ANTONINUS PIUS 138AD Savatra in Lycaonia Male God Ancient Roman Coin i55732

Item: i55732

Authentic Ancient 

Coin of:

Antoninus Pius
–
Roman Emperor
: 138-161 A.D.
Bronze 25mm (9.95 grams) of
Savatra
in
Lycaonia

Reference: RPC IV online 7254; SNG France 233; SNG von Aulock, Lycaoniens, 177; 
SNG Copenhagen 16; SNG von Aulock 5406
AVT KAIC AΔP ANTΩNINOC CE,
Laureate head right.
CAOVATPЄΩN,
Male god standing facing, head left, holding reed and two grain ears; at feet to 
left, fish; to right, small reed.

You are bidding on the exact 

Guarantee of Authenticity.

Lycaonia 
was a large region in the interior of 
Asia Minor
, north of the
Taurus Mountains
. It was bounded on the east by
Cappadocia
, on the north by
Galatia
, on the west by
Phrygia
and
Pisidia
, while to the south it extended to the 
chain of Mount Taurus, where it bordered on the country popularly called in 
earlier times Cilicia
and in the Byzantine period
Isauria
; but its boundaries varied greatly at 
different times. The name is not found in
Herodotus
, but Lycaonia is mentioned by
Xenophon
as traversed by
Cyrus the Younger
on his march through Asia. 
That author describes
Iconium
as the last city of Phrygia; and in
Acts
14:6
Paul
, after leaving Iconium, crossed the 
frontier and came to
Lystra
in Lycaonia.
Ptolemy
, on the other hand, includes Lycaonia 
as a part of the province of Cappadocia, with which it was associated by the 
Romans for administrative purposes; but the two countries are clearly 
distinguished both by
Strabo
and Xenophon and by authorities 
generally.

Etymology

There is a theory that the name “Lycaonia” is a Greek-adapted version 
(influenced by the Greek masculine name
Lycaon
) of an original Lukkawanna, which 
would mean “the land of the
Lukka
people” in an old
Anatolian
language related to
Hittite
.

Geography

Lycaonia is described by
Strabo
as a cold region of elevated plains, 
affording pasture to wild asses and to sheep; and at the present day sheep 
abound, but asses are practically unknown.
Amyntas
, king of
Galatia
, to whom the district was for a time 
subject, maintained there not less than three hundred flocks. It forms part of 
the interior tableland of
Asia Minor
, and has an elevation of more than 
1000 meters. It suffers from want of water, aggravated in some parts by 
abundance of salt in the soil, so that the northern portion, extending from near
Iconium
to the salt lake of
Tatta
and the frontiers of Galatia, is almost 
wholly barren, only small patches being cultivated near Iconium and the large 
villages. The soil, where water is supplied, is productive. In ancient times 
great attention was paid to storing and distributing the water, so that much 
land now barren was formerly cultivated and supported a large number of cities.

The plain is interrupted by some minor groups of mountains, of volcanic 
character, of which the
Kara Dagh
in the south, a few miles north of
Karaman
, rises to 2288 meters, while the
Karadja Dagh
, north-east of it, though of 
inferior elevation, presents a striking range of volcanic cones. The mountains 
in the north-west, near Iconium and
Laodicea Combusta
, are the termination of the
Sultan Dagh
range, which traverses a large part 
of Phrygia.

History

The Lycaonians appear to have been in early times to a great extent 
independent of the
Persian empire
, and were like their neighbors 
the Isaurians a wild and lawless race of
freebooters
; but their country was traversed by 
one of the great natural lines of high road through Asia Minor, from
Sardis
and
Ephesus
to the Cilician gates, and a few 
considerable towns grew up along or near this line. The most important was
Iconium
, in the most fertile spot in the 
country, of which it was always regarded by the Romans as the capital, although 
ethnologically it was Phrygian. It is still called
Konya
, and it was the capital of the
Seljuk
Turkish empire for several centuries. A 
little farther north, immediately on the frontier of Phrygia, stood
Laodicea Combusta
(Ladik), 
surnamed Combusta, to distinguish it from the Phrygian city of that name; 
and in the south, near the foot of Mount Taurus, was
Laranda
, now called
Karaman
, which has given name to the province 
of
Karamania
.
Derbe
and Lystra, which appear from the
Acts of the Apostles
to have been considerable 
towns, were between Iconium and Laranda. There were many other towns, which 
became bishoprics in Byzantine times. Lycaonia was Christianized very early; and 
its ecclesiastical system was more completely organized in its final form during 
the 4th century than that of any other region of Asia Minor.

