FAUSTINA II wife of MARCUS AURELIUS 161AD Amphipolis Macedonia Roman Coin i54444

Item: i54444

 Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Marcus Aurelius – 
161-175 A.D. –
Bronze 17mm (3.24 grams) of

Macedonia 

Reference: SNG ANS 191
ΦAYCTЄIN CЄBACTH, draped bust right.
ΑΜΦΙΠΟΛЄΙΤΩΝ, Artemis 
Tauropolos riding bull right.

You 

Authenticity.

Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of 
the Ancient Greek deities. Some scholars believe that 
the name, and indeed the goddess herself, was originally 
pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera,
Potnia Theron
 
“Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals”. In the 
classical period of
Greek mythology
, 
Artemis (Greek: 
(nominative)
Ἄρτεμις, (genitive)
Ἀρτέμιδος) was 
often 
described as the daughter of
Zeus
and
Leto
, and the twin 
sister of
Apollo
. She was the 
Hellenic goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, 
childbirth, virginity and young girls, bringing and 
relieving disease in women; she often was depicted as a 
huntress carrying a bow and arrows. The
deer
and the
cypress
were sacred to 
her. In later Hellenistic times, she even assumed the 
ancient role of
Eileithyia
in aiding 
childbirth.

Artemis later became identified with
Selene
, a
Titaness
who was a 
Greek moon goddess, sometimes depicted with a crescent 
moon above her head. She was also identified with the 
Roman goddess
Diana
, with the
Etruscan
goddess
Artume
, and with the 
Greek or
Carian
goddess 

Hecate

was an
Amphipolisancient

Greek

city
in the region once 
inhabited by the
Edoni
people in the 
present-day
periphery
of
Central Macedonia
. It 
was built on a raised plateau overlooking the east bank 
of the
river

Strymon
where it 
emerged from Lake Cercinitis, about 3 m. from the
Aegean Sea
. Founded in 
437 BC, the city was finally abandoned in the 8th 
century AD. The present municipality Amfipoli, named 
after the ancient city, occupies the site. Currently, it 
is a municipality in the
Serres Prefecture
,
Central Macedonia
with 
a population of 3,623 (2001 census).

 Origins

Archaeology
has 
uncovered remains at the site dating to approximately 
3000 BC. Due to the strategic location of the site it 
was fortified from very early.
Xerxes I

of Persia
passed during 
his invasion of Greece of 480 BC and buried alive nine 
young men and nine maidens as a sacrifice to the river 
god. Near the later site of Amphipolis
Alexander I

of Macedon
defeated the 
remains of Xerxes’ army in 479 BC.

Throughout the 5th century BC,
Athens
sought to 
consolidate its control over Thrace, which was 
strategically important because of its primary materials 
(the gold and silver of the
Pangaion hills
and the 
dense forests essential for naval construction), and the 
sea routes vital for Athens’ supply of grain from
Scythia
. After a first 
unsuccessful attempt at colonisation in 497 BC by the
Miletian

Tyrant

Histiaeus
, the 
Athenians founded a first colony at Ennea-Hodoi (‘Nine 
Ways’) in 465, but these first ten thousand colonists 
were massacred by the
Thracians
. A second 
attempt took place in 437 BC on the same site under the 
guidance of
Hagnon
, son of 
Nicias
.

The new settlement took the name of Amphipolis 
(literally, “around the city”), a name which is the 
subject of much debates about
lexicography
.
Thucydides
claims the 
name comes from the fact that the Strymon flows “around 
the city” on two sides; however a note in the
Suda
(also given in the 
lexicon of
Photius
) offers a 
different explanation apparently given by
Marsyas
, son of
Periander
: that a large 
proportion of the population lived “around the city”. 
However, a more probable explanation is the one given by
Julius Pollux
: that the 
name indicates the vicinity of an
isthmus
. Furthermore, 
the

Etymologicum Genuinum

Amphipolis subsequently became the main power base of 
the Athenians in Thrace and, consequently, a target of 
choice for their
Spartans
adversaries. 
The Athenian population remained very much in the 
minority within the city. An Athenian rescue expedition 
led by strategist (and later historian) Thucydides had 
to settle for securing
Eion
and could not 
retake Amphipolis, a failure for which Thucydides was 
sentenced to exile. A new Athenian force under the 
command of
Cleon
failed once more 
in 422 BC during a
battle
at which both
Cleon
and
Brasidas
lost their 
lives. Brasidas survived long enough to hear of the 
defeat of the Athenians and was buried at Amphipolis 
with impressive pomp. From then on he was regarded as 
the founder of the city and honoured with yearly games 
and sacrifices. The city itself kept its independence 
until the reign of the king
Philip II
despite 
several other Athenian attacks, notably because of the 
government of
Callistratus

of Aphidnae
.

 Conquest 
by the Romans

In 357 BC, Philip removed the block which Amphipolis 
presented on the road to Macedonian control over Thrace 
by conquering the town, which Athens had tried in vain 
to recover during the previous years. According the 
historian
Theopompus
, this 
conquest came to be the object of a secret accord 
between
Athens
and Philip II, 
who would return the city in exchange for the fortified 
town of
Pydna
, but the 
Macedonian king betrayed the accord, refusing to cede 
Amphipolis and laying siege to Pydna.

