| Roma Numismatics Ltd > E-Sale 118 | Auction date: 8 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 1034 Price realized: Unsold | |
| Lot description: Septimius Severus Æ 30mm of Sebastopolis-Heracleopolis, Pontus. Dated CY 208 = AD 205/6. [AY KAI] Λ CЄ[ΠTI C]ЄOVHΡOC A, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / ϹЄΒΑϹΤΟΠΟ ΗΡ(ligate)ΑΚΛЄΟΠΟ Π in four lines above Herakles, nude, reclining to left on lion skin, his legs crossed, right hand on his knee; in field to left, horizontal club; ЄΤ ΗϹ (date) below. M. Amandry-B. Rémy, Les monnaies de l'atelier de Sébastopolis du Pont, 18 (D5 R13); Burstein 524; Peus Nachfolger, 366, 524. 11.36g, 30mm, 5h. Near Very Fine. Extremely Rare; only one other example on CoinArchives. The city's name Sebastopolis comes from Greek 'σεβαστός' (the equivalent of the Latin 'augustus') and 'πόλις' ('city'), so it perhaps commemorates its foundation under Augustus, although this is uncertain. The city also recognised a mythical founder. Heracleopolis ('the city of Herakles'), attested on Greek historian Arrian's dedication in AD 137, makes plain the city's devotion to Herakles. The name must have been in high fashion when Commodus was called 'Hercules Romanus', and Herakles's cult furnishes nearly all of the coin types after Septimius Severus. Estimate: 50 GBP |  |
Match 1:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > E-Sale 115 | Auction date: 21 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 666 Price realized: 360 GBP (Approx. 456 USD / 416 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Caracalla Æ Medallion of Philippopolis, Thrace. Circa AD 214-215. Alexandria Pythia games commemorative. AVT KAI M AVP CEVHPOC ANTΩNEINOC AVΓ, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / KOINON ΘPAKΩN AΛEZANΔP ΠVθIA ΦI, athlete standing to right, holding bow; quiver set on ground to left. Varbanov, Philippopolis XV.1.2.2; Varbanov -; BMC -. 39.91g, 42mm, 7h. Very Fine. Very Rare. Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., E-Sale 61, 2 August 2019, lot 510. The Pythian Games were one of four international games which were considered the most prestigious in the ancient world. It had been running since the sixth century alongside the Olympic, Nemean and Isthmian Games, and was used as a model for the many new contests which sprung up in cities throughout the later Greek and Roman periods. This medallion is part of a series struck to commemorate the games held at Philippopolis to celebrate the visit of Caracalla as he travelled through Thrace during his campaigning against the Parthians in AD 214. As indicated by this reverse legend, the games were named Alexandria in honour of Alexander III of Macedon. The admiration Caracalla held for Alexander III is recorded by Cassius Dio, who suggests the emperor sought to imitate his hero by wearing Macedonian weaponry and parading with elephants (78.7.1-4). This account is supported by Herodian who suggests the emperor's campaign in the east was part of an attempt to associate himself with Alexander (4.8.1). Despite this, official imagery does not suggest there was an attempt to assimilate the image or attributes of Alexander with Caracalla himself, at least not in the same way that Commodus associated himself with Hercules (see RIC Commodus 251). Still, it is notable that Philippopolis chose to hail the games Alexandria on occasion of Caracalla's visit to the city. It has been suggested that the naming of the event may have been an attempt to flatter Caracalla and gain imperial favour, and perhaps the event itself shaped some the behaviour described by contemporary sources (see M. Raycheva, On Caracalla, Elephants and the Alexandreia Games in Philippopolis in Studia Classica Serdicensia V, pp. 276-289 (Sofia, 2016). Estimate: 300 GBP |  |
Match 2:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > Auction XXX | Auction date: 21 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 499 Price realized: 15,000 GBP (Approx. 19,002 USD / 17,495 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Diocletian AV Aureus. Siscia, AD 286. IMP C DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / IOVI CONSERVATORI, Jupiter standing facing, head to left, nude but for chlamys on back, holding long sceptre in left hand and thunderbolt in right. RIC V.2 247; C. 149; Depeyrot 1/2 (this coin). 5.37g, 20mm, 12h. Near Mint State. Extremely Rare; no other examples offered at auction in the past 20 years. This coin cited in G. Depeyrot, Les monnaies d'or (Wetteren, 1995-1996); Ex Hess-Divo AG, Auction 328, 22 May 2015, lot 268 (hammer: CHF 26,000); Ex Münzen und Medaillen AG Basel, Auction 43, 12 November 1970, lot 437. It would ultimately be religious legitimisation, not military achievements, that would elevate Diocletian above his predecessors. The quasi-republican ideals of Augustus' 'primus inter pares' system were abandoned for all but the tetrarchs themselves. Diocletian took to wearing a gold crown and jewels, and forbade the use of purple cloth to all but the emperors. His subjects were required to prostrate themselves in his presence (adoratio); the most fortunate were allowed the privilege of kissing the hem of his robe (proskynesis). The reverse of this coin further alludes to the quasi-divine aspects of the new 'dominate' system of government. Around 287 Diocletian assumed the title Iovius, and his colleague Maximian assumed the title Herculius; these grandiose new titles not only reflected the working dynamic between Diocletian and Maximian (while the one acted as supreme strategist, the other enforced imperial will by brute force), but more importantly by taking on divine attributes Diocletian intended to make the person of the emperor inviolate as the gods' representative on earth. Diocletian's administrative and bureaucratic reforms encompassed far more