After the defeat of
Antiochus the Great
, Lycaonia was given by the 
Romans to Eumenes II
, king of
Pergamon
. About 160 BC, part of it, the
Tetrarchy of Lycaonia
, was added to Galatia; 
and in 129 BC the eastern half (usually called during the following 200 years 
Lycaonia proper) was given to Cappadocia as an eleventh
strategia
. In the readjustment of the 
Provinces, 64 BC, by
Pompey
after the
Mithridatic Wars
, he gave the northern part of 
the tetrarchy to Galatia and the eastern part of the eleventh strategia to 
Cappadocia. The remainder was attached to Cilicia. Its administration and 
grouping changed often under the Romans. In 371, Lycaonia was first formed into 
a separate province.

The ancient coinage of Lycaonia is quite limited. Judging from the number of 
types/issues known, coins appear to have been struck sporadically and perhaps 
mostly for prestige or some important occasion (like a visit by the Emperor).

The Lycaonians appear to have retained a distinct nationality in the time of 
Strabo, but their ethnical affinities are unknown. The mention of the
Lycaonian language
in the Acts of the Apostles 
(14:11) shows that the native language was spoken by the common people at Lystra 
about 50; and probably it was only later and under Christian influence that 
Greek took its place. It is notable though that in the Acts of the Apostles
Barnabas
was called Zeus, and Paul was thought 
to be Hermes by Lycaonians, and this makes some other researchers to believe 
that Lycaonian language was actually a Greek dialect, the remnant of which can 
still be found in the
Cappadocian Greek
language which is classified 
as a distinct Greek dialect.

Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus (19 September 86 – 7 

March 161), generally known in English as Antoninus Pius was

Roman emperor

from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the

Five Good Emperors

and a member of the

Aurelii
. He 

did not possess the

sobriquet
 

“Pius” until after 

his accession to the throne. Almost certainly, he earned the name “Pius” because 

he compelled the

Senate
 

to deify his adoptive father

Hadrian
; the

Historia Augusta

, however, suggests that he may have earned the name by 

saving senators sentenced to death by Hadrian in his later years.

//

He was the son and only child of

Titus Aurelius Fulvus

,

consul
in 89 

whose family came from

Nemausus
 

(modern Nîmes
) 

and was born near

Lanuvium
 

and his mother was Arria Fadilla. Antoninus’ father and paternal grandfather 

died when he was young and he was raised by

Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus

, his maternal grandfather, a man of integrity and 

culture and a friend of

Pliny the Younger

. His mother married to Publius Julius Lupus (a man of 

consular rank),

Suffect 

Consul
in 98, and bore him a daughter called Julia Fadilla.

As a private citizen between 110 and 115, he married Annia Galeria

Faustina the Elder

. They had a very happy marriage. She was the daughter of 

consul

Marcus Annius Verus

and

Rupilia
 

Faustina (a half-sister to Roman Empress

Vibia 

Sabina
). Faustina was a beautiful woman, renowned for her wisdom. She spent 

her whole life caring for the poor and assisting the most disadvantaged Romans.

Having filled with more than usual success the offices of

quaestor
 

and praetor
, 

he obtained the consulship in 120; he was next appointed by the Emperor

Hadrian
as 

one of the four

proconsuls
 

to administer

Italia

, then greatly increased his reputation by his conduct as

proconsul
 

of

Asia

. He acquired much favor with the Emperor Hadrian, who adopted him as 

his son and successor on 25 February, 138, after the death of his first adopted 

son Lucius Aelius

, on the condition that Antoninus would in turn adopt Marcus 

Annius Verus, the son of his wife’s brother, and Lucius, son of Aelius Verus, 

who afterwards became the emperors

Marcus Aurelius

and

Lucius 

Verus
(colleague of Marcus Aurelius).

 Emperor

On his accession, Antoninus’ name became “Imperator Caesar Titus Aelius 

Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pontifex Maximus”. One of his first acts as Emperor 

was to persuade the

Senate
 

to grant divine honours to Hadrian, which they had at first refused; his efforts 

to persuade the Senate to grant these honours is the most likely reason given 

for his title of Pius (dutiful in affection; compare

). Two other reasons for this title are that he would support his 

aged father-in-law with his hand at Senate meetings, and that he had saved those 

men that Hadrian, during his period of ill-health, had condemned to death. He 

built temples, theaters, and mausoleums, promoted the arts and sciences, and 

bestowed honours and financial rewards upon the teachers of

rhetoric
 

and philosophy

.

