SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS 193AD Amphipolis Macedonia Goddess Tyche Roman Coin i55377

Item: i55377

Authentic Ancient 

Coin of:

Roman Emperor: 193-211 A.D. –
Bronze 24mm (7.80 grams) of

Amphipolis in

Macedonia
 
Reference:
SNG ANS 197; Varbanov (cf. 3260-64; obverse legend).
 

Λ CEΠ CEBHPOC Π,
Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
AMΦIΠOΛEITΩN,
City-godess (Tyche) seated left, wearing mural crown holding patera.

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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
.

Amphipolis was an
ancient

Greek

city
in the region once inhabited by the
Edoni
people in the present-day
periphery
of
Central Macedonia
. It was built on a raised 
plateau overlooking the east bank of the
river

Strymon
where it emerged from Lake Cercinitis, 
about 3 m. from the
Aegean Sea
. Founded in 437 BC, the city was 
finally abandoned in the 8th century AD. The present municipality Amfipoli, 
named after the ancient city, occupies the site. Currently, it is a municipality 
in the
Serres Prefecture
,
Central Macedonia
with a population of 3,623 
(2001 census).

 Origins

Archaeology
has uncovered remains at the site 
dating to approximately 3000 BC. Due to the strategic location of the site it 
was fortified from very early.
Xerxes I

of Persia
passed during his invasion of Greece 
of 480 BC and buried alive nine young men and nine maidens as a sacrifice to the 
river god. Near the later site of Amphipolis
Alexander I

of Macedon
defeated the remains of Xerxes’ army 
in 479 BC.

Throughout the 5th century BC,
Athens
sought to consolidate its control over 
Thrace, which was strategically important because of its primary materials (the 
gold and silver of the
Pangaion hills
and the dense forests essential 
for naval construction), and the sea routes vital for Athens’ supply of grain 
from Scythia
. After a first unsuccessful attempt at 
colonisation in 497 BC by the
Miletian

Tyrant

Histiaeus
, the Athenians founded a first colony 
at Ennea-Hodoi (‘Nine Ways’) in 465, but these first ten thousand colonists were 
massacred by the
Thracians
. A second attempt took place in 437 
BC on the same site under the guidance of
Hagnon
, son of
Nicias
.

The new settlement took the name of Amphipolis (literally, “around the 
city”), a name which is the subject of much debates about
lexicography
.
Thucydides
claims the name comes from the fact 
that the Strymon flows “around the city” on two sides; however a note in the

Suda (also given in the lexicon of
Photius
) offers a different explanation 
apparently given by
Marsyas
, son of
Periander
: that a large proportion of the 
population lived “around the city”. However, a more probable explanation is the 
one given by
Julius Pollux
: that the name indicates the 
vicinity of an isthmus
. Furthermore, the
Etymologicum Genuinum
gives the following 
definition: a city of the Athenians or of Thrace, which was once called Nine 
Routes, (so named) because it is encircled and surrounded by the Strymon river. 
This description corresponds to the actual site of the city (see adjacent map), 
and to the description of Thucydides.

Amphipolis subsequently became the main power base of the Athenians in Thrace 
and, consequently, a target of choice for their
Spartans
adversaries. The Athenian population 
remained very much in the minority within the city. An Athenian rescue 
expedition led by strategist (and later historian) Thucydides had to settle for 
securing Eion
and could not retake Amphipolis, a failure 
for which Thucydides was sentenced to exile. A new Athenian force under the 
command of Cleon
failed once more in 422 BC during a
battle
at which both
Cleon
and
Brasidas
lost their lives. Brasidas survived 
long enough to hear of the defeat of the Athenians and was buried at Amphipolis 
with impressive pomp. From then on he was regarded as the founder of the city 
and honoured with yearly games and sacrifices. The city itself kept its 
independence until the reign of the king
Philip II
despite several other Athenian 
attacks, notably because of the government of
Callistratus

of Aphidnae
.

 Conquest 
by the Romans

In 357 BC, Philip removed the block which Amphipolis presented on the road to 
Macedonian control over Thrace by conquering the town, which Athens had tried in 
vain to recover during the previous years. According the historian
Theopompus
, this conquest came to be the object 
of a secret accord between
Athens
and Philip II, who would return the city 
in exchange for the fortified town of
Pydna
, but the Macedonian king betrayed the 
accord, refusing to cede Amphipolis and laying siege to Pydna.

