|
Geta
– Roman Caesar: 198-209 A.D. –
Roman Emperor
: 209-211 A.D. ––
Bronze 20mm (3.49 grams) of
Marcianopolis in Moesia Inferior
Π CЄΠT ΓЄΤΑC, Bare head right.
MAPKIANOΠOΛITΩN,
Eagle standing facing with open wings and head right.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Jupiter is usually thought to have originated as a sky god. His identifying
implement is the
thunderbolt
, and his primary sacred animal is
the eagle, which held precedence over other birds in the taking of
auspices
and became one of the most
 common
symbols of the
Roman army
(see
Aquila
). The two emblems were often combined to
represent the god in the form of an eagle holding in its claws a thunderbolt,
frequently seen on Greek and Roman coins. As the sky-god, he was a divine
witness to oaths, the sacred trust on which justice and good government depend.
Many of his functions were focused on the
Capitoline
(“Capitol Hill”), where the
citadel
was located. He was the chief deity of
the
early Capitoline Triad
with
Mars
and
Quirinus
. In the
later Capitoline Triad
, he was the central
guardian of the state with
Juno
and
Minerva
. His sacred tree was the oak. The
Romans regarded Jupiter as the
equivalent
of the Greek
Zeus, and in
Latin literature
and
Roman art
, the myths and iconography of Zeus
are adapted under the name Iuppiter.
An aquila, or eagle, was a prominent symbol used in
ancient Rome, especially as the
standard
of a
Roman legion
. A
legionary
known as an
aquilifer
, or eagle-bearer, carried this
standard. Each legion carried one eagle. The eagle was extremely important to
the Roman military, beyond merely being a symbol of a legion. A lost standard
was considered an extremely grave occurrence, and the Roman military often went
to great lengths to both protect a standard and to recover it if lost; for
example, see the aftermath of the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
, where the
Romans spent decades attempting to recover the lost standards of three legions.
Marcianopolis, or Marcianople was an ancient Roman city in
Thracia
. It was located at the site of modern
day Devnya
,
Bulgaria
.
The city was so renamed by Emperor
Trajan
after his sister
Ulpia Marciana
, and was previously known as
Parthenopolis. Romans repulsed a
Gothic
attack to this town in
267
(or 268
), during the reign of
Gallienus
.
Diocletian
made it the capital of the
Moesia Secunda
province.
Valens
made it his winter quarters in 368 and
succeeding years, Emperor
Justinian I
restored and fortified it. In 587,
it was sacked by the king of the
Avars
but at once retaken by the Romans. The
Roman army quartered there in 596 before crossing the Danube to assault the
Avars.
Between 893 and 972 it was one of the most important medieval cities in
south-eastern Europe.
Publius Septimius Geta (March
7, 189
–December
26, 211
), was a
Roman Emperor
co-ruling with his father
Septimius Severus
and his older brother
Caracalla
from 209 to his death.
Geta was the younger son of Septimius Severus by his second wife
Julia Domna
. Geta was born in
Rome, at a time when his father was only a provincial governor at the
service of emperor
Commodus
.
Geta was always in a place secondary to his older brother Lucius, the heir
known as Caracalla. Perhaps due to this, the relations between the two were
difficult from their early years. Conflicts were constant and often required the
mediation of their mother. To appease his youngest son, Septimius Severus gave
Geta the title of Augustus in 209. During the campaign against the
Britons of the early 3rd century, the imperial propaganda publicized a happy
family that shared the responsibilities of rule. Caracalla was his father’s
second in command, Julia Domna the trusted counsellor and Geta had
administrative and bureaucratic duties. Truth was that the rivalry and antipathy
between the brothers was far from being improved.
Joint Emperor
When Septimius Severus died in
Eboracum in the beginning of 211, Caracalla and Geta were proclaimed
joint emperors and returned to Rome.
Regardless, the shared throne was not a success: the brothers argued about
every decision, from law to political appointments. Later sources speculate
about the desire of the two of splitting the empire in two halves. By the end of
the year, the situation was unbearable. Caracalla tried to murder Geta during
the festival of
Saturnalia
without success. Later in December
he arranged a meeting with his brother in his mother’s apartments, and had him
murdered in her arms by
centurions
.
Following Geta’s assassination, Caracalla
damned his memoryy
and ordered his name to be
removed from all inscriptions. The now sole emperor also took the opportunity to
get rid of his political enemies, on the grounds of conspiracy with the
deceased. Cassius Dio
stated that around 20,000 persons
of both sexes were killed and/or proscribed during this time.
|
