SEVERUS ALEXANDER 222AD Nicomedia Bithynia TEMPLE Ancient Roman Coin i48743

Item: i48743

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Severus Alexander
–
Roman Emperor
: 222-235 A.D.

Bronze 19mm (3.68 grams) of

Nicomedia
in

Bithynia [ Description

]
Reference: RG 325 (bust type); SNG von Aulock SNG Copenhagen 576 var. (same)
. Laureate and cuirassed bust right, slight drapery on far shoulder.
NIKOMHΔEΩN ΔIC NEΩK, Octastyle temple with circle in pediment.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Nicomedia
(Greek:
Νικομήδεια, Nikomedeia; modern
İzmit
) was an ancient city in what is now
Turkey
, founded in 712/11 BC as a
Megarian
colony and was originally known as
Astacus
(/sæstəkəˈ/;
Ancient Greek
: Ἀστακός, “lobster”). After being
destroyed by
Lysimachus
, it was rebuilt by
Nicomedes I of Bithynia
in 264 BC under the
name of Nicomedia, and has ever since been one of the most important cities in
northwestern
Asia Minor
. The great military commander
Hannibal Barca
came to Nicomedia in his final
years and committed suicide in nearby Libyssa (Diliskelesi,
Gebze
). The historian
Arrian
was born there.

Nicomedia was the
metropolis
of
Bithynia
under the
Roman Empire
, and
Diocletian
made it the eastern capital city of
the Roman Empire in 286 when he introduced the
Tetrarchy
system. Nicomedia remained as the
eastern (and most senior) capital of the Roman Empire until co-emperor
Licinius
was defeated by
Constantine the Great
at the
Battle of Chrysopolis
(Üsküdar)
in 324. Constantine mainly resided in Nicomedia as his interim capital city for
the next six years, until in 330 he declared the nearby
Byzantium
(which was renamed
Constantinople
) the new capital. Constantine
died in a royal villa in the vicinity of Nicomedia in 337. Owing to its position
at the convergence of the Asiatic roads leading to the new capital, Nicomedia
retained its importance even after the foundation of Constantinople.

A major earthquake, however, on 24 August 358, caused extensive devastation
to Nicomedia, and was followed by a fire which completed the catastrophe.
Nicomedia was rebuilt, but on a smaller scale. In the sixth century under
Emperor Justinian I
the city was extended with new
public buildings. Situated on the roads leading to the capital, the city
remained a major military center, playing an important role in the Byzantine
campaigns against the
Caliphate
.

In 451, the local bishopric was promoted to a
Metropolitan see
under the jurisdiction of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
. The
metropolis of Nicomedia was ranked 7th in the
Notitiae Episcopatuum
among the
metropolises of the Patriarchate. From the 840s on, Nicomedia was the capital of
the
thema
of the
Optimatoi
. By that time, most of the old,
seawards city had been abandoned and is described by the Persian geographer
Ibn Khurdadhbih
as lying in ruins. The
settlement had obviously been restricted to the hilltop citadel. In the 1080s,
the city served as the main military base for
Alexios I Komnenos
in his campaigns against the
Seljuk Turks
, and the
First
and
Second
Crusades both encamped there.

The city was briefly held by the
Latin Empire
following the
fall of Constantinople
to the
Fourth Crusade
in 1204: in late 1206 the
seneschal

Dietrich von Los
made it his base, converting
the church of Saint Sophia into a fortress; however the Crusader stronghold was
subjected to constant raids by the
Emperor of Nicaea

Theodore I Laskaris
, during which von Los was
captured by Nicaean soldiers; by the summer of 1207 Emperor
Henry of Flanders
to agreed to evacuate
Nicomedia in exchange for von Los and other prisoners Emperor Theodore held. The
city remained in Byzantine control for over a century after that, but following
the Byzantine defeat at the
Battle of Bapheus
in 1302, it was threatened by
the rising
Ottoman beylik
. The city was twice blockaded by
the Ottomans (in 1304 and 1330) before finally succumbing in 1337.

Notable natives
and residents

• Saint Panteleimon
• Adrian of Nicomedia
• Anthimus of Nicomedia
• Arrian
  (Lucius Flavius Arrianus ‘Xenophon’)
• Juliana of Nicomedia
• Michael Psellos
  (11th century) Greek
  writer, philosopher, politician, and historian
• Maximus Planudes
  (13th century) Greek
  scholar, anthologist, translator and grammarian
• Saint Barbara
• Saint George
• Theopemptus of Nicomedia
• Diocletian
• Theophylact of Nicomedia

See also

• 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia
• Nicaea
  (present-day
  İznik
  , another important city in
  Bithynia
  , and the interim
  Byzantine
  capital city between 1204 and
  1261 (Empire
  of Nicaea) following the
  Fourth Crusade
  in 1204, until the recapture
  of
  Constantinople
  by the Byzantines in 1261.
  Earlier, the site of the
  Nicene Creed
  as well as the
  First Council of Nicaea
  and
  Second Council of Nicaea
  .)

   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.