LYSIMACHOS Macedonian King 305BC Greek Coin Athena Trophy Tropaion i43358

Item: i43358

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Lysimachos
– King of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedonia: 323-281 B.C. –

 Bronze 22mm (5.03 grams) Lampsakos mint: 305-281 B.C.

Reference: Müller pl. 11, 13. Sear 6818.
Helmeted head of Athena right.
ΛΥΣIMAXOY / BAΣIΛEΩΣ, either side of trophy.

One of the most remarkable of the ‘Successors’ of Alexander, Lysimachos was

of Thessalian stock and was a bodyguard of the great Macedonian King. In the

confused period following Alexander’s death he obtained the government of

Thrace, and in 309 B.C. founded his capital city of Lysimacheia where many of

his coins were struck. In 305 B.C. he took the title of King, and four years

later extended his rule over much of Asia Minor following the defeat of

Antigonos the One-eyed at Ipos. His later years were marred by domestic tragedy

and his harsh rule made him unpopular with his subjects. In 281 B.C. Lysimachos,

now aged 80, was attacked by Seleukos of Syria who was only two years his

junior. Lysimachos died fighting at the battle of Korupedion and his kingdom

disappeared with him. But his memory lived on and generations later a number of

mints in the Black Sea area restored his coin types for their autonomous issues.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

In
Greek religion
and
mythology
, Athena or Athene, also
referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage,
inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength,
strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.
Minerva
is the
Roman goddess

identified with
Athena.

Marble Greek copy signed “Antiokhos”, a first century BC variant of

Phidias
‘
fifth-century
Athena Promachos

that stood on the
Acropolis

Athena is also a shrewd companion of

heroes and is the
goddess
of heroic endeavour. She is the
virgin
patroness of
Athens
. The Athenians founded the
Parthenon
on the Acropolis of her namesake
city, Athens (Athena Parthenos), in her honour.

Athena’s veneration as the patron of Athens seems to have existed from the
earliest times, and was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast
to adapt to cultural changes. In her role as a protector of the city (polis),
many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias
(Ἀθηνᾶ Πολιάς “Athena of the city”). The city of
Athens
and the goddess Athena essentially bear
the same name, “Athenai” meaning “[many] Athenas”.

Patroness

Athenian
tetradrachm
representing the
goddess Athena

Athena as the goddess of philosophy became an aspect of the cult in Classical
Greece during the late 5th century B.C. She is the patroness of various crafts,
especially of weaving
, as Athena Ergane, and was
honored as such at festivals such as
Chalceia
. The metalwork of weapons also fell
under her patronage. She led battles (Athena
Promachos or the warrior maiden Athena Parthenos) as the
disciplined, strategic side of war, in contrast to her brother

Ares, the patron of violence, bloodlust and slaughter—”the raw force
of war”. Athena’s wisdom includes the cunning intelligence (metis) of
such figures as Odysseus
. Not only was this version of Athena
the opposite of Ares in combat, it was also the polar opposite of the serene
earth goddess version of the deity, Athena Polias.

Athena appears in Greek mythology as the patron and helper of many heroes,
including Odysseus
,
Jason
, and
Heracles
. In
Classical Greek
myths, she never consorts with
a lover, nor does she ever marry,earning the title Athena Parthenos. A
remnant of archaic myth depicts her as the adoptive mother of
Erechtheus
/Erichthonius
through the foiled rape by
Hephaestus
. Other variants relate that
Erichthonius, the serpent that accompanied Athena, was born to
Gaia
: when the rape failed, the semen landed on
Gaia and impregnated her. After Erechthonius was born, Gaia gave him to Athena.

Though Athena is a goddess of war strategy, she disliked fighting without
purpose and preferred to use wisdom to settle predicaments.The goddess only
encouraged fighting for a reasonable cause or to resolve conflict. As patron of
Athens she fought in the Trojan war on the side of the Achaeans.

