Greek city of Irenopolis-Neronias in Cilicia
Pseudo-autonomous issue, time of Marcus Aurelius, 161-180 A.D.
Bronze 21mm (6.91 grams) CY 119 = 169/170 A.D.
Reference: SNG Levante 1608. SNG Paris 2262; RPC IV online 4979; SNG Copenhagen 149; Karback, Eirenopolis 43-45
ЄTOYC ΘIP, Laureate and draped bust of Kronos to right.
IPHNOΠOΛITΩN, Hercules reclining left, holding kantharos; below, club.

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In Greek mythology, Cronus, or Kronos, was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, the divine descendants of Uranus, the sky, and Gaia, the earth. He overthrew his father and ruled during the mythological Golden Age, until he was overthrown by his own son Zeus and imprisoned in Tartarus.

Cronus was usually depicted with a harpe, scythe or a sickle, which was the instrument he used to castrate and depose Uranus, his father. In Athens, on the twelfth day of the Attic month of Hekatombaion, a festival called Kronia was held in honour of Cronus to celebrate the harvest, suggesting that, as a result of his association with the virtuous Golden Age, Cronus continued to preside as a patron of harvest. Cronus was also identified in classical antiquity with the Roman deity Saturn.

Heracles, born Alcaeus (Alkaios) or Alcides, was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson and half-brother (as they are both sired by the god Zeus) of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Hercules, with whom the later Roman emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximian, often identified themselves. The Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works essentially unchanged, but added anecdotal detail of their own, some of it linking the hero with the geography of the Central Mediterranean. Details of his cult were adapted to Rome as well.

Extraordinary strength, courage, ingenuity, and sexual prowess with both males and females were among the characteristics commonly attributed to him. Heracles used his wits on several occasions when his strength did not suffice, such as when laboring for the king Augeas of Elis, wrestling the giant Antaeus, or tricking Atlas into taking the sky back onto his shoulders. Together with Hermes he was the patron and protector of gymnasia and palaestrae. His iconographic attributes are the lion skin and the club. These qualities did not prevent him from being regarded as a playful figure who used games to relax from his labors and played a great deal with children. By conquering dangerous archaic forces he is said to have “made the world safe for mankind” and to be its benefactor. Heracles was an extremely passionate and emotional individual, capable of doing both great deeds for his friends (such as wrestling with Thanatos on behalf of Prince Admetus, who had regaled Heracles with his hospitality, or restoring his friend Tyndareus to the throne of Sparta after he was overthrown) and being a terrible enemy who would wreak horrible vengeance on those who crossed him, as Augeas, Neleus and Laomedon all found out to their cost.

Irenopolis or Eirenopolis (Greek: Εἰρηνούπολις) was an ancient Roman, Byzantine and medieval city in northeastern Cilicia, not far from the Calycadnus river, also known briefly as Neronias (Greek: Νερωνιάς) in honour of the Roman emperor Nero. Irenopolis was also an episcopal see that is now included in the Catholic Church‘s list of titular sees.

Location

It is located on the site of Düziçi (formerly Haruniye) in the province of Osmaniye. Located at the mouth of the Darb al-‛Ain pass, which led from al-Hārūnīya to Germanikeia, 104 km SE of Adana and 29.5 km NE of Osmaniye.E. Honigmann’s identification of Irenopolis with Bagdacik, the ”little Irenopolis” (in contrast to the “great Irenopolis”), 25 km NE of Osmaniye on the way to Hasanbeyli, is wrong because the area is called Buğdaycik ^{[1] [2]} The site is a little higher than Hierapolis Kastabala and Anazarbus, on the mountain preventing access to the Cilician plain from the east.

History

It was probably founded by Antiochus IV of Commagene. The coins of the city show that Asclepius and Hygeia were worshiped in the city during pagan era. The cult of the two gods in the city may be connected with the natural spring of the area.

Theodoret of Cyrus confirms that the two names, Eirenopolis and Neronias, apparently refer to the same city. The name Neronias refereeing to honors bestowed on the city by Nero. The city is mentioned by Hierocles Nicephore and Calliste. The city came under Muslim rule following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

Bishopric

Christianity first came to the area in the 1st century the strategic location through the mountain passess, and the work of St Paul made it an early candidate for missionaries. The city was the seat of a bishopric in Byzantine times.

Known residential bishops

• The Bishop Narcissus participated in the councils of Ankara and Neocaesarea in 314 AD and Nicaea in 325 AD the Council of Antioch as sometime claimed.

Coinage

The city minted its own coinage, from 92/93 AD, during Domitian’s reign, were still minted until the reign of Gallienus (253-268 AD).

See also

• Castabala
• Kırmıtlı
• Osmaniye Province