SEVERUS ALEXANDER 222AD Amphipolis Macedonia Luck Ancient Roman Coin i46858

Item: i46858

 Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Severus Alexander
–
Roman Emperor
: 222-235 A.D.
Bronze 22mm (7.33 grams) from the city of
Amphipolis
in
Macedonia

Reference: Varbanov 3298 var.
AV K M AVP CЄV AΛЄΞANΔPOC, Laureate and draped bust right.
AMΦΙΠΟΛЄΙTΩN,
Tyche
enthroned left, holding patera; in
exergue, fish left.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.  

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.

 SEVERUS ALEXANDER

Augustus:
A.D. 222-235
Caesar: A.D. 221-222 under Elagabalus

Son of Julia Mamaea
Husband of Orbiana
Grandson of Julia Maesa
Nephew of Julia Soaemias
Cousin of Elagabalus
Second-cousin of Caracalla and Geta
Great-newphew of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna

Aurelius Severus Alexander (October 1, 208–March 18, 235 AD), commonly

called Alexander Severus, was the last

Roman emperor

(11 March 222–235) of the

Severan dynasty

. Alexander Severus succeeded his cousin,

Elagabalus

upon the latter’s assassination in 222 AD, and was ultimately assassinated

himself, marking the

epoch event

for the

Crisis of the Third Century

—nearly fifty years of disorder, Roman civil

wars, economic chaos, regional rebellions, and external threats that brought the

Empire to near-collapse.

Alexander Severus was the

heir

apparent
to his cousin, the eighteen-year-old Emperor who had been murdered

along with his mother by his own guards—and as a mark of contempt, had their

remains cast into the

Tiber river

. He and his cousin were both grandsons of the influential and

powerful Julia Maesa

, who had arranged for Elagabalus’ acclamation as Emperor by the

famed

Third Gallic Legion

.

A rumor of Alexander’s death circulated, triggering the assassination of

Elagabalus.

Alexander’s reign was marked by troubles. In military conflict against the

rising

Sassanid Empire

, there are mixed accounts, though the Sassanid threat was

checked. However, when campaigning against

Germanic tribes

of

Germania
,

Alexander Severus apparently alienated his legions by trying diplomacy and

bribery, and they assassinated him.

Life

Alexander was born with the name Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus Alexianus.

Alexander’s father,

Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus

was a Syrian

Promagistrate

. His mother

Julia Avita Mamaea

was the second daughter of

Julia

Maesa
and Syrian noble

Julius Avitus

and maternal aunt of Emperor

Elagabalus
.

He had an elder sister called Theoclia and little is known about her.

Alexander’s maternal great-aunt was empress

Julia

Domna
(also Maesa’s younger sister) and his great-uncle in marriage was

emperor Lucius

Septimius Severus

. Emperors

Caracalla

and

Publius Septimius Geta

, were his mother’s maternal cousins. In 221,

Alexander’s grandmother, Maesa, persuaded the emperor to adopt his cousin as

successor and make him

Caesar

and Bassianus changed his name to Alexander. In the following

year, on March 11, Elagabalus was murdered, and Alexander was proclaimed emperor

by the

Praetorians

and accepted by the Senate.

When Alexander became emperor, he was young, amiable, well-meaning, and

entirely under the dominion of his mother. Julia Mamaea was a woman of many

virtues, and she surrounded the young emperor with wise counsellors. She watched

over the development of her son’s character and improved the tone of the

administration. On the other hand, she was inordinately jealous. She also

alienated the army by extreme parsimony, and neither she nor her son were strong

enough to impose military discipline. Mutinies became frequent in all parts of

the empire; to one of them the life of the jurist and praetorian praefect

Ulpian
was

sacrificed; another compelled the retirement of

Cassius

Dio
from his command.

On the whole, however, the reign of Alexander was prosperous until the rise,

in the east, of the

Sassanids

. Of the war that followed there are various accounts. (Mommsen

leans to that which is least favourable to the Romans). According to Alexander’s

own dispatch to the senate, he gained great victories. At all events, though the

Sassanids were checked for the time, the conduct of the Roman army showed an

extraordinary lack of discipline. The emperor returned to

Rome and celebrated

a triumph in 233.

The following year he was called to face German invaders in

Gaul, who had

breached the Rhine frontier in several places, destroying forts and over-running

the countryside. Alexander mustered his forces, bringing legions from the

eastern provinces, and crossed the Rhine into Germany on a pontoon bridge.

Initially he attempted to buy the German tribes off, so as to gain time. Whether

this was a wise policy or not, it caused the Roman legionaries to look down on

their emperor as one who was prepared to commit unsoldierly conduct.

Herodian

says “in their opinion Alexander showed no honourable intention to pursue the

war and preferred a life of ease, when he should have marched out to punish the

Germans for their previous insolence”. These circumstances drove the army to

look for a new leader. They chose

Gaius Iulius Verus Maximinus

, a Thracian soldier who had worked his way up

through the ranks.

Following the nomination of Maximinus as emperor, Alexander was slain (on

either March 18 or March 19, 235), together with his mother, in a mutiny of the

Primigenia Legio XXII

. These assassinations secured the throne for

Maximinus.

The death of Alexander is considered as the end of the Principate

system established by

Augustus
.

Although the Principate continued in theory until the reign of

Diocletian
,

Alexander Severus’ death signalled the beginning of the chaotic period known as

the

Crisis of the Third Century

which weakened the empire considerably.

Legacy

Alexander was the last of the Syrian emperors. Under the influence of his

mother, he did much to improve the morals and condition of the people. His

advisers were men like the famous jurist Ulpian, the historian Cassius Dio and a

select board of sixteen senators; a municipal council of fourteen assisted the

urban praefect in administering the affairs of the fourteen districts of Rome.

The luxury and extravagance that had formerly been so prevalent at the court

were put down; the standard of the coinage was raised; taxes were lightened;

literature, art and science were encouraged; the lot of the soldiers was

improved; and, for the convenience of the people, loan offices were instituted

for lending money at a moderate rate of interest.

In religious matters Alexander preserved an open mind. It is said that he was

desirous of erecting a temple to the

founder of

Christianity
, but was dissuaded by the pagan priests.

Marriage

Alexander was married three times. His most famous wife was

Sallustia Orbiana

,

, whom he married in 225. He divorced and exiled her in 227,

after her father,

Seius Sallustius

, was executed for attempting to assassinate the emperor.

Another wife was Sulpicia Memmia. Her father was a man of consular rank; her

grandfather’s name was Catulus.