Lady of Athens

Athena competed with
Poseidon
to be the patron deity of Athens,
which was yet unnamed, in a version of one
founding myth
. They agreed that each would give
the Athenians one gift and that the Athenians would choose the gift they
preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his
trident
and a salt water spring sprang up; this
gave them a means of trade and water—Athens at its height was a significant sea
power, defeating the
Persian
fleet at the
Battle of Salamis
—but the water was salty and
not very good for drinking.

Athena, however, offered them the first domesticated
olive tree
. The Athenians (or their king,
Cecrops
) accepted the olive tree and with it
the patronage of Athena, for the olive tree brought wood, oil, and food.
Robert Graves
was of the opinion that
“Poseidon’s attempts to take possession of certain cities are political myths”
which reflect the conflict between matriarchal and patriarchal religions.

Judgment of Paris

Aphrodite is being surveyed by Paris, while Athena (the leftmost
figure) and Hera stand nearby.
El Juicio de Paris
by
Enrique Simonet
, ca. 1904

All the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the
marriage of Peleus
and
Thetis
(the eventual parents of
Achilles
). Only
Eris
, goddess of discord, was not invited. She
was annoyed at this, so she arrived with a golden apple inscribed with the word
καλλίστῃ (kallistēi, “for the fairest”), which she threw among the goddesses.
Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed to be the fairest, and thus the rightful
owner of the apple.

The goddesses chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to
favor one of the goddesses, put the choice into the hands of Paris, a

Trojan prince. After bathing in the spring of
Mount Ida
(where Troy was situated), the
goddesses appeared before Paris. The goddesses undressed and presented
themselves to Paris naked, either at his request or for the sake of winning.

Paris is awarding the apple to Aphrodite, while Athena makes a face.
Urteil des Paris by
Anton Raphael Mengs
, ca. 1757

Still, Paris could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so they
resorted to bribes. Hera tried to bribe Paris with control over all

Asia and Europe
, while Athena offered wisdom, fame and
glory in battle, but Aphrodite came forth and whispered to Paris that if he were
to choose her as the fairest he would have the most beautiful mortal woman in
the world as a wife, and he accordingly chose her. This woman was
Helen
, who was, unfortunately for Paris,
already married to King
Menelaus
of
Sparta
. The other two goddesses were enraged by
this and through Helen’s abduction by Paris they brought about the
Trojan War
.

The Parthenon
, Temple of Athena
Parthenos

Masculinity and
feminism

Athena had an “androgynous compromise” that allowed her traits and what she
stood for to be attributed to male and female rulers alike over the course of
history (such as Marie de’ Medici, Anne of Austria, Christina of Sweden, and
Catherine the Great)

J.J. Bachofen advocated that Athena was originally a maternal figure stable
in her security and poise but was caught up and perverted by a patriarchal
society; this was especially the case in Athens. The goddess adapted but could
very easily be seen as a god. He viewed it as “motherless paternity in the place
of fatherless maternity” where once altered, Athena’s character was to be
crystallized as that of a patriarch.

Whereas Bachofen saw the switch to paternity on Athena’s behalf as an
increase of power, Freud on the contrary perceived Athena as an “original mother
goddess divested of her power”. In this interpretation, Athena was demoted to be
only Zeus’s daughter, never allowed the expression of motherhood. Still more
different from Bachofen’s perspective is the lack of role permanency in Freud’s
view: Freud held that time and differing cultures would mold Athena to stand for
what was necessary to them.

A trophy is a reward for a specific achievement, and serves as
recognition or evidence of merit.

A tropaion (Greek:
τρόπαιον,
Latin
:
tropaeum), whence English “trophy”
is an ancient Greek
and later
Roman
monument set up to commemorate a victory
over one’s foes. Typically this takes the shape of a tree, sometimes with a pair
of arm-like branches (or, in later times, a pair of stakes set crosswise) upon
which is hung the armour
of a defeated and dead foe. The
tropaion is then dedicated to a
god
in thanksgiving for the victory.