than the decentralisation of imperial power. Some of his most enduring changes were to the Roman military. Instituting systematic annual conscription for the first time since the days of the Republic, Diocletian increased the overall size of the Roman army by roughly 33%, and more than doubled the number of legions and auxiliary units by creating smaller, more mobile detachments. A massive upgrade of the empire's defensive infrastructure was undertaken across great swathes of the borders including new fortifications and roads. Centralised fabricae were introduced to provide arms and armour for the army on an industrial scale. The most significant change to the Roman military structure was the establishment of large personal escort armies (comitatus praesentales) which typically comprised 20-30,000 elite palatine troops. These highly mobile armies were designed to quickly reinforce the border defences or crush potential usurpers. Indeed, while they proved highly effective during Diocletian's reign, in his retirement he would live to see them misused by his successors, who now each had a substantial comitatus at their disposal to enforce their claims. Estimate: 10000 GBP |  |
Match 3:
| Savoca Numismatik GmbH & Co. KG > Online Auction 188 | Black | Auction date: 17 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 51 Price realized: 1,900 EUR (Approx. 2,089 USD) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Pontos. Amaseia. Caracalla AD 198-217. Dated CY 208=AD 205/6 Bronze Æ 32 mm, 16,38 g AY KAI M AYP ANTΩNINOC, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / AΔP CE ANT (NT ligate) AMACIAC MH (ligate) NE (ligate) Π Π, E-T and C-H across fields, Tyche standing facing, head left, holding cornucopia in left hand and rudder in right. . Lindgren III 16; cf. Waddington RG p. 44, 65 (reverse legend); cf. BMC 27 (same). NGC graded Ch XF Strike 5/5 Surface 4/5 Starting price: 1 EUR |  |
Match 4:
| Nomos AG > obolos 31 | Auction date: 21 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 439 Price realized: 120 CHF (Approx. 132 USD / 123 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: PONTUS. Sebastopolis-Herakeopolis. Gallienus, 253-268. (Bronze, 29 mm, 12.37 g, 12 h), CY Year ϚΞϹ = 266 = 263/4. AΥT KAI ΠO ΛIK ΓAΛΛIHNOC Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gallienus to right, seen from behind. Rev. ϹΕΒΑϹΤΟ ΗΡΑΚΛΕΟ Herakles standing facing, holding lion skin with his left hand and leaning right on club; to left and right, ΕΤ - ϚΞϹ (date). Amandry and Rémy, Sebastopolis 68-70. Boston: 1970.431 (same reverse die?). RPC X, - (unassigned; ID 63698). Very rare, and this specimen one of the best known! Somewhat rough surfaces, otherwise, very fine. Starting price: 100 CHF |  |
Match 5:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > NYINC Signature Sale 3113 | Auction date: 8 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 31058 Price realized: 10,000 USD (Approx. 9,116 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients Severus Alexander (AD 222-235). AV aureus (20mm, 6.66 gm, 6h). NGC MS 5/5 - 4/5. Rome, AD 222. IMP C M AVR SEV-ALEXAND AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of youthful Severus Alexander right, seen from front / P M TR P C-OS P P, Jupiter standing facing, head left, nude but for chlamys hanging behind, thunderbolt in right hand, scepter in left. Calicó 3080. RIC IV.II 4. Cohen 203. Biaggi 1318. Delicately minted from pristine dies on a vibrantly lustrous, gleaming flan. From The Bob Klein History of Money Collection. Ex Morris Collection (Heritage Auctions, Auction 3071, 7 January 2019), lot 32186; LHS Numismatik 97, (10 May 2006), lot 55. The reign of Severus Alexander presents the last relatively tranquil interlude before the mid-third century storm swept away the Pax Romana. He was born Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus Alexianus in AD 208 into a clan of Syrian nobility from the caravan city of Emesa. His maternal grand-aunt, Julia Domna, was married to the Emperor Septimius Severus, making him part of an Imperial family that was largely dominated by a clique of strong-minded and clever women, all named Julia. His grandmother Julia Maesa engineered the Severan dynasty's return to power in AD 218 by fomenting the military coup that placed Alexander's cousin Varius Avitus, known to history as Elagabalus, on the throne. Once ensconced in Rome, however, Elagabalus' behavior grew ever more erratic and outrageous. Fearing for the dynasty's future, Maesa in AD 222 engineered the murder of Elagabalus and his replacement by her other, more docile grandson, Alexander. Handsome and affable, the youth was really never more than a figurehead ruler, first for Maesa and then, after her death in AD 225/6, for his mother Julia Mamaea. As long as the Empire remained at peace, the arrangement worked relatively well; the government functioned smoothly and prosperity reigned. Starting in AD 230, Roman Empire came under attack on two fronts-- from Persia in the East and by the German tribes along the Rhine frontier, a foretaste of the decades to come. Alexander managed to check the Persian offensive, but the loss of a large Roman army exposed the regime's military ineptitude. When his mother tried to buy peace from the Germans rather than fight, his outraged soldiers rebelled and murdered them both, launching 40 years of Great Anarchy that nearly destroyed the Empire. Later generations would view Alexander's reign as the last episode of a Golden Age and gave him all the attributes of an Ideal Prince. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-severus-alexander-ad-222-235-av-aureus-20mm-666-gm-6h-ngc-ms-5-5-4-5/a/3113-31058.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3113-01082024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved Estimate: 10000-12000 USD |  |