After the conquest by Philip II, the city was not 
immediately incorporated into the kingdom, and for some 
time preserved its institutions and a certain degree of 
autonomy. The border of Macedonia was not moved further 
east; however, Philip sent a number of Macedonians 
governors to Amphipolis, and in many respects the city 
was effectively ‘Macedonianized’. Nomenclature, the 
calendar and the currency (the 
gold stater
, installed 
by Philip to capitalise on the gold reserves of the 
Pangaion hills, replaced the Amphipolitan
drachma
) were all 
replaced by Macedonian equivalents. In the reign of
Alexander
, Amphipolis 
was an important naval base, and the birthplace of three 
of the most famous Macedonian
Admirals
:
Nearchus
, Androsthenes^[6] 
and
Laomedon

Amphipolis became one of the main stops on the 
Macedonian royal road (as testified by a border stone 
found between
Philippos
and 
Amphipolis giving the distance to the latter), and later 
on the ‘Via 
Egnatia’, the principal
Roman Road
which 
crossed the southern Balkans. Apart from the ramparts of 
the low town (see photograph), the gymnasium and a set 
well-preserved frescoes from a wealthy villa are the 
only artifacts from this period that remain visible. 
Though little is known of the layout of the town, modern 
knowledge of its institutions is in considerably better 
shape thanks to a rich epigraphic documentation, 
including a military ordinance of
Philip V
and an
ephebarchic
law from 
the gymnasium. After the final victory of
Rome
over Macedonia in 
a
battle
in 168 BC, 
Amphipolis became the capital one of the four 
mini-republics, or ‘merides’, which were created by the 
Romans out of the kingdom of the
Antigonids
which
succeeded
Alexander’s 
Empire in Macedon. These ‘merides’ were gradually 
incorporated into the Roman client state, and later 
province, of
Thracia
.

 Revival 
in Late Antiquity

During the period of
Late Antiquity
, 
Amphipolis benefited from the increasing economic 
prosperity of Macedonia, as is evidenced by the large 
number of
Christian Churchess
that 
were built. Significantly however, these churches were 
built within a restricted area of the town, sheltered by 
the walls of the
acropolis
. This has 
been taken as evidence that the large fortified 
perimeter of the ancient town was no longer defendable, 
and that the population of the city had considerably 
diminished.

Nevertheless, the number, size and quality of the 
churches constructed between the fifth and sixth 
centuries are impressive. Four
basilicas
adorned with 
rich
mosaic
floors and 
elaborate architectural sculptures (such as the 
ram-headed
column
capitals – see 
picture) have been excavated, as well as a church with a 
hexagonal central plan which evokes that of the
basilica

St. Vitalis in
Ravenna
. It is 
difficult to find reasons for such municipal 
extravagance in such a small town. One possible 
explanation provided by the historian
André Boulanger
is that 
an increasing ‘willingness’ on the part of the wealthy 
upper classes in the late Roman period to spend money on 
local
gentrification
projects 
(which he terms ‘’évergétisme’’, 
from the Greek verb εύεργετέω,(meaning ‘I do good’) was 
exploited by the local church to its advantage, which 
led to a mass gentrification of the urban centre and of 
the agricultural riches of the city’s territory. 
Amphipolis was also a
diocese
under the
suffragan
of
Thessaloniki
– the 
Bishop of Amphipolis is first mentioned in 533 AD.

 From 
the reduction of the urban area to the disappearance of 
the city

The
Slavic invasions
of the 
late 6th century gradually encroached on the 
back-country Amphipolitan lifestyle and led to the 
decline of the town, during which period its inhabitants 
retreated to the area around the acropolis. The ramparts 
were maintained to a certain extent, thanks to materials 
plundered from the monuments of the lower city, and the 
large unused cisterns of the upper city were occupied by 
small houses and the workshops of artisans. Around the 
middle of the 7th century AD, a further reduction of the 
inhabited area of the city was followed by an increase 
in the fortification of the town, with the construction 
of a new rampart with pentagonal towers cutting through 
the middle of the remaining monuments. The acropolis, 
the
Roman bathss
, and 
especially the Episcopal basilica were crossed by this 
wall.

The city was probably abandoned in the eighth 
century, as the last bishop was attested in 787. Its 
inhabitants probably moved to the neighbouring site of 
ancient
Eion
, port of 
Amphipolis, which had been rebuilt and refortified in 
the
Byzantine period
under 
the name “Chrysopolis”. 
This small port continued to enjoy some prosperity, 
before being abandoned during the
Ottoman period
. The 
last recorded sign of activity in the region of 
Amphipolis was the construction of a fortified tower to 
the north in 1367 by
Grand Primicier
Jean 
and the
Stratopedarque
Alexis 
to protect the land that they had given to the monastery 
of Pantokrator on
Mount Athos
.