A Roman tropaeum from the
Dacian Wars
(Trajan’s
Column 113 CE, note the tree trunk with arm-like
branches)

Greece

In the Greek city-states
of the
Archaic
period, the tropaion would be
set up on the battlefield itself, usually at the site of the “turning point”
(Gk. tropê) at which the routed enemy’s
phalanx
broke, turned and ran. It would be
dressed in the typical
hoplite

panoply
of the period, including (at different
times), a
helmet
,
cuirass
(either of
bronze
or
linen
), and a number of
shields
,etc, would be piled about the base. It
remained on the battlefield until the following season’s campaigns (since
battles were often fought in the same, relatively few plains amid Greece’s
numerous mountains), where it might be replaced with a new trophy.

In later eras in the Greek world, these tropaia might be vowed at the
battle-site, but in fact erected at
pan-Hellenic
sanctuaries such as
Olympia
or
Delphi
to further increase the prestige of the
victorious state.

The significance of the monument is a ritualistic notification of “victory”
to the defeated enemies. Since warfare in the Greek world was largely a
ritualistic affair in the archaic hoplite-age (see
Hanson
, The Western Way of War for
further elaboration of this idea), the monument is used to reinforce the
symbolic capital
of the victory in the Greek
community.

Ancient sources attest to the great deal of significance that early Greek
cities placed upon symbols and ritual as linked to warfare–the story involving
the bones of Orestes
, for example, in
Herodotus
1 which go beyond the ritualistic
properties to even magically ‘guaranteeing’ the
Spartan
victory, displays the same sort of
interest in objects and symbols of power as they relate to military success or
failure.

Rome

The tropaeum in Rome, on the other hand, would probably not be
set up on the battle-site itself, but rather displayed prominently in the city
of Rome. Romans were less concerned about impressing foreign powers or military
rivals than they were in using military success to further their own
political careers
inside the city, especially
during the later years of the
Republic
. A tropaeum displayed on the
battlefield does not win votes, but one brought back and displayed as part of a
triumph
can impress the citizens (who might
then vote in future elections in favor of the conqueror) or the nobles (with
whom most aristocratic Romans of the Republican period were in a constant
struggle for prestige).

The symbolism of the tropaeum became so well known that in later eras,
Romans began to simply display images of them upon sculpted reliefs (see image
and
Tropaeum Traiani
), to leave a permanent trace
of the victory in question rather than the temporary monument of the tropaeum
itself.

Originally the word trophy, derived from the Latin
tropaion
, referred to arms, standards,
other property, or human captives and body parts (e.g.
headhunting
) captured in battle. These
war trophies
commemorated the military
victories of a state, army or individual combatant. In modern warfare trophy
taking is discouraged, but this sense of the word is reflected in
hunting trophies
and
human trophy collecting
by
serial killers
.

Trophies have marked victories since ancient times. The word trophy
coined in English in 1550, was derived from the French trophée in 1513,
“a prize of war”, from Old French trophee, from Latin trophaeum,
monument to victory, variant of tropaeum, which in turn is the
latinisation
of the
Greek
τρόπαιον (tropaion),
the neuter of τροπαῖος (tropaios), “of defeat” or “for defeat”, but
generally “of a turning” or “of a change”,^[3]
from τροπή (tropē), “a turn, a change”^[4]
and that from the verb τρέπω (trepo), “to turn, to alter”.^[5][6]

In ancient Greece, trophies were made on the battlefields of victorious
battles, from captured arms and standards, and were hung upon a tree or a large
stake made to resemble a warrior. Often, these ancient trophies were inscribed
with a story of the battle and were dedicated to various gods. Trophies made
about naval victories sometimes consisted of entire ships (or what remained of
them) laid out on the beach. To destroy a trophy was considered a sacrilege.^[7]

The ancient Romans kept their trophies closer to home. The Romans built
magnificent trophies in Rome, including columns and arches atop a foundation.
Most of the stone trophies that once adorned huge stone memorials in Rome have
been long since stolen

Lysimachus (Greek:
Λυσίμαχος, Lysimachos; 360 BCE – 281 BCE) was a
Macedonian
officer and
diadochus

(i.e. “successor”) of
Alexander the Great
, who became a
basileus

(“king”) in 306 BCE, ruling
Thrace
,
Asia Minor

and
Macedonia
.

