AMISOS in PONTUS Asia Minor 200BC Ares Sword Ancient Greek Coin i51697

Item: i51697

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Greek city of Amisos
in

Pontus

 Bronze 19mm (7.20 grams) Struck 200-150 B.C.
Reference: Sear 3643; B.M.C. 13.17, 40-41
Head of young
Ares
 right, wearing crested helmet.
 Sword in sheath; AMI – ΣOY across field.

Amisos was a flourishing Greek city on the Black Sea coast

commanding an important trade route to the south, Amisos was founded in the 6th

century B.C. It was re-settled by Athenians in the following century and they

renamed the place Peiraeus.

 You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Ares 
is the
Greek god

of war
. He is one of the
Twelve Olympians
, and the son of

Zeus and Hera
. In
Greek literature
, he often represents the
physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored
Athena
, whose functions as a
goddess of intelligence
include
military strategy
and
generalship
.

The Greeks were
ambivalent
toward Ares: although he embodied
the physical valor necessary for success in war, he was a dangerous force,
“overwhelming, insatiable in battle, destructive, and man-slaughtering.” Fear
(Phobos)
and Terror (Deimos)
were yoked to his battle
chariot
. In the
Iliad
his father Zeus tells him that he is
the god most hateful to him. An association with Ares endows places and objects
with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality. His value as a war god is even
placed in doubt: during the
Trojan War
, Ares was on the losing side, while
Athena, often depicted in
Greek art
as holding
Nike (Victory)
in her hand, favored the
triumphant Greeks.

Ares plays a relatively limited role in
Greek mythology
as represented in literary
narratives, though his numerous love affairs and abundant offspring are often
alluded
to. When Ares does appear in myths, he
typically faces humiliation. He is well known as the lover of
Aphrodite
, the goddess of love who was married
to Hephaestus
, god of craftsmanship, but the most
famous story involving the couple shows them exposed to ridicule through the
wronged husband’s clever device.

The counterpart of Ares among the
Roman gods
is
Mars
, who as a father of the Roman people held
a more important and dignified place in
ancient Roman religion
for his agricultural and
tutelary
functions. During the
Hellenization
of
Latin literature
, the myths of Ares were
reinterpreted
by Roman writers under the name
of Mars. Greek writers under
Roman rule
also recorded
cult practices
and beliefs pertaining to Mars
under the name of Ares. Thus in the
classical tradition
of later
Western art and literature
, the mythology of
the two figures becomes virtually indistinguishable.

Samsun is a
city
in northern
Turkey
, on the coast of the
Black Sea
, with a population of over 1 million.
It is the capital city of
Samsun

Province
and an important
port
. Samsun was founded as the colony
Amisos (alternative spelling Amisus, Eis Amison – meaning to
amisos took the name Samsunta or Samsus (Eis Amison – Samson –
Samsounta) as in Greek + ounta “Greek toponomical suffix”.^[1]
) by settlers from
Miletus
in the 7th century BC.

 

Samsun

Location of Samsun

Coordinates:

41°17′N
36°20′E

//

 History

Samsun’s original name was Enete (from Hitits.) Samsun’s ideal combination of
fertile ground and shallow waters attracted numerous traders. Greek colonists
settled in the 6th century BC and established a flourishing trade relationship
with the ancient peoples of
Anatolia
. At that time, Samsun was part of the
Greek
colony of Amisus. In the 3rd century BC,
Samsun came under the expanded rule of the
Kingdom of Pontus
. The Kingdom of Pontus had
been part of the empire of
Alexander the Great
. However, the empire was
fractured soon after Alexander’s death in the 4th century BC. At its height, the
kingdom controlled the north of
central Anatolia
and mercantile towns on the
northern Black Sea shores.

The Romans
took over in 47 BC, and were replaced by
the
Byzantines
after the fall of Rome. In 1200
Samsun was captured by the
Seljuks
, to be later taken over by the
İlhanlılar
. Samsun was incorporated into the
network of Genoese trading posts and was taken by the
Ottomans
in the beginning of the 15th century.
Before leaving, the
Genoese
razed the town.

Atatürk founded the Turkish republic movement at Samsun and it served as its
base during the Turkish War of Independence.

The city is both an
Eastern Orthodox
and a
Roman Catholic

titular see
.

 Geography

Samsun is situated between two river deltas which jut into the
Black Sea
. It is located at the end of an
ancient route from
Cappadocia
: the Amisos of antiquity lay
on the headland northwest of the modern city. To Samsun’s west, lies the
Kızılırmak
(“Red River”, the Halys of
antiquity), one of the longest rivers in
Anatolia
and its fertile delta. To the east,
lie the
Yeşilırmak
(“Green River”, the Iris of
antiquity) and its delta.