PHILIP I 244AD ATLAS Holds Globe Pillars of Hercules Labor Roman Coin i44109

Item: i44109

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Philip
I ‘the Arab’ –
Roman Emperor
: 244-249 A.D. –
Bronze 30mm (9.51 grams) of Roman provincial mint
Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
ЄΠΙCΤΠΟV CЄΡΟΤΟCKV ΜΑΤΩΝ, Atlas standing facing
holding globe between two Pillars of Hercules, with five column structure below.

* Numismatic Note: This may be a
truly unique type and one of a kind coin that features Atlas, and is related to
the Labor of Hercules.. I have not come across any types of coins that featured
Atlas ever at any of the major coin auctions. In some versions of the myth,
Hercules buiilt two great pillars known as the Pillars of Hercules to hold up
the sky and liberate Atlas. This may be the version depicted on this coin.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

In
Greek mythology
, Atlas (/sætləˈ/;
Ancient Greek
:
Ἄτλας) was the primordial
Titan
who held up the
celestial spheres
. He is also the titan of
astronomy and navigation. Although associated with various places, he became
commonly identified with the
Atlas Mountains
in northwest Africa (Modern-day
Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia). Atlas was the son of the Titan
Iapetus
and the
Oceanid

Asia
or
Clymene
.

In contexts where a Titan and a Titaness are assigned each of the seven
planetary powers, Atlas is paired with
Phoebe
and governs the
moon
.

Hyginus
emphasises the primordial nature of
Atlas by making him the son of
Aether
and
Gaia
.

The first part of the term
Atlantic Ocean
refers to “Sea of Atlas”,
the term Atlantis
refers to “island of Atlas”.

Etymology

 

Sculpture of Atlas, Praza do Toural,
Santiago de Compostela
.

The etymology
of the name Atlas is
uncertain. Virgil
took pleasure in translating etymologies
of Greek names by combining them with adjectives that explained them: for Atlas
his adjective is durus, “hard, enduring”, which suggested to George Doig
that Virgil was aware of the Greek τλῆναι “to endure”; Doig offers the further
possibility that Virgil was aware of
Strabo
‘s remark that the native North African
name for this mountain was Douris. Since the Atlas mountains rise in the
region inhabited by
Berbers
, it has been suggested that the name
might be taken from one of the
Berber
, specifically ádrār ‘mountain’.

Traditionally historical linguists etymologize the Ancient Greek word Ἄτλας (genitive:
Ἄτλαντος) as comprised from copulative α- and the
Proto-Indo-European
root *telh₂- ‘to
uphold, support’ (whence also τλῆναι), and which was later reshaped to an
nt-stem. However,
Robert Beekes
argues that it cannot be expected
that this ancient Titan carries an Indo-European name, and that we’re rather
dealing with the word of
Pre-Greek
origin which often end in -ant.

Punishment

Atlas and his brother
Menoetius
sided with the Titans in their war
against the
Olympians
, the
Titanomachy
. When the Titans were defeated,
many of them (including Menoetius) were confined to
Tartarus
, but

Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the western edge of
Gaia (the Earth)
and hold up
Uranus
on his shoulders, to prevent the two
from resuming their primordial embrace. Thus, he was Atlas Telamon,
“enduring Atlas,” and became a doublet of
Coeus
, the embodiment of the celestial axis
around which the heavens revolve.

A common misconception today is that Atlas was forced to hold the Earth on
his shoulders, but Classical art shows Atlas holding the
celestial spheres
, not a
globe
; the solidity of the marble globe born by
the renowned
Farnese Atlas
may have aided the conflation,
reinforced in the 16th century by the developing usage of atlas to
describe a corpus of terrestrial maps.

 

Greco-Buddhist
(1-200
BC
) Atlas, supporting a Buddhist
monument,
Hadda
, Afghanistan.

Variations

In a late story, a giant named Atlas tried to drive a wandering
Perseus
from the place where the
Atlas mountains
now stand. In

Ovid‘s telling, Perseus revealed
Medusa
‘s head, turning Atlas to stone (those
very mountains) when he tried to drive him away, as a prophecy said that a son
of Zeus would steal the golden apples.^{[further
explanation needed]} As is not uncommon in myth, this
account cannot be reconciled with the far more common stories of Atlas’ dealings
with Heracles
, who was Perseus’ great-grandson.

