CARACALLA 198AD Coela Thrace GALLEY Ship Authentic Ancient Roman Coin i48731

Description

Item:
i48731
Authentic Ancient Coin of:
Severus Alexander
-
Roman Emperor
: 222-235 A.D.
Bronze 16mm (2.88 grams) of
Coela in
Thrace
Reference: Varbanov 2929; SNG Italy 400
Laureate bust right.
Prow of galley right; cornucopia above.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
A
galley
is a type of
ship
propelled by
rowers
that originated in the eastern
Mediterranean Sea
and was used for
warfare
,
trade
and
piracy
from the first millennium BC. Galleys dominated
naval warfare
in the Mediterranean from the 8th century BC until development of advanced sailing warships in the 17th century. Galleys fought in the wars of
Assyria
, ancient
Phoenicia
,
Greece
,
Carthage
and
Rome
until the 4th century AD. After the fall of the
Western Roman Empire
galleys formed the mainstay of the
Byzantine navy
and other navies of successors of the Roman Empire, as well as new
Muslim
navies. Medieval Mediterranean states, notably the Italian maritime republics, including
Venice
,
Pisa
,
Genoa
and the
Ottoman Empire
relied on them as the primary warships of their fleets until the 17th century, when they were gradually replaced by sailing warships. Galleys continued to be applied in minor roles in the Mediterranean and the
Baltic Sea
even after the introduction of
steam propelled
ships in the early 19th century.
The galley engagements at
Actium
and
Lepanto
are among the greatest
naval battles
in history.
Coela was located on the eastern part of the Thracian Chersonese, known in modern times as the Gallipoli Peninsula. It struck coins during times of Alexander the Great and later issued coins under the ancient Romans (known as Roman Provincial or Greek Imperial coins.
The
Gallipoli
peninsula
(
Turkish
:
Gelibolu
Yarımadası
;
Greek
:
Καλλίπολη
) is located in Turkish Thrace (or
East Thrace
), the European part of
Turkey
, with the
Aegean Sea
to the west and the
Dardanelles
strait to the east.
Gallipoli derives its name from the
Greek
"Καλλίπολις" (
Kallipolis
), meaning "Beautiful City". In
antiquity
, it was known as the
Thracian Chersonese
, from
Greek
:
Θρακική Χερσόνησος
(
Latin
:
Chersonesus Thracica
).
The peninsula runs in a south-westerly direction into the
Aegean Sea
, between the Hellespont (now known as the
Dardanelles
) and the bay of Melas (today
Saros bay
). Near
Agora
it was protected by a wall running across its full breadth. The isthmus traversed by the wall was only 36
stadia
in breadth (about 6.5 km), but the length of the peninsula from this wall to its southern extremity, Cape Mastusia, was 420 stadia (about 77.5 km).
Thrace
(demonym
Thracian
;
Bulgarian
:
Тракия,
Trakiya
,
Greek
:
Θράκη,
Thráki
,
Turkish
:
Trakya
) is a historical and geographic area in southeast
Europe
. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the
Balkan Mountains
on the north,
Rhodope Mountains
and the
Aegean Sea
on the south, and by the
Black Sea
and the
Sea of Marmara
on the east. The areas it comprises are southeastern
Bulgaria
(
Northern Thrace
), northeastern
Greece
(
Western Thrace
), and the European part of
Turkey
(
Eastern Thrace
). The biggest part of Thrace is part of present-day Bulgaria. In Turkey, it is also called
Rumelia
. The name comes from the
Thracians
, an ancient
Indo-European
people inhabiting Southeastern Europe.
The historical boundaries of Thrace have varied. Noteworthy is the fact that, at an early date, the
ancient Greeks
employed the term "Thrace" to refer to all of the territory which lay north of
Thessaly
inhabited by the
Thracians
, a region which "had no definite boundaries" and to which other regions (like
Macedonia
and even
Scythia
) were added. In one ancient Greek source, the very Earth is divided into "Asia, Libya, Europa and Thracia". As the knowledge of world geography of the Greeks broadened, the term came to be more restricted in its application: Thrace designated the lands bordered by the
Danube
on the north, by the Euxine Sea (Black Sea) on the east, by northern
Macedonia
in the south and by the
Illyrian
lands (i.e.
