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Macrinus
–
Roman Emperor
: 217-218 A.D. –
Bronze 26mm (13.66 grams) of
Marcianopolis in Moesia Inferior under consular legate Furius Pontianus
AVT K ΟΠEΛΛIOC CEVH0 MAKPEINOC,
Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
VΠΠONTIANOV MAPKIANOPOΛEITΩN,
Tyche standing left holding rudder atop globe and cornucopia.
You are bidding on the exact
item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime
Guarantee of Authenticity.
The cornucopia (from Latin cornu
copiae) or horn of plenty is a symbol of abundance and nourishment,
commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, nuts,
other edibles, or wealth in some form. Originating in
classical antiquity
, it has continued as a
symbol in
Western art
, and it is particularly associated
with the
Thanksgiving
holiday in
North America
.
Allegorical
depiction of the Roman
goddess
Abundantia
with a cornucopia, by
Rubens
(ca. 1630)
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
.
Marcianopolis, or Marcianople was an ancient Roman city in
Thracia
. It was located at the site of modern day
Devnya
,
Bulgaria
.
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.
Marcus Opellius Macrinus (ca. 165 – June 218) was
Roman
emperor
for fourteen months in 217 and 218. Macrinus was the first emperor
to become so without membership in the senatorial class. Macrinus was possibly
of Berber
descent.
//
Background
and career
Born in Caesarea (modern
Cherchell
,
Algeria) in the
Roman province
of
Mauretania
to an
equestrian
family, Macrinus received an education which allowed him to
ascend to the Roman political class. Over the years he earned a reputation as a
skilled lawyer. Under the emperor
Septimius Severus
he became an important bureaucrat. Severus’ successor
Caracalla
appointed him
prefect
of the
Praetorian guard
. While Macrinus likely enjoyed the trust of Caracalla, this
may have changed when, according to tradition, he was prophesied to depose and
succeed the emperor. Rumors spread regarding Macrinus’ alleged desire to take
the throne for himself. Given Caracalla’s tendency towards murdering political
opponents, Macrinus probably feared for his own safety should the emperor become
aware of this prophecy. According to Dio, Caracalla had already taken the step
of re-assigning members of Macrinus’ staff.
In the spring of 217, Caracalla was in the eastern provinces
preparing a campaign against the
Parthian Empire
. Macrinus was among his staff, as were other members of the
praetorian guard. In April, the emperor went to visit a temple of
Luna
near the
spot of the
battle of Carrhae
, accompanied only by his personal bodyguard, which
included Macrinus. Events are not clear, but it is certain that Caracalla was
murdered at some point on the trip (perhaps on
April 8
).
Caracalla’s body was brought back from the temple by his bodyguards, along with
the corpse of a fellow bodyguard. The story as told by Macrinus was that the
dead guard had killed Caracalla. By
April 11
,
Macrinus proclaimed himself emperor. Macrinus also nominated his son
Diadumenianus
Caesar
and successor and conferred upon him the name “Antoninus”, thus
connecting him with the relatively stable reigns of the
Antonine emperors
of the 2nd century.
Reign
(April 217 – June 218)
Despite his equestrian background, Macrinus was confirmed in
his new role by the
Senate
.
According to S.N. Miller, this may have been due to both his background as an
accomplished jurist and his deferential treatment of the senatorial class. He
found it necessary, however, to replace several provincial governors with men of
his own choosing. Caracalla’s mother
Julia
Domna
was initially left in peace, but when she started to conspire with the
military he ordered her to leave
Antioch
.
Being at that time in an advanced stage of breast cancer (Cassius Dio) she chose
instead to starve herself to death.
In urgent matters of foreign policy, Macrinus displayed a
tendency towards conciliation and a reluctance to engage in military conflict.
He averted trouble in the province of
Dacia
by
returning hostages that had been held by Caracalla, and he ended troubles in
Armenia
by granting that country’s throne to
Tiridates
, whose father had also been imprisoned under Caracalla. Less
easily managed was the problem of
Mesopotamia
, which had been invaded by the
Parthians
in
the wake of Caracalla’s demise. Meeting the Parthians in battle during the
summer of 217, Macrinus achieved a
costly draw
near the town of
Nisibis
and as a result was forced to enter negotiations through which was
obliged to pay the enormous
indemnity
of 200 million sesterces to the Parthian ruler
Artabanus IV
in return for peace.
Macrinus’ reluctance to engage in warfare, and his failure to
gain victory over even a historically inferior enemy such as the Parthians
caused considerable resentment among the soldiers. This was compounded by the
rolling back of the privileges they had enjoyed under Caracalla and the
introduction of a pay system by which recruits received less than veterans.
After only a short while, the legions were searching for a rival emperor.
At a high point of his popularity monuments were built to
revere Macrinus. The grand
tetrastyle
Capitoline Temple
, in
Volubilis
was erected to honour Emperor Macrinus in 217 AD.
His popularity also suffered in Rome. Not only had the new
emperor failed to visit the city after taking power, but a late-summer
thunderstorm caused widespread fires and flooding, and Macrinus’ appointee as
urban prefect proved unable to repair the damage to the satisfaction of the
populace and had to be replaced.
Downfall
This discontent was fostered by the surviving members of the
Severan dynasty
, headed by
Julia
Maesa
(Caracalla’s aunt) and her daughters
Julia Soaemias
and
Julia Mamaea
. Having been evicted from the imperial palace and ordered to
return home by Macrinus, the Severan women plotted from their home near
Emesa
in
Syria
to place another Severan on the imperial throne. They used their
hereditary influence over the cult of
sun-deity
Elagabalus (the Latinised form of
El-Gabal
) to proclaim Soaemias’ son
Elagabalus
(named for his family’s patron deity) as the true successor to Caracalla. The
rumor was spread, with the assistance of the Severan women, that Elagabalus was
in fact Caracalla’s illegitimate son, and thus the child of a union between
first cousins.
On
May 18
,
Elagabalus was proclaimed emperor by the
Gallica Legio III
at its camp at
Raphana
. A
force under his tutor Gannys marched on
Antioch
and
engaged a force under Macrinus on
June 8
,
218. Macrinus,
deserted by most of his soldiers, was soundly defeated in the
battle
, and fled towards Italy disguised as a courier. He was captured near
Chalcedon
and later executed in
Cappadocia
.
His son Diadumenianus, sent for safety to the Parthian court, was captured at
Zeugma
and also put to death.
Macrinus’ short reign, while important for its historical
“firsts”, was cut short due to the inability of this otherwise accomplished man
to control or satisfy the soldiery. In his death at the hands of Roman soldiers,
Macrinus reinforced the notion of the soldiers as the true brokers of power in
the third-century empire and highlighted the importance of maintaining the
support of this vital faction. His reign was followed by another seventeen years
of rule under the Severan emperors
Elagabalus
and
Severus Alexander
.
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