After the conquest by Philip II, the city was not immediately incorporated 
into the kingdom, and for some time preserved its institutions and a certain 
degree of autonomy. The border of Macedonia was not moved further east; however, 
Philip sent a number of Macedonians governors to Amphipolis, and in many 
respects the city was effectively ‘Macedonianized’. Nomenclature, the calendar 
and the currency (the
gold stater
, installed by Philip to capitalise 
on the gold reserves of the Pangaion hills, replaced the Amphipolitan
drachma
) were all replaced by Macedonian 
equivalents. In the reign of
Alexander
, Amphipolis was an important naval 
base, and the birthplace of three of the most famous Macedonian
Admirals
:
Nearchus
, Androsthenes^[6] 
and
Laomedon
whose burial place is most likely 
marked by the famous lion of Amphipolis.

Amphipolis became one of the main stops on the Macedonian royal road (as 
testified by a border stone found between
Philippos
and Amphipolis giving the distance to 
the latter), and later on the ‘Via 
Egnatia’, the principal
Roman Road
which crossed the southern Balkans. 
Apart from the ramparts of the low town (see photograph), the gymnasium and a 
set well-preserved frescoes from a wealthy villa are the only artifacts from 
this period that remain visible. Though little is known of the layout of the 
town, modern knowledge of its institutions is in considerably better shape 
thanks to a rich epigraphic documentation, including a military ordinance of
Philip V
and an
ephebarchic
law from the gymnasium. After the 
final victory of
Rome
over Macedonia in a
battle
in 168 BC, Amphipolis became the capital 
one of the four mini-republics, or ‘merides’, which were created by the Romans 
out of the kingdom of the
Antigonids
which
succeeded
Alexander’s Empire in Macedon. These 
‘merides’ were gradually incorporated into the Roman client state, and later 
province, of Thracia
.

 Revival 
in Late Antiquity

During the period of
Late Antiquity
, Amphipolis benefited from the 
increasing economic prosperity of Macedonia, as is evidenced by the large number 
of Christian Churches
that were built. 
Significantly however, these churches were built within a restricted area of the 
town, sheltered by the walls of the
acropolis
. This has been taken as evidence that 
the large fortified perimeter of the ancient town was no longer defendable, and 
that the population of the city had considerably diminished.

Nevertheless, the number, size and quality of the churches constructed 
between the fifth and sixth centuries are impressive. Four
basilicas
adorned with rich
mosaic
floors and elaborate architectural 
sculptures (such as the ram-headed
column
capitals – see picture) have been 
excavated, as well as a church with a hexagonal central plan which evokes that 
of the
basilica
of
St. Vitalis
in
Ravenna
. It is difficult to find reasons for 
such municipal extravagance in such a small town. One possible explanation 
provided by the historian
André Boulanger
is that an increasing 
‘willingness’ on the part of the wealthy upper classes in the late Roman period 
to spend money on local
gentrification
projects (which he terms ‘’évergétisme’’, 
from the Greek verb εύεργετέω,(meaning ‘I do good’) was exploited by the local 
church to its advantage, which led to a mass gentrification of the urban centre 
and of the agricultural riches of the city’s territory. Amphipolis was also a
diocese
under the
suffragan
of
Thessaloniki
– the Bishop of Amphipolis is 
first mentioned in 533 AD.

 From 
the reduction of the urban area to the disappearance of the city

The
Slavic invasions
of the late 6th century 
gradually encroached on the back-country Amphipolitan lifestyle and led to the 
decline of the town, during which period its inhabitants retreated to the area 
around the acropolis. The ramparts were maintained to a certain extent, thanks 
to materials plundered from the monuments of the lower city, and the large 
unused cisterns of the upper city were occupied by small houses and the 
workshops of artisans. Around the middle of the 7th century AD, a further 
reduction of the inhabited area of the city was followed by an increase in the 
fortification of the town, with the construction of a new rampart with 
pentagonal towers cutting through the middle of the remaining monuments. The 
acropolis, the Roman baths
, and especially the Episcopal 
basilica were crossed by this wall.

The city was probably abandoned in the eighth century, as the last bishop was 
attested in 787. Its inhabitants probably moved to the neighbouring site of 
ancient Eion
, port of Amphipolis, which had been 
rebuilt and refortified in the
Byzantine period
under the name “Chrysopolis”. 
This small port continued to enjoy some prosperity, before being abandoned 
during the
Ottoman period
. The last recorded sign of 
activity in the region of Amphipolis was the construction of a fortified tower 
to the north in 1367 by
Grand Primicier
Jean and the
Stratopedarque
Alexis to protect the land that 
they had given to the monastery of Pantokrator on
Mount Athos
.

