SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS Nicopolis ad Istrum Ancient Roman Coin Hercules Club i48229

Item: i48229

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Septimius Severus
–
Roman Emperor
: 193-211 A.D. –

Bronze 17mm (2.31 grams) of

Nicopolis ad Istrum in Moesia Inferior  in Moesia Inferior 193-211 A.D.

Laureate head right.

Hercules.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek
divine

hero Heracles
, who was the son of

Zeus (Roman equivalent
Jupiter
) and the mortal
Alcmene
. In
classical mythology
, Hercules is famous for his
strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.

The
Romans adapted the Greek hero’s iconography and myths for their literature and
art under the name Hercules. In later
Western art
and literature and in
popular culture
, Hercules is more
commonly used than Heracles as the name of the hero. Hercules was a
multifaceted figure with contradictory characteristics, which enabled later
artists and writers to pick and choose how to represent him. This article
provides an introduction to representations of Hercules in the
later tradition
.

Labors of Hercules

Hercules is known for his many adventures, which took him to the far reaches
of the
Greco-Roman world
. One cycle of these
adventures became
canonical
as the “Twelve Labours,” but the list
has variations. One traditional order of the labours is found in the
Bibliotheca
as follows:

1. Slay the
   Nemean Lion
   .
2. Slay the nine-headed
   Lernaean Hydra
   .
3. Capture the
   Golden Hind of Artemis
   .
4. Capture the
   Erymanthian Boar
   .
5. Clean the Augean
   stables in a single day.
6. Slay the
   Stymphalian Birds
   .
7. Capture the
   Cretan Bull
   .
8. Steal the
   Mares of Diomedes
   .
9. Obtain the girdle of
   Hippolyta
   , Queen of the
   Amazons
   .
10. Obtain the cattle of the monster
    Geryon
    .
11. Steal the apples of the
    Hesperides
    .
12. Capture and bring back
    Cerberus
    .

The Latin
name Hercules was borrowed through
Etruscan
, where it is represented variously as
Heracle
, Hercle, and other forms. Hercules was
a favorite subject for
Etruscan art
, and appears often on
bronze mirrors
. The Etruscan form Herceler
derives from the Greek Heracles via
syncope
. A mild oath invoking Hercules (Hercule!
or Mehercle!) was a common
interjection
in
Classical Latin
.

Hercules had a number of
myths
that were distinctly Roman. One of these
is Hercules’ defeat of
Cacus
, who was terrorizing the countryside of
Rome. The hero was associated with the
Aventine Hill
through his son
Aventinus
.
Mark Antony
considered him a personal patron
god, as did the emperor
Commodus
. Hercules received various forms of
religious veneration
, including as a
deity concerned with children and childbirth
,
in part because of myths about his precocious infancy, and in part because he
fathered countless children. Roman brides wore a special belt tied with the “knot
of Hercules“, which was supposed to be hard to untie. The comic
playwright Plautus
presents the myth of Hercules’
conception as a sex comedy in his play
Amphitryon
;
Seneca
wrote the tragedy Hercules Furens
about his bout with madness. During the
Roman Imperial era
, Hercules was worshipped
locally from Hispania
through

Gaul.

Medieval mythography

After the Roman Empire became
Christianized
, mythological narratives were
often reinterpreted as
allegory
, influenced by the philosophy of
late antiquity
. In the 4th century,
Servius
had described Hercules’ return from the
underworld as representing his ability to overcome earthly desires and vices, or
the earth itself as a consumer of bodies. In medieval mythography, Hercules was
one of the heroes seen as a strong role model who demonstrated both valor and
wisdom, with the monsters he battles as moral obstacles. One
glossator
noted that when
Hercules became a constellation
, he showed that
strength was necessary to gain entrance to Heaven.

Medieval mythography was written almost entirely in Latin, and original Greek
texts were little used as sources for Hercules’ myths.

Renaissance
mythography

The Renaissance
and the invention of the
printing press
brought a renewed interest in
and publication of Greek literature. Renaissance mythography drew more
extensively on the Greek tradition of Heracles, typically under the Romanized
name Hercules, or the alternate name
Alcides
. In a chapter of his book
Mythologiae (1567), the influential mythographer
Natale Conti
collected and summarized an
extensive range of myths concerning the birth, adventures, and death of the hero
under his Roman name Hercules. Conti begins his lengthy chapter on Hercules with
an overview description that continues the moralizing impulse of the Middle
Ages:

Hercules, who subdued and destroyed monsters, bandits, and criminals, was
justly famous and renowned for his great courage. His great and glorious
reputation was worldwide, and so firmly entrenched that he’ll always be
remembered. In fact the ancients honored him with his own temples, altars,
ceremonies, and priests. But it was his wisdom and great soul that earned
those honors; noble blood, physical strength, and political power just
aren’t good enough.

Nicopolis ad Istrum was a

Roman

and Early

Byzantine

town founded by Emperor

Trajan
around

101–106, at the junction of the Iatrus (Yantra)

and the Rositsa

rivers, in memory of his victory over the

Dacians
. Its

ruins are located at the village of

Nikyup

, 20 km north of

Veliko Tarnovo

in northern

Bulgaria
.

The town reached its apogee during the reigns of Trajan,

Hadrian
, the

Antonines

and the

Severan dynasty

.

The classical town was planned according to the orthogonal system. The

network of streets, the forum surrounded by an Ionic colonnade and many

buildings, a two-nave room later turned into a basilica and other public

buildings have been uncovered. The rich architectures and sculptures show a

similarity with those of the ancient towns in Asia Minor. Nicopolis ad Istrum

had issued coins, bearing images of its own public buildings.

In

447 AD

, the town was destroyed by

Attila’s

Huns
.

Perhaps it was already abandoned before the early 400s.

In the 6th century, it was rebuilt as a powerful fortress enclosing little more

than military buildings and churches, following a very common trend for the

cities of that century in the Danube area.The largest area of the extensive ruins (21.55 hectares) of the classical

Nicopolis was not reoccupied since the fort covered only one fourth of it (5.75

hectares), in the southeastern corner.

The town became an episcopal centre during the early Byzantine period. It was

finally destroyed by the Avar invasions at the end of the 6th century. A

Bulgarian medieval settlement arose upon its ruins later (10th-14th century).

Nicopolis ad Istrum can be said to have been the birthplace of

Germanic

literary tradition. In the 4th century, the

Gothic
bishop,

missionary and translator

Ulfilas
(Wulfila)

obtained permission from Emperor

Constantius II

to immigrate with his flock of converts to Moesia and settle

near Nicopolis ad Istrum in 347-8.

There, he invented the

Gothic alphabet

and translated the

Bible
from

Greek

to

Gothic

.

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^[1]

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

.^[2]

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,^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5].

In 210 obtained a peace with the

Picts
that lasted

practically until the final withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain

[6]
,

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^[7].

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
.^[8]

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
^[

neededclarification] had failed to execute its purpose..