in exergue; from the Maxwell Hunt Collection; SOLD
Page created in 0.797 seconds.