 Archaeology

The site was rediscovered and described by many travellers and archaeologists 
during the 19th century, including E. Cousinéry (1831) (engraver), L. Heuzey 
(1861), and P. Perdrizet (1894–1899). In 1934, M. Feyel, of the
École française d’Athènes
, led an
epigraphical mission
to the site and uncovered 
the remains of a funeral lion (a reconstruction was given in the, a publication 
of the EfA which is available on line). However, excavations did not truly begin 
until after the Second World War. The
Greek Archaeological Society
under D. Lazaridis 
excavated in 1972 and 1985, uncovering a necropolis, the rampart of the old town 
(see photograph), the basilicas, and the acropolis.

 Amphipolitans

• Demetrius of Amphipolis
  , student of Plato’s
• Zoilus
  (400 BC-320 BC), grammarian, cynic 
  philosopher
• Pamphilus (painter)
  , head of
  Sicyonian
  school and teacher of
  Apelles
• Aetion
  , sculptor
• Philippus of Amphipolis
  , historian
• Nearchus
  , admiral
• Erigyius
  , general
• Damasias
   ^{[disambiguation 
  needed]} of Amphipolis 320 BC
  Stadion
  Olympics
• Hermagoras of Amphipolis
  (c. 225 BC), stoic 
  philosopher ,follower of
  Persaeus
• Xena
  , the Warrior Princess of Amphipolis.

Septimius Severus –

Roman Emperor: 193-211 A.D.

Augustus: 193-211 A.D. | 193-198 A.D. Sole reign; 195-198 
A.D.

Caracalla as Caesar | 198-209 A.D. with

Caracalla;

Geta as Caesar | 209-211 
A.D. with

Caracalla and
Geta

Husband of
Julia Domna
 
| Father of

Caracalla and
Geta
 
| Uncle of

Plautilla |

Lucius Septimius Severus (or rarely Severus I) (April 11, 

145/146-February 4, 211) was a

Roman
 

general, and

Roman 

Emperor
from April 14, 193 to 211. He was born in what is now the

Berber
part of 

Rome’s historic

Africa Province

.

Septimius Severus was born and raised at

Leptis 

Magna
(modern Berber

, southeast of

Carthage
, 

modern Tunisia
). 

Severus came from a wealthy, distinguished family of

equestrian

rank. Severus was of

Italian

Roman ancestry on his mother’s side and of

Punic

or

Libyan

-Punic 

ancestry on his father’s. Little is known of his father,

Publius Septimius Geta

, who held no major political status but had two 

cousins who served as consuls under emperor

Antoninus Pius

. His mother, Fulvia Pia’s family moved from

Italy
to

North 

Africa
and was of the

Fulvius
gens, 

an ancient and politically influential clan, which was originally of

plebeian

status. His siblings were a younger

Publius Septimius Geta

and Septimia Octavilla. Severus’s maternal cousin was

Praetorian Guard

and consul

Gaius Fulvius Plautianus

.

In 172, Severus was made a

Senator
 

by the then emperor

Marcus Aurelius

. In 187 he married secondly

Julia 

Domna
. In 190 Severus became

consul
, and in 

the following year received from the emperor

Commodus
 

(successor to Marcus Aurelius) the command of the

legions
 

in Pannonia
.

On the murder of

Pertinax
by 

the troops in 193, they proclaimed Severus Emperor at

Carnuntum
, 

whereupon he hurried to Italy. The former emperor,

Didius Julianus

, was condemned to death by the Senate and killed, and 

Severus took possession of Rome without opposition.

The legions of

Syria

, however, had proclaimed

Pescennius Niger

emperor. At the same time, Severus felt it was reasonable 

to offer

Clodius Albinus

, the powerful governor of Britannia who had probably 

supported Didius against him, the rank of Caesar, which implied some claim to 

succession. With his rearguard safe, he moved to the East and crushed Niger’s 

forces at the

Battle of Issus

. The following year was devoted to suppressing Mesopotamia 

and other Parthian vassals who had backed Niger. When afterwards Severus 

declared openly his son

Caracalla
 

as successor, Albinus was hailed emperor by his troops and moved to Gallia. 

Severus, after a short stay in Rome, moved northwards to meet him. On

February 

19
, 197
, 

in the

Battle of Lugdunum

, with an army of 100,000 men, mostly composed of

Illyrian
,

Moesian
and

Dacian
legions, 

Severus defeated and killed Clodius Albinus, securing his full control over the 

Empire.

Emperor

Severus was at heart a

soldier
, and 

sought glory through military exploits. In 197 he waged a brief and successful 

war against the

Parthian Empire

in retaliation for the support given to Pescennius Niger. 

The Parthian capital

Ctesiphon
 

was sacked by the legions, and the northern half of

Mesopotamia

was restored to Rome.