Illyria
) to the west. This largely coincided with the Thracian
Odrysian kingdom
, whose borders varied in time. During this time, specifically after the Macedonian conquest, the region's old border with Macedonia was shifted from the
Struma River
to the
Mesta River
. This usage lasted until the Roman conquest. Henceforth, (classical) Thrace referred only to the tract of land largely covering the same extent of space as the modern geographical region. In its early period, the
Roman province of Thrace
was of this extent, but after the administrative reforms of the late 3rd century, Thracia's much reduced territory became the six small provinces which constituted the
Diocese of Thrace
. The medieval
Byzantine
theme
of
Thrace
contained only what today is
Eastern Thrace
.
The largest cities of Thrace are:
İstanbul
(European side),
Plovdiv
,
Burgas
,
Stara Zagora
,
Haskovo
,
Edirne
,
Çorlu
and
Tekirdag
.
Most of the Bulgarian and Greek population are Christians, while most of the Turkish inhabitants of Thrace are Muslims.
The Roman province of Thrace
Thrace in ancient Greek mythology
Ancient Greek mythology
provides them with a mythical ancestor, named
Thrax
, son of the war-god
Ares
, who was said to reside in Thrace. The Thracians appear in
Homer
's
Iliad
as
Trojan
allies, led by
Acamas
and
Peiros
. Later in the
Iliad
,
Rhesus
, another Thracian king, makes an appearance.
Cisseus
, father-in-law to the Trojan elder
Antenor
, is also given as a Thracian king. Homeric Thrace was vaguely defined, and stretched from the River
Axios
in the west to the
Hellespont
and
Black Sea
in the east. The
Catalogue of Ships
mentions three separate contingents from Thrace: Thracians led by Acamas and Peiros, from
Aenus
;
Cicones
led by
Euphemus
, from southern Thrace, near
Ismaros
; and from the city of
Sestus
, on the Thracian (northern) side of the Hellespont, which formed part of the contingent led by
Asius
. Greek mythology is replete with Thracian kings, including
Diomedes
,
Tereus
,
Lycurgus
,
Phineus
,
Tegyrius
,
Eumolpus
,
Polymnestor
,
Poltys
, and
Oeagrus
(father of
Orpheus
). In addition to the tribe that Homer calls Thracians, ancient Thrace was home to numerous other tribes, such as the
Edones
,
Bisaltae
,
Cicones
, and
Bistones
.
Thrace is also mentioned in Ovid's Metamorphoses in the episode of
Philomela
, Procne, and
Tereus
. Tereus, the King of Thrace, lusts after his sister-in-law, Philomela. He kidnaps her, holds her captive, rapes her, and cuts out her tongue. Philomela manages to get free, however. She and her sister, Procne, plot to get revenge, by killing Itys (son of Tereus and Procne) and serving him to his father for dinner. At the end of the myth, all three turn into birds—Procne, a swallow; Philomela, a nightingale; and Tereus, a
hoopoe
.
History
Ancient history
The indigenous population of Thrace was a people called the
Thracians
, divided into numerous tribal groups. Thracian troops were known to accompany neighboring ruler
Alexander the Great
when he crossed the
Hellespont
which abuts Thrace, and took on the
Persian Empire
of the day.
The Thracians did not describe themselves as such and
Thrace
and
Thracians
are simply the names given them by the Greeks.
Divided into separate tribes, the Thracians did not manage to form a lasting political organization until the
Odrysian state
was founded in the 4th century BC. Like
Illyrians
, Thracian tribes of the mountainous regions fostered a locally ruled warrior tradition, while the tribes based in the plains were purportedly more peaceable. Recently discovered funeral mounds in Bulgaria suggest that Thracian kings did rule regions of Thrace with distinct Thracian national identity.
During this period, a subculture of
celibate
ascetics
called the
Ctistae
lived in Thrace, where they served as philosophers, priests and prophets.
Medieval history
By the mid 5th century, as the Roman Empire began to crumble, Thracia fell from the authority of Rome and into the hands of Germanic tribal rulers. With the fall of Rome, Thracia turned into a battleground territory for the better part of the next 1,000 years. The eastern successor of the
Roman Empire
in the Balkans, the
Byzantine Empire
, retained control over Thrace until the 8th century when the northern half of the entire region was incorporated into the
First Bulgarian Empire
. Byzantium regained Thrace in the late 10th century and administered it as a
theme
, until the Bulgarians regained control of the northern half at the end of the 12th century. Throughout the 13th century and the first half of the 14th century, the region was changing in the hands of the Bulgarian and the Byzantine Empire(excl. Constantinopole). In 1265 the area suffered a Mongol raid from the
Golden Horde
, led by
Nogai Khan
. In 1352, the
Ottoman
Turks
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
Marcus 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
,
Augusta
,
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
.
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