According to Plato
, the first king of
Atlantis
was also named
Atlas
, but that Atlas was a son of
Poseidon
and the mortal woman Cleito. A
euhemerist
origin for Atlas was as a legendary
Atlas, king of Mauretania, an expert astronomer.

Encounter with
Heracles

One of the
Twelve Labors
of the hero
Heracles
was to fetch some of the golden apples
which grow in Hera
‘s garden, tended by Atlas’ daughters, the
Hesperides, and guarded by the dragon
Ladon
. Heracles went to Atlas and offered to
hold up the heavens while Atlas got the apples from his daughters.

Upon his return with the apples, however, Atlas attempted to trick Heracles
into carrying the sky permanently by offering to deliver the apples himself, as
anyone who purposely took the burden must carry it forever, or until someone
else took it away. Heracles, suspecting Atlas did not intend to return,
pretended to agree to Atlas’ offer, asking only that Atlas take the sky again
for a few minutes so Heracles could rearrange his cloak as padding on his
shoulders. When Atlas set down the apples and took the heavens upon his
shoulders again, Heracles took the apples and ran away.

In some versions, Heracles instead built the two great
Pillars of Hercules
to hold the sky away from
the earth, liberating Atlas much as he liberated
Prometheus
.

Etruscan Aril

The identifying name Aril is inscribed on two 5th-century Etruscan
bronze items, a mirror from
Vulci
and a ring from an unknown site. Both
objects depict the encounter with Atlas of
Hercle
, the Etruscan
Heracles
, identified by the inscription; they
represent rare instances where a figure from
Greek mythology
is imported into
Etruscan mythology
, but the name is not. The
Etruscan name aril is etymologically independent.

Children

 

Lee Lawrie
‘s colossal bronze
Atlas
,
Rockefeller Center
, New York.

Sources describe Atlas as the father, by different goddesses, of numerous
children, mostly daughters. Some of these are assigned conflicting or
overlapping identities or parentage in different sources.

• By Hesperius
  :
  • the
    Hesperides
• By
  Pleione
  (or
  Aethra
  ):
  • the
    Hyades
  • a son, Hyas
  • the
    Pleiades
• By one or more unspecified goddesses:
  • Calypso
  • Dione
  • Maera

Cultural influence

 

Atlas supports the terrestrial globe on a building in
Collins Street, Melbourne
,
Australia
.

 

Nautilus Cup. This drinking vessel, for court feasts, depicts
Atlas holding the shell on his back. The Walters Art Museum.

Atlas’ best-known cultural association is in
cartography
. The first publisher to associate
the Titan Atlas with a group of maps was the print-seller Antonio Lafreri, on
the engraved title-page he applied to his ad hoc assemblages of maps,
Tavole Moderne Di Geografia De La Maggior Parte Del Mondo Di Diversi Autori
(1572); however, he did not use the word “atlas” in the title of his work, an
innovation of
Gerardus Mercator
, who dedicated his “atlas”
specifically “to honour the Titan, Atlas, King of
Mauretania
, a learned philosopher,
mathematician, and astronomer”; he actually depicted the
astronomer king
.

See also

• Atlas (architecture)
• Farnese Atlas
• Upelluri

Marcus

Julius Philippus or Philippus I Arabs (c. 204–249), known in

English

as Philip the Arab or formerly (prior to World War II) in

English as Philip the Arabian, was a

Roman

Emperor
from 244 to 249.

//

Little is known about Philip’s early life and political

career. He was born in

Shahba
, about

55 miles southeast of

Damascus
,

in the

Roman province

of

Syria

. Philip has the nickname “the Arab” because he had family who had

originated in the

Arabian peninsula

, believed to be distant descendants of the prestigious

Baleed family of Aleppo

. Philip was the son of a Julius Marinus, a local Roman citizen,

possibly of some importance. Many historians^[1][2][3]

agree that he was of Arab descent who gained

Roman citizenship

through his father, a man of considerable influence. Many

citizens from the provinces took Roman names upon acquiring citizenship. This

makes tracing his Arabic blood line difficult. However, it is documented that

Rome used the

Ghassan

tribe from the

Azd of

Yemen
as vassals

to keep the neighboring northern Arabs in check.

The name of Philip’s mother is unknown, but sources refer to

a brother,

Gaius Julius Priscus

, a member of the

Praetorian guard

under

Gordian

III
(238–244). In 234, Philip married

Marcia Otacilia Severa

, daughter of a Roman Governor. They had two children:

a son named Marcus Julius Philippus Severus (Philippus

II) in 238 and according to numismatic evidence they had a daughter called

Julia Severa or Severina, whom the ancient Roman sources don’t mention.