His relations with the

Roman 

Senate
were never good. He was unpopular with them from the outset, having 

seized power with the help of the military, and he returned the sentiment. 

Severus ordered the execution of dozens of Senators on charges of corruption and

conspiracy

against him, replacing them with his own favorites.

He also disbanded the

Praetorian Guard

and replaced it with one of his own, made up of 50,000 

loyal soldiers mainly camped at

Albanum

, near Rome (also probably to grant the emperor a kind of centralized 

reserve). During his reign the number of legions was also increased from 25/30 

to 33. He also increased the number of auxiliary corps (numerii), many of 

these troops coming from the Eastern borders. Additionally the annual wage for a 

soldier was raised from 300 to 500

denarii
.

Although his actions turned Rome into a military

dictatorship

, he was popular with the citizens of Rome, having stamped out 

the rampant corruption of Commodus’s reign. When he returned from his victory 

over the Parthians, he erected the

Arch of Septimius Severus

in Rome.

According to Cassius Dio, 

however, after 197 Severus fell heavily under the influence of his Praetorian 

Prefect,

Gaius Fulvius Plautianus

, who came to have almost total control of most 

branches of the imperial administration. Plautianus’s daughter,

Fulvia Plautilla

, was married to Severus’s son, Caracalla. Plautianus’s 

excessive power came to an end in 205, when he was denounced by the Emperor’s 

dying brother and killed. 

The two following praefecti, including the jurist

Aemilius Papinianus

, received however even larger powers.

Campaigns in Caledonia (Scotland)

Starting from 208 Severus undertook a number of military actions in

Roman 

Britain
, reconstructing

Hadrian’s Wall

and campaigning in

Scotland
.

He reached the area of the

Moray 

Firth
in his last campaign in Caledonia, as was called Scotland by 
the Romans.. 

In 210 obtained a peace with the

Picts
that lasted 

practically until the final withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain, 

before falling severely ill in

Eboracum
(York).

Death

He is famously said to have given the advice to his sons: “Be harmonious, 

enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men” before he died at Eboracum on

February 4
,

211. Upon his death in 211, Severus was

deified

by the Senate and succeeded by his sons,

Caracalla
 

and

Geta

, who were advised by his wife

Julia 

Domna
. The stability Severus provided the Empire was soon gone under their reign.

Accomplishments and Record

Though his military expenditure was costly to the empire, Severus was the 

strong, able ruler that Rome needed at the time. He began a tradition of 

effective emperors elevated solely by the military. His policy of an expanded 

and better-rewarded army was criticized by his contemporary

Dio Cassius

and

Herodianus

: in particular, they pointed out the increasing burden (in the 

form of taxes and services) the civilian population had to bear to maintain the 

new army.

Severus was also distinguished for his buildings. Apart from the triumphal 

arch in the Roman Forum carrying his full name, he also built the

Septizodium

in Rome and enriched greatly his native city of

Leptis 

Magna
(including another triumphal arch on the occasion of his visit of 

203).

Severus and Christianity

Christians were

persecuted

during the reign of Septimus Severus. Severus allowed the 

enforcement of policies already long-established, which meant that Roman 

authorities did not intentionally seek out Christians, but when people were 

accused of being Christians they could either curse

Jesus
and make an 

offering to

Roman gods

, or be executed. Furthermore, wishing to strengthen the peace by 

encouraging religious harmony through

syncretism
, 

Severus tried to limit the spread of the two quarrelsome groups who refused to 

yield to syncretism by outlawing

conversion

to Christianity or

Judaism
. 

Individual officials availed themselves of the laws to proceed with rigor 

against the Christians. Naturally the emperor, with his strict conception of 

law, did not hinder such partial persecution, which took place in

Egypt
and the

Thebaid
, as 

well as in

Africa proconsularis

and the East. Christian

martyrs
were 

numerous in Alexandria

(cf.

Clement of Alexandria

, Stromata, ii. 20;

Eusebius

, Church History, V., xxvi., VI., i.). No less severe were 

the persecutions in Africa, which seem to have begun in 197 or 198 (cf.

Tertullian’s

Ad martyres), and included the Christians known in the

as the martyrs of

Madaura
. 

Probably in 202 or 203

Felicitas

and

Perpetua

suffered for their faith. Persecution again raged for a short time 

under the proconsul

Scapula
in 

211, especially in

Numidia
and

Mauritania
. 

Later accounts of a Gallic

persecution, especially at

Lyon, are 

legendary. In general it may thus be said that the position of the Christians 

under Septimius Severus was the same as under the

Antonines
; 

but the law of this Emperor at least shows clearly that the

rescript
of

Trajan
had failed to execute its purpose.