PERGAMON in MYSIA 133BC Athena Trophy Helmet Authentic Ancient Greek Coin i51995

Item: i51995

 Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Greek city of

Bronze 23mm (5.00 grams) Struck circa 150-50 B.C.
Reference: Sear 3960; B.M.C. 15. 112,22-3
Head of Athena right, in crested Corinthian helmet.
AΘΗΝΑΣ / ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ either side of trophy.

Situated in the Kaikos valley, about 15 miles from the

coast, Pergamon was a city of uncertain origin and of no great importance before

the time of Alexander the Great. In the 3rd century B.C. it became the center of

the independent kingdom ruled by the Attalid dynasty founded by Philetairos. The

city was extended and beautified as the prosperity of the kingdom increased, and

by the late Hellenistic times Pergamon ranked as one of the great cultural

centers of the Greek world. After the end of the kingdom, 133 B.C., Pergamon

became capital of the Roman province of Asia.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.
 

Athena
or Athene (Latin:

Minerva
),
also referred to as Pallas Athena, is the goddess of war, civilization,
wisdom, strength, strategy, crafts, justice and skill in
Greek mythology
.
Minerva
,
Athena’s Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is also a shrewd
companion of heroes

and the goddess

of heroic

endeavour. She is the
virgin

patron of Athens
.
The Athenians built the
Parthenon

on the Acropolis of her namesake city, Athens, in her honour (Athena Parthenos).
Athena’s cult 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
(“Athena of the city”).
Athens

and Athena bear etymologically connected names.

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”, from τροπή (tropē), “a turn, a
change” and that from the verb τρέπω (trepo), “to turn, to alter”.

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.

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.

Pergamon, Pergamum or Pérgamo (in

Greek

, Πέργαμος) was an ancient

Greek

city in modern-day

Turkey
, in

Mysia
, today

located 16 miles (26 km) from the

Aegean Sea

on a promontory

on the north side of the river

Caicus

(modern day

Bakırçay
),

that became the capital of the

Kingdom of Pergamon

during the

Hellenistic period

, under the

Attalid dynasty

, 281–133 BC. Today, the main sites of ancient Pergamon are

to the north and west of the modern city of

Bergama
.

//

 History

The

Attalid

kingdom was the

rump state

left after the collapse of the

Kingdom of Thrace
.

The Attalids, the descendants of Attalus, father of

Philetaerus

who came to power in 281 BC following the collapse of the

Kingdom of Thrace, were among the most loyal supporters of

Rome

in the Hellenistic world. Under

Attalus I

(241-197 BC), they allied with Rome against

Philip V of Macedon

, during the

first

and

second

Macedonian Wars

, and again under

Eumenes II

(197-158 BC), against

Perseus of Macedon

, during the

Third Macedonian War

. For support against the

Seleucids

, the

Attalids

were rewarded with all the former Seleucid domains in

Asia Minor

.

The Attalids ruled with intelligence and generosity. Many documents survive

showing how the Attalids would support the growth of towns through sending in

skilled artisans and by remitting taxes. They allowed the Greek cities in their

domains to maintain nominal independence. They sent gifts to Greek cultural

sites like Delphi
,

Delos
, and

Athens
. They

defeated the invading Celts

. They remodeled the

Acropolis of Pergamo

after the

Acropolis

in Athens. When

Attalus III

(138-133 BC) died without an heir in 133 BC he bequeathed the

whole of Pergamon to Rome, in order to prevent a civil war.

According to Christian tradition, the first bishop of Pergamon,

Antipas

, was martyred there in ca. 92 AD. (Revelation

2:13)

The

Ottoman

Sultan

Murad III

had two large alabaster

urns transported from the ruins of Pergamon and placed on two

sides of the nave in the

Hagia

Sophia
in Istanbul

.

 Notable

structures

 Upper

Acropolis

The

Great Altar of Pergamon

is in the

Pergamon Museum

, Berlin. The base of this altar remains on the upper part of

the Acropolis. It was perhaps to this altar, believed dedicated to Zeus, that

John of Patmos referred to as “Satan’s Throne” in his Book of Revelation

(Revelation 2:12-13).

Other notable structures still in existence on the upper part of the

Acropolis include:

• The Hellenistic Theater with a seating capacity of 10,000. This had the

  steepest seating of any known theater in the ancient world.

• The Sanctuary of Trajan (also known as the

  Trajaneum

  )

• The Sanctuary of Athena
• The Library a.k.a.

  Athenaeum
  ^[citation

  needed]

• The Royal palaces
• The Heroön – a shrine where the kings of Pergamon, particularly, Attalus

  I and Eumenes II, were worshipped.

• The

  Temple of Dionysus

• The Upper Agora
• The Roman baths complex

Pergamon’s library on the Acropolis (the ancient

Library of Pergamum

) is the second best in the ancient Greek civilization.^[4]

When the

Ptolemies

stopped exporting

papyrus
,

partly because of competitors and partly because of shortages, the Pergamenes

invented a new substance to use in

codices
, called

pergaminus or pergamena (parchment)

after the city. This was made of fine

calfskin
, a

predecessor of

vellum

. The library at Pergamom was believed to contain 200,000 volumes,

which Mark Antony

later gave to

Cleopatra

as a wedding present.

 Lower

Acropolis

The lower part of the Acropolis has the following structures:

• the Upper Gymnasium
• the Middle Gymnasium
• the Lower Gymnasium
• the Temple of

  Demeter

• the Sanctuary of

  Hera

• the House of Attalus
• the Lower Agora and
• the Gate of

  Eumenes

 At

foot of Acropolis

 Sanctuary

of Asclepius

Three kilometers south of the Acropolis, down in the valley, there was the

Sanctuary of Asclepius

(also known as the

Asclepieion

), the god of healing. In this place people with health problems

could bathe in the water of the sacred spring, and in the patients’ dreams

Asclepius would appear in a vision to tell them how to cure their illness.

Archeology has found lots of gifts and dedications that people would make

afterwards, such as small terracotta body parts, no doubt representing what had

been healed. Notable extant structures in the Asclepieion include:

• the Roman theater
• the North Stoa
• the South Stoa
• the Temple of Asclepius
• a circular treatment center (sometimes known as the Temple of

  Telesphorus)

• a healing spring
• an underground passageway
• a library
• the Via Tecta (or the Sacred Way, which is a colonnaded street leading

  to the sanctuary) and

• a

  propylon

  .

 Serapis

Temple

Pergamon’s other notable structure is the

Serapis

Temple (Serapeum)

which was later transformed into the Red Basilica complex (or Kizil Avlu in

Turkish), about one kilometer south of the Acropolis. It consists of a main

building and two round towers. In the first century AD, the

Christian

Church at Pergamon inside the main building of the Red Basilica

was one of the

Seven Churches

to which the

Book of Revelation

was addressed (Revelation

2:12). The forecourt is still supported by the 193 m wide

Pergamon Bridge

, the largest bridge substruction of antiquity.^[5]