//

 Early
career

Lysimachus was born in 362/361 BC, the son of the
Thessalian
Agathocles from
Crannon
. He was granted citizenship in
Macedon
and was educated at the court in
Pella
. He was
probably appointed
Somatophylax
during the reign of Philip II.
During Alexander’s
Persian
campaigns, he was one of his immediate bodyguards. In
324 BCE
, in Susa, he was crowned in recognition for his actions in India.
After Alexander’s death in 323 BCE, he was appointed to the government of Thrace
as strategos
.

 Diadochi

In 315 BCE, he joined
Cassander
,
Ptolemy
and
Seleucus
against
Antigonus
, who, however, diverted his attention by stirring up Thracian and
Scythian

tribes against him. In 309 BCE, he founded
Lysimachia
in a commanding situation on the neck connecting the Chersonese
with the mainland. He followed the example of Antigonus in taking the title of
king.

In 306 or 305, he assumed the title of “King”, which he held until his death
at Corupedium in 282/1.

In 302, when the second affiance between Cassander, Ptolemy and
Seleucus was made, Lysimachus, reinforced by troops from Cassander, entered Asia
Minor, where he met with little resistance. On the approach of Antigonus he
retired into winter quarters near
Heraclea
, marrying its widowed queen
Amastris
, a
Persian princess. Seleucus joined him in 301 BCE, and at the
battle of Ipsus
Antigonus was defeated and slain. His dominions were divided
among the victors. Lysimachus share was
Lydia
,
Ionia
,
Phrygia
and
the north coast of Asia Minor.

     Kingdom of Lysimachus Other
diadochi

     Kingdom of
Cassander



     Kingdom of
Seleucus_I_Nicator



     Kingdom of
Ptolemy



     Epirus
Other


     Carthage


     Rome


     Greek
colonies

Feeling that Seleucus was becoming dangerously great, Lysimachus now allied
himself with Ptolemy, marrying his daughter
Arsinoe II of Egypt
. Amastris, who had divorced herself from him, returned
to Heraclea. When Antigonus’s son
Demetrius I of Macedon
renewed hostilities (297 BCE), during his absence in
Greece
,
Lysimachus seized his towns in Asia Minor, but in 294 BCE concluded a peace
whereby Demetrius was recognized as ruler of
Macedonia
. He tried to carry his power beyond the
Danube
, but was
defeated and taken prisoner by the
Getae
king
Dromichaetes
(Dromihete),
who, however, set him free on amicable terms. Demetrius subsequently threatened
Thrace, but had to retire due to a sudden uprising in
Boeotia
, and
an attack from the king
Pyrrhus

of Epirus
.

In 288 BCE, Lysimachus and
Pyrrhus
in turn invaded
Macedonia
, and drove Demetrius out of the country. Lysimachus left
Pyrrhus
in possession of
Macedonia
with the title of king for around seven months before Lysimachus
invaded. For a short while the two ruled jointly but in 285 BCE Lysimachus
expelled Pyrrhus.

 Later
years

Domestic troubles embittered the last years of Lysimachus’s life. Amastris
had been murdered by her two sons; Lysimachus treacherously put them to death.
On his return Arsinoe asked the gift of Heraclea, and he granted her request,
though he had promised to free the city. In 284 BCE Arsinoe, desirous of gaining
the succession for her sons in preference to
Agathocles
(the eldest son of Lysimachus), intrigued against him with the
help of her brother
Ptolemy Keraunos
; they accused him of conspiring with Seleucus to seize the
throne, and he was put to death.

This atrocious deed of Lysimachus aroused great indignation. Many of the
cities of Asia revolted, and his most trusted friends deserted him. The widow of
Agathocles fled to Seleucus, who at once invaded the territory of Lysimachus in
Asia. In 281 BCE, Lysimachus crossed the
Hellespont
into Lydia
, and at the decisive
Battle of Corupedium
was killed. After some days his body was found on the
field, protected from birds of prey by his faithful dog.
Lysimachus’s body was given over to his son
Alexander
, by whom it was interred at
Lysymachia
.