CARACALLA & JULIA DOMNA 198AD Marcianopolis Tyche Ancient Roman Coin i48714

Item: i48714

 Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Caracalla
–
Roman Emperor
: 198-217 A.D. –
Bronze ‘Pentassarion’ 28mm (15.99 grams) of

Marcianopolis in Moesia Inferior
under Magistrate Quintillianus
Laureate head of Caracalla on left facing
right toward draped bust of Julia Domna facing left on right.
VΠ KVNTIΛIANOV MAPKIANOΠOΛITΩN, Tyche standing facing, head left, holding rudder
and cornucopia; Є in field to left.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.

Marcianopolis, or Marcianople was an ancient Roman city in

Thracia

. It was located at the site of modern day

Devnya
,

Bulgaria
.

Tyche (Greek for luck; the Roman equivalent was
Fortuna
) was the presiding
tutelary deity
that governed the fortune and
prosperity of a city, its destiny. Increasingly during the Hellenistic period,
cities had their own specific iconic version of Tyche, wearing a
mural crown
(a crown like the walls of the
city).

The
Greek historian Polybius
believed that when no cause can be
discovered to events such as floods, droughts, frosts or even in politics, then
the cause of these events may be fairly attributed to Tyche.

Stylianos Spyridakis  concisely expressed Tyche’s appeal in a
Hellenistic world of arbitrary violence and unmeaning reverses: “In the
turbulent years of the
Epigoni of Alexander
, an awareness of the
instability of human affairs led people to believe that Tyche, the blind
mistress of Fortune, governed mankind with an inconstancy which explained the
vicissitudes of the time.”

In literature, she might be given various genealogies, as a daughter of
Hermes
and
Aphrodite
, or considered as one of the
Oceanids
, daughters of
Oceanus
and
Tethys
, or of

Zeus. She was connected with
Nemesis
and
Agathos Daimon
(“good spirit”).

She was uniquely venerated at
Itanos
in Crete, as Tyche Protogeneia,
linked with the Athenian
Protogeneia
(“firstborn”), daughter of
Erechtheus
, whose self-sacrifice saved the
city.

She had temples at
Caesarea Maritima
,
Antioch
,
Alexandria
and
Constantinople
. In
Alexandria
the Tychaeon, the temple of
Tyche, was described by
Libanius
as one of the most magnificent of the
entire Hellenistic world.

Tyche appears on many
coins
of the Hellenistic period in the three
centuries before the Christian era, especially from cities in the Aegean.
Unpredictable turns of fortune drive the complicated plotlines of
Hellenistic romances
, such as
Leucippe and Clitophon
or
Daphnis and Chloe
. She experienced a
resurgence in another era of uneasy change, the final days of publicly
sanctioned
Paganism
, between the late-fourth-century
emperors
Julian
and
Theodosius I
who definitively closed the
temples. The effectiveness of her capricious power even achieved respectability
in philosophical circles during that generation, though among poets it was a
commonplace to revile her for a fickle harlot.

In medieval art
, she was depicted as carrying a
cornucopia
, an
emblematic
ship’s rudder, and the
wheel of fortune
, or she may stand on the
wheel, presiding over the entire circle of fate.

The constellation of
Virgo
is sometimes identified as the heavenly
figure of Tyche, as well as other goddesses such as
Demeter
and
Astraea
.

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.

Julia Domna (unknown date–217) was a member of the
Severan dynasty
of the
Roman Empire
. Empress and wife of
Roman Emperor
Lucius
Septimius Severus
and mother of Emperors
Geta
and
Caracalla
, Julia was among the most important
women ever to exercise power behind the throne in the Roman Empire.

 Family
background

Julia was of Syrian origin from the ancient city of

Emesa. Her ancestors were Kings Priest of the famous temple of

Baal. The family lost its kingdom to Rome but continued domination of
the temple of Baal. The family had an enormous wealth and was promoted to Roman
senatorial aristocracy. She was the youngest daughter of high-priest Gaius
Julius Bassianus
and her eldest sister was
Julia Maesa
.

 Reign

In the late 180s, Julia married future Emperor
Septimius Severus
who himself was in part of
Punic
background. The marriage proved to be a
happy one and Severus cherished his wife and her political opinions, since she
was very well read and keen on philosophy. Together, they had two sons, Lucius
Septimius Bassianus (Caracalla)
in 186 and
Publius Septimius Geta
in 189.