In marked contrast to his predecessors

Trajan
and

Hadrian
, 

Antoninus was not a military man. One modern scholar has written “It is almost 

certain not only that at no time in his life did he ever see, let alone command, 

a Roman army, but that, throughout the twenty-three years of his reign, he never 

went within five hundred miles of a legion”.^[2] 

His reign was the most peaceful in the entire history of the

Principate
; 

while there were several military disturbances throughout the Empire in his 

time, in Mauretania

,

Iudaea

, and amongst the

Brigantes
 

in Britannia

, none of them are considered serious. The unrest in Britannia is 

believed to have led to the construction of the

Antonine Wall

from the

Firth of Forth

to the

Firth of Clyde

, although it was soon abandoned. He was virtually unique 

among emperors in that he dealt with these crises without leaving Italy once 

during his reign, but instead dealt with provincial matters of war and peace 

through their governors or through imperial letters to the cities such as 

Ephesus (of which some were publicly displayed). This style of government was 

highly praised by his contemporaries and by later generations.

Of the public transactions of this period we have scant information, but, to 

judge by what we possess, those twenty-two years were not remarkably eventful in 

comparison to those before and after his; the surviving evidence is not complete 

enough to determine whether we should interpret, with older scholars, that he 

wisely curtailed the activities of the Roman Empire to a careful minimum, or 

perhaps that he was uninterested in events away from Rome and

Italy
and his 

inaction contributed to the pressing troubles that faced not only Marcus 

Aurelius but also the emperors of the third century. German historian Ernst 

Kornemann has had it in his Römische Geschichte [2 vols., ed. by H. Bengtson, 

Stuttgart 1954] that the reign of Antoninus comprised “a succession of grossly 

wasted opportunities,” given the upheavals that were to come. There is more to 

this argument, given that the Parthians in the East were themselves soon to make 

no small amount of mischief after Antoninus’ passing. Kornemann’s brief is that 

Antoninus might have waged preventive wars to head off these outsiders.

Scholars place Antoninus Pius as the leading candidate for fulfilling the 

role as a friend of Rabbi

Judah 

the Prince
. According to the

Talmud
(Avodah 

Zarah 10a-b), Rabbi Judah was very wealthy and greatly revered in Rome. He had a 

close friendship with “Antoninus”, possibly Antoninus Pius, 

who would consult Rabbi Judah on various worldly and spiritual matters.

After the longest reign since Augustus (surpassing

Tiberius
by 

a couple of months), Antoninus died of fever at

Lorium
in

Etruria
, 

about twelve miles (19 km) from Rome, on 7 March 161, giving the keynote to his 

life in the last word that he uttered when the

tribune
of 

the night-watch came to ask the password—”aequanimitas” (equanimity). His body 

was placed in

Hadrian’s mausoleum

, a

column

was dedicated to him on the

Campus Martius

, and the

temple

he had built in the Forum in 141 to his deified wife Faustina was 

rededicated to the deified Faustina and the deified Antoninus.

 Historiography

The only account of his life handed down to us is that of the

, an unreliable and mostly fabricated work. Antoninus is 

unique among Roman emperors in that he has no other biographies. Historians have 

therefore turned to public records for what details we know.

 In 

later scholarship

Antoninus in many ways was the ideal of the landed gentleman praised not only 

by ancient Romans, but also by later scholars of classical history, such as

Edward Gibbon

or the author of the article on Antoninus Pius in the ninth 

edition of the

Encyclopedia Britannicaca:

A few months afterwards, on Hadrian’s death, he was enthusiastically 

welcomed to the throne by the Roman people, who, for once, were not 

disappointed in their anticipation of a happy reign. For Antoninus came 

to his new office with simple tastes, kindly disposition, extensive 

experience, a well-trained intelligence and the sincerest desire for the 

welfare of his subjects. Instead of plundering to support his 

prodigality, he emptied his private treasury to assist distressed 

provinces and cities, and everywhere exercised rigid economy (hence the 

nickname κυμινοπριστης “cummin-splitter”). Instead of exaggerating into 

treason whatever was susceptible of unfavorable interpretation, he 

spurned the very conspiracies that were formed against him into 

opportunities for demonstrating his clemency. Instead of stirring up 

persecution against the Christians, he extended to them the strong hand 

of his protection throughout the empire. Rather than give occasion to 

that oppression which he regarded as inseparable from an emperor’s 

progress through his dominions, he was content to spend all the years of 

his reign in Rome, or its neighborhood.