The site was rediscovered and described by many 
travellers and archaeologists during the 19th century, 
including E. Cousinéry (1831) (engraver), L. Heuzey 
(1861), and P. Perdrizet (1894–1899). In 1934, M. Feyel, 
of the
École française d’Athènes
, 
led an
epigraphical mission
to 
the site and uncovered the remains of a funeral lion (a 
reconstruction was given in the, a publication of the 
EfA which is available on line). However, excavations 
did not truly begin until after the Second World War. 
The
Greek Archaeological Society
 
under D. Lazaridis excavated in 1972 and 1985, 
uncovering a necropolis, the rampart of the old town 
(see photograph), the basilicas, and the acropolis.

 Amphipolitans

• Demetrius of Amphipolis
  , 
  student of Plato’s
• Zoilus
  (400 BC-320 
  BC), grammarian, cynic philosopher
• Pamphilus (painter)
  , 
  head of
  Sicyonian
  school 
  and teacher of
  Apelles
• Aetion
  , sculptor
• Philippus of Amphipolis
  , 
  historian
• Nearchus
  , admiral
• Erigyius
  , general
• Damasias
   ^{[disambiguation 
  needed]} of Amphipolis 320 BC
  Stadion
  Olympics
• Hermagoras of Amphipolis
   
  (c. 225 BC), stoic philosopher ,follower of
  Persaeus
• Xena
  , the Warrior 
  Princess of Amphipolis.

Annia 

Galeria Faustina Minor (((Minor Latin for

the younger), Faustina Minor or Faustina 

the Younger

(February 

16 between 125 and 130-175) was a daughter of

Roman Emperor

Antoninus Pius

and Roman Empress

Faustina the Elder

. She was a Roman Empress and wife 

to her maternal cousin Roman Emperor

Marcus Aurelius

. Though Roman sources give a 

generally negative view of her character, she was held 

in high esteem by soldiers and her own husband and was 

given divine honours after her death.

//

 Biography

Faustina, named after her mother, was 

her parents’ fourth and youngest child and their second 

daughter; she was also their only child to survive to 

adulthood. She was born and raised in

Rome

.

Her great uncle, the Emperor

Hadrian

, had arranged with her father for Faustina 

to marry

Lucius Verus

. On February 25, 138, she and Verus 

were betrothed.

Verus’ father

was Hadrian’s first adopted son and 

his intended heir. However when Verus’ father died, 

Hadrian chose Faustina’s father to be his second adopted 

son, and eventually, he became Hadrian’s successor. 

Faustina’s father ended the engagement between his 

daughter and Verus and arranged for Faustina’s betrothal 

to her maternal cousin,

Marcus Aurelius

; Aurelius was also adopted by her 

father. On May 13, 145, Faustina and Marcus Aurelius 

were married. When her father died on March 7, 161, her 

husband and Lucius Verus succeeded to her father’s 

throne and became co-rulers. Faustina was given the 

title of

and became Empress.

Unfortunately, not much has survived 

from the Roman sources regarding Faustina’s life, but 

what is available does not give a good report.

Cassius Dio

and the

accuse Faustina of ordering 

deaths by poison and execution; she has also been 

accused of instigating the revolt of

Avidius Cassius

against her husband. The Augustan 

History mentions adultery with sailors, gladiators, 

and men of rank. However, Faustina and Aurelius seem to 

have been very close and mutually devoted. Her husband 

trusted her and defended her vigorously against 

detractors.

Faustina accompanied her husband on 

various military campaigns and enjoyed the love and 

reverence of Roman soldiers. Aurelius gave her the title 

of Mater Castrorum or Mother of the Camp. 

Between 170-174, she was in the north, and in 175, she 

accompanied Aurelius to the east. However, these 

experiences took their toll on Faustina, who died in the 

winter of 175, after an accident, at the military camp 

in Halala (a city in the

Taurus Mountains

in

Cappadocia

).

Aurelius grieved much for his wife 

and buried her in the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome. She 

was deified: her statue was placed in the Temple of 

Venus in Rome and a temple was dedicated to her in her 

honor. Halala’s name was changed to Faustinopolis 

and Aurelius opened charity schools for orphan girls 

called Puellae Faustinianae or ‘Girls of 

Faustina’.^[1] 

The Baths of Faustina in

Miletus

are named after her.

In their thirty years of marriage, 

Faustina bore Marcus Aurelius thirteen children:

1. Annia Aurelia Galeria Faustina

   (147-after 165)

2. Gemellus Lucillae (died around 

   150), twin brother of Lucilla

3. Annia Aurelia Galeria

   Lucilla

   (148/50-182), twin sister of Gemellus, 

   married her father’s co-ruler

   Lucius Verus

4. Titus Aelius Antoninus (born 

   after 150, died before 7 March 161)

5. Titus Aelius Aurelius (born after 

   150, died before 7 March 161)

6. Hadrianus (152-157)

7. Domitia Faustina (born after 150, 

   died before 7 March 161)

8. Fadilla

   (159-after 211)

9. Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor

   (160-after 211)

10. Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus 

    (161-165), twin brother of Commodus

11. Commodus

    (161-192), twin brother of Titus 

    Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus, later emperor

12. Marcus Annius Verus Caesar

    (162-169)

13. Vibia Aurelia Sabina (170-died before 217)