 Civil
War

When Severus became emperor in 193 he had a civil war waiting
for him, against rivals such as
Pescennius Niger
and
Clodius Albinus
. Julia accompanied him in his
campaigns in the East, an uncommon event in a time when women were expected to
wait in Rome for their husbands. Nevertheless, she remained with the emperor and
among the several proofs of affection and favour are the minting of coins with
her portrait and the title mater castrorum (mother of the camp).

Julia now had complete power and ruled behind the Roman
Empire. Many early Romans disliked the fact of her ruling over the throne when
Septimius Severus was at war.

 Controversy
and transition of power

As empress, Julia was often involved in intrigues and had
plenty of political enemies who accused her of treason and adultery. None of
these accusations were proven, Severus continued to favour his wife and insisted
on her company in the campaign against the
Britons
that started in 208. When Severus died,
in 211 in York
, Julia became the mediator between their
two sons. Caracalla
and
Geta
who were to rule as joint emperors,
according to their father’s wishes expressed on his will. But the two young men
were never fond of each other and quarrelled frequently. Geta was murdered by
Caracalla’s soldiers in the same year.

Caracalla was now sole emperor, but his relations with his
mother were difficult, as attested by several sources, probably due to his
involvement in Geta’s murder. Nevertheless, Julia accompanied Caracalla in his
campaign against the
Parthian empire
in 217. During this trip,
Caracalla was assassinated and succeeded (briefly) by
Macrinus
. On hearing about the rebellion, Julia
chose to commit suicide. Her body was brought to Rome and placed in the
Sepulcrum C. et L. Caesaris (perhaps a separate chamber in the
Mausoleum of Augustus
). Later, however, both
her bones and those of Geta were transferred by her sister
Julia Maesa
to the
Mausoleum of Hadrian
. She was later deified.

Antoninus (Called ‘Caracalla’)

Caesar:
195-198 A.D.
Augustus: 198-217 A.D.
( 198-209 A.D. – with Septimius Severus)
( 209-211 A.D. – with Septimius Severus and Geta)
( 211-217 A.D. – Sole Reign)

Caracalla (April
4, 188

–

April 8
,

217.
Caracallus ), born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus
Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the
eldest son of

Septimius Severus

and

Roman Emperor
from 211 to 217. He was one of
the most nefarious of Roman emperors. Caracalla’s reign was notable for:

• the

  Constitutio Antoniniana

  , granting

  Roman citizenship

  to freemen throughout the

  Roman Empire

  , according to

  Cassius Dio

  in order to increase taxation;

• debasing the silver content in Roman coinage by 25 percent in
  order to pay the legions; and

• the construction of a large

  thermae

  outside Rome, the remains of which, known as the

  Baths of Caracalla

  , can still be seen today

   

“Caracalla was the common enemy of all mankind,” wrote

Edward Gibbon

. He spent his reign traveling
from province to province so that each could experience his “rapine and
cruelty.”

Caracalla’s real name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. He got the
nickname from his habit of wearing a cloak by the same name. Caracalla was the
elder son of Septimius Severus and brother of Geta whom he positively hated.
Hated so much, in fact, that he had him murdered a few years later. In the
mayhem that followed, Caracalla’s men went on a killing spree of anyone
suspected of being a Geta sympathizer. In the massacre, it’s estimated up to
20,000 people lost their lives. Caracalla would go on to rule for another five
years but his bad karma caught up with him and he was assassinated in a plot
perpetrated by Macrinus.

As an emperor Caracalla possessed few redeeming qualities and among the worst
of them would be his ruinous drain on the treasury. Because he knew everyone
hated him he sought the protection of the army. And the surest way of getting
this protection was to buy it outright. He raised the pay of the solider to
about four denarii per day, nearly quadrupling the salary of just a few years
prior. And on top of their regular salary he heaped endless bonuses and other
concessions meant to endear them. This money could only have come by the
oppressive taxation of ordinary citizens as well as the seizures of property of
the wealthy under trumped-up charges. This not only intensified the hatred
against him but also had the effect of corrupting the military who had become
accustomed to this life of luxury and throwing the economy into lasting
disarray.

Rise to power

Caracalla, of mixed

Punic

/Berber

and Syrian

Arab

descent, was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus in

Lugdunum
,

Gaul (now

Lyon,

France
), the
son of the later Emperor Septimius Severus and

Julia
Domna
. At the age of seven, his name was changed to Marcus Aurelius
Septimius Bassianus Antoninus to solidify connection to the family of

Marcus Aurelius

. He was later given the

Caracalla nickname
, which referred to the Gallic hooded tunic he habitually wore
and which he made fashionable.