Philip became a member of the

Pretorian Guard

during the reign of the emperor

Alexander Severus

, who was a Syrian. In ancient Rome the Pretorian Guard was

closely associated with the emperor, serving among other things as the emperor’s

bodyguard.

 Political

career

In 243, during

Gordian

III
‘s campaign against

Shapur I
of

Persia, the

Praetorian prefect

Timesitheus

died under unclear circumstances. At the suggestion of his

brother Priscus, Philip became the new Praetorian prefect, with the intention

that the two brothers would control the young Emperor and rule the Roman world

as unofficial regents. Following a military defeat, Gordian III died in 244

under circumstances that are still debated. While some claim that Philip

conspired in his murder, other accounts (including one coming from the Persian

point of view) state that Gordian died in battle. Whatever the case, Philip

assumed the purple following Gordian’s death. According to Edward Gibbon:

His rise from so obscure a station to the first dignities

of the empire seems to prove that he was a bold and able leader. But his

boldness prompted him to aspire to the throne, and his abilities were

employed to supplant, not to serve, his indulgent master.

Philip was not willing to repeat the mistakes of previous

claimants, and was aware that he had to return to

Rome in order to

secure his position with the

senate

. He thus travelled west, after concluding a peace treaty with Shapur

I, and left his brother Priscus as extraordinary ruler of the Eastern provinces.

In Rome he was confirmed

Augustus

, and nominated his young son

and heir.

Philip’s rule started with yet another

Germanic

incursion on the provinces of

Pannonia

and the Goths

invaded Moesia

(modern-day Serbia

and Bulgaria
)

in the Danube

frontier. They were finally defeated in the year 248, but the

legions

were not satisfied with the result, probably due to a low share of the plunder,

if any. Rebellion soon arose and

Tiberius

Claudius Pacatianus
was proclaimed emperor by the troops. The uprising was

crushed and Philip nominated

Gaius Messius

Quintus Decius
as governor of the province. Future events would prove this

to be a mistake. Pacatianus’ revolt was not the only threat to his rule: in the

East, Marcus Jotapianus

led another uprising in response to the oppressive rule of

Priscus

and the excessive taxation of the Eastern provinces. Two other

usurpers, Marcus Silbannacus

and

Sponsianus
,

are reported to have started rebellions without much success.

In April

A.D.

248 (April 1000

A.U.C.

), Philip had the honour of leading the celebrations of the one

thousandth birthday of Rome, which according to tradition was

founded

in 753 BC by

Romulus

. He combined the anniversary with the celebration of Rome’s alleged

tenth saeculum
.

According to contemporary accounts, the festivities were magnificent and

included spectacular games,

ludi saeculares

, and theatrical presentations throughout the city. In the

coliseum, more than 1,000 gladiators were killed along with hundreds of exotic

animals including hippos, leopards, lions, giraffes, and one rhinoceros.

The events were also celebrated in literature, with several publications,

including

Asinius Quadratus

‘s History of a Thousand Years, specially prepared

for the anniversary.

Despite the festive atmosphere, discontent in the legions was

growing. Decius

(249–251) was proclaimed Emperor by the Danubian armies in the spring of 249 and

immediately marched to Rome. Philip’s army met the usurper near modern

Verona

that summer. Decius won the battle and Philip was killed sometime in

September 249,

either in the fighting or assassinated by his own soldiers who were eager to

please the new ruler. Philip’s eleven-year-old son and heir may have been killed

with his father and Priscus disappeared without a trace.

 Religious

beliefs

Some later traditions, first mentioned in the historian

Eusebius

in his

, held that Philip was the first

Christian

Roman emperor. This tradition seems to be based on reports in

Eusebius that Philip allegedly had once entered a Christian service on Easter,

after having been required by a bishop to confess his sins. Later versions

located this event in Antioch.

However, historians generally identify the later Emperor

Constantine, baptised on his deathbed, as the first Christian emperor, and

generally describe Philip’s adherence to Christianity as dubious, because

non-Christian writers do not mention the fact, and because throughout his reign,

Philip to all appearances (coinage, etc.) continued to follow the

state religion

.

Critics ascribe Eusebius’ claim as probably due to the tolerance Philip showed

towards Christians.

Saint Quirinus of Rome

was, according to a legendary account, the son of

Philip the Arab.