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Gordian III, 29 July 238 - 25 February 244 A.D., Antioch, Seleucis and Pieria, Syria
| The ruins of Antioch on the Orontes lie near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey. Founded near the end of the 4th century B.C. by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch's geographic, military and economic location, particularly the spice trade, the Silk Road, the Persian Royal Road, benefited its occupants, and eventually it rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the Near East and as the main center of Hellenistic Judaism at the end of the Second Temple period. Antioch is called "the cradle of Christianity," for the pivotal early role it played in the emergence of the faith. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis. Its residents are known as Antiochenes. Once a great metropolis of half a million people, it declined to insignificance during the Middle Ages because of warfare, repeated earthquakes and a change in trade routes following the Mongol conquests, which then no longer passed through Antioch from the far east. |  |
RY94939. Billon tetradrachm, McAlee 877 (scarce), Prieur 291A, SNG Cop 258, RPC Online VII U68042, aF, debased metal with coppery high points and green corrosion, scratches, porosity, Antioch (Antakya, Turkey) mint, weight 11.411g, maximum diameter 26.2mm, die axis 0o, 241 - 25 Feb 244 A.D.; obverse AYTOK K M ANT ΓOPΔIANOC CEB, laureate bust right, slight drapery on left shoulder in front and back; reverse ΔHMAPX EΞ YΠA TO B (holder of Tribunitian power, consul for the second time), eagle standing facing, head left, tail left, wings open, wreath in beak, beneath crescent horns up over ram leaping left with head turned right; scarce; SOLD
OBVERSE LEGENDS
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