His father, who had taken the imperial throne in 193, died in
211 while touring the northern marches at

Eboracum
(York),
and Caracalla was proclaimed co-emperor with his brother

Publius Septimius Antoninius Geta

. However since both of them wanted to be
the sole ruler, tensions between the brothers were evident in the few months
they ruled the empire together (they even considered dividing the empire in two,
but were persuaded not to do so by their mother). In December 211, Caracalla had
Geta, the family of his former father-in-law

Gaius Fulvius Plautianus

, his wife

Fulvia Plautilla

(also his paternal second cousin), and her brother
assassinated. He persecuted Geta’s supporters and ordered a

by the Senate against his brother.

Reign

In 213 Caracalla went north to the German frontier to deal
with the

Alamanni

who were causing trouble in the

Agri Decumates

. The emperor managed to win the sympathy of the soldiers with
generous pay rises and popular gestures, like marching on foot among the
ordinary soldiers, eating the same food, and even grinding his own flour with
them.

Caracalla defeated the Alamanni in a battle near the river

Main, but failed to
win a decisive victory over them. After a peace agreement was brokered, the
senate conferred upon him the title “Germanicus Maximus”. In the next year the
emperor traveled to the East.

When the inhabitants of

Alexandria

heard Caracalla’s claims that he had killed Geta in self-defense,
they produced a satire mocking this claim, as well as Caracalla’s other
pretensions. Caracalla responded to this insult savagely in 215 by slaughtering
the deputation of leading citizens who had unsuspectingly assembled before the
city to greet his arrival, and then unleashed his troops for several days of
looting and plunder in Alexandria. According to historian Cassius Dio, over
20,000 people were killed.

During his reign as emperor, Caracalla raised the annual pay
of an average legionary to 675

and lavished many benefits on the army which he both feared and
admired, as instructed by his father Septimius Severus who had told him to
always mind the soldiers and ignore everyone else. His official portraiture
marked a break with the detached images of the philosopher-emperors who preceded
him: his close-cropped haircut is that of a soldier, his pugnacious scowl a
realistic and threatening presence. The rugged soldier-emperor iconic type was
adopted by several of the following emperors who depended on the support of the
legions, like

Trebonianus Gallus

.^[11]

Seeking to secure his own legacy, Caracalla also commissioned
one of Rome’s last major architectural achievements, the

Baths of Caracalla

, the largest public bath ever built in ancient Rome. The
main room of the baths was larger than

St. Peter’s Basilica

, and could easily accommodate over 2,000 Roman citizens
at one time. The bath house opened in 216, complete with private rooms and
outdoor tracks. Internally it was decorated with golden trim and mosaics.

Fall

While travelling from

Edessa

to begin a war with

Parthia
, he
was assassinated while urinating at a roadside near

Harran
on

April 8
,

217 by Julius
Martialis, an officer in the imperial bodyguard.

Herodian

says that Martialis’ brother had been executed a few days earlier by Caracalla
on an unproven charge; Cassius Dio, on the other hand, says that Martialis was
resentful at not being promoted to the rank of centurion. The escort of the
emperor gave him privacy to relieve himself, and Martialis ran forward and
killed Caracalla with a single sword stroke. He immediately fled on horseback,
but was killed by a bodyguard archer.^{[
neededcitation]}

Caracalla was succeeded by the Praetorian Prefect of the
Guard,

Macrinus
,
who almost certainly was part of the conspiracy against the emperor.

His nickname

According to

Aurelius Victor

in his Epitome de Caesaribus, the

cognomen

“Caracalla” refers to a Gallic cloak

that Caracalla adopted as a personal fashion, which spread to his army
and his court.

Cassius Dio

and the

^[14]

agree that his nickname derived from his cloak, but do not mention its country
of origin.

Legendary king of Britain

Geoffrey of Monmouth

‘s legendary

makes Caracalla a king of Britain,
referring to him by his actual name “Bassianus”, rather than the nickname
Caracalla. After Severus’s death, the Romans wanted to make Geta king of
Britain, but the Britons preferred Bassianus because he had a British mother.
The two brothers fought a battle in which Geta was killed, and Bassianus
succeeded to the throne. He ruled until he was betrayed by his

Pictish
allies
and overthrown by

Carausius
,
who, according to Geoffrey, was a Briton, rather than the

Menapian
Gaul
that he actually was.