-40%
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS 193AD Ancient Roman Coin TYCHE LUCK Fortuna Prosperity i20321
$ 52.8
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Description
Item:i20321
Authentic Ancient Coin of:
Septimius Severus - Roman Emperor: 193-211 A.D. -
Bronze 21mm (5.95 grams) of Marcianopolis in Moesia Inferior
AV
Λ
CЄ
ПT
CЄVHPO, laureate draped and cuirassed bust right.
MAPKIANOΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ, Tyche standing left holding patera
and cornucopia.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
Tyche
(pronounced Too-kee; 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).
Fortuna
(
Latin
:
Fortūna
, equivalent to the
Greek
goddess
Tyche
) was the goddess of fortune and
personification
of
luck
in
Roman religion
. She might bring good luck or bad: she could be represented as veiled and blind, as in modern depictions of
Justice
, and came to represent life's capriciousness. She was also a goddess of
fate
: as
Atrox Fortuna
, she claimed the young lives of the
princeps
Augustus
' grandsons
Gaius
and
Lucius
, prospective heirs to the Empire.
Her father was said to be Jupiter and like him, she could also be bountiful . As
Annonaria
she protected grain supplies. June 11 was sacred to her: on June 24 she was given cult at the festival of
Fors Fortuna
.
Cult
Fortuna and Pontos
Fortuna's Roman cult was variously attributed to
Servius Tullius
– whose exceptional good fortune suggested their sexual intimacy – and to
Ancus Marcius
. The two earliest temples mentioned in Roman Calendars were outside the city, on the right bank of the Tiber (in Italian
Trastevere
). The first temple dedicated to Fors was attributed to the Etruscan Servius Tullius, while the second is known to have been built in 293 BC as the fulfilment of a Roman promise made during later
Etruscan wars
[6]
The date of dedication of her temples was 24 June, or Midsummer’s Day, when celebrants from Rome annually floated to the temples downstream from the city. After undisclosed rituals they then rowed back, garlanded and inebriated.
[7]
Also Fortuna had a temple at the
Forum Boarium
. Here Fortuna was twinned with the cult of
Mater Matuta
(the goddesses shared a festival on 11 June), and the paired temples have been revealed in the excavation beside the church of
Sant'Omobono
: the cults are indeed archaic in date.
[8]
Fortuna Primigenia of
Praeneste
was adopted by Romans at the end of 3rd BC in an important cult of
Fortuna Publica Populi Romani
(the
Official Good Luck of the Roman People
) on the
Quirinalis
outside the
Porta Collina
.
[9]
No temple at Rome, however, rivalled the magnificence of the Praenestine sanctuary.
Fortuna lightly balances the
orb
of sovereignty between thumb and finger in a Dutch painting of
ca
1530
(
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg
)
Fortuna's identity as personification of chance events was closely tied to
virtus
(strength of character). Public officials who lacked virtues invited ill-fortune on themselves and Rome:
Sallust
uses the infamous
Catiline
as illustration – "Truly, when in the place of work, idleness, in place of the
spirit of measure and equity
, caprice and pride invade, fortune is changed just as with morality".
An
oracle
at the
Temple of Fortuna Primigena
in
Praeneste
used a form of divination in which a small boy picked out one of various futures that were written on
oak
rods. Cults to Fortuna in her many forms are attested throughout the Roman world. Dedications have been found to
Fortuna Dubia
(doubtful fortune),
Fortuna Brevis
(fickle or wayward fortune) and
Fortuna Mala
(bad fortune).
She is found in a variety of domestic and personal contexts. During the early Empire, an amulet from the
House of Menander
in
Pompeii
links her to the Egyptian goddess
Isis
, as Isis-Fortuna.
[11]
She is functionally related to the God
Bonus Eventus
,
[12]
who is often represented as her counterpart: both appear on
amulets
and intaglio
engraved gems
across the Roman world.
Her name seems to derive from
Vortumna
(she who revolves the year).
[
citation
needed
]
The earliest reference to
the Wheel of Fortune
, emblematic of the endless changes in life between prosperity and disaster, is from 55 BC. In
Seneca
's tragedy
Agamemnon
, a chorus addresses Fortuna in terms that would remain almost proverbial, and in a high heroic ranting mode that Renaissance writers would emulate:
"O Fortune, who dost bestow the throne’s high boon with mocking hand, in dangerous and doubtful state thou settest the too exalted. Never have sceptres obtained calm peace or certain tenure; care on care weighs them down, and ever do fresh storms vex their souls. ...great kingdoms sink of their own weight, and Fortune gives way ‘neath the burden of herself. Sails swollen with favouring breezes fear blasts too strongly theirs; the tower which rears its head to the very clouds is beaten by rainy
Auster
.... Whatever Fortune has raised on high, she lifts but to bring low. Modest estate has longer life; then happy he whoe’er, content with the common lot, with safe breeze hugs the shore, and, fearing to trust his skiff to the wider sea, with unambitious oar keeps close to land."
Ovid
's description is typical of Roman representations: in a letter from exile
he reflects ruefully on the "goddess who admits by her unsteady wheel her own fickleness; she always has its apex beneath her swaying foot."
Middle Ages
Fortuna did not disappear from the popular imagination with the ascendancy of Christianity by any means.
Saint Augustine
took a stand against her continuing presence, in the
City of God
: "How, therefore, is she good, who without discernment comes to both the good and to the bad? ...It profits one nothing to worship her if she is truly
fortune
... let the bad worship her...this supposed deity". In the 6th century, the
Consolation of Philosophy
, by statesman and philosopher
Boethius
, written while he faced execution, reflected the Christian theology of
casus
, that the apparently random and often ruinous turns of Fortune's Wheel are in fact both inevitable and providential, that even the most coincidental events are part of God's hidden plan which one should not resist or try to change. Fortuna, then, was a servant of God,
[18]
and events, individual decisions, the
influence of the stars
were all merely vehicles of Divine Will. In succeeding generations Boethius'
Consolation
was required reading for scholars and students. Fortune crept back in to popular acceptance, with a new iconographic trait, "two-faced Fortune",
Fortuna bifrons
; such depictions continue into the 15th century.
Albrecht Dürer
's engraving of
Fortuna
, ca 1502
The ubiquitous image of
the Wheel of Fortune
found throughout the Middle Ages and beyond was a direct legacy of the second book of Boethius's
Consolation
. The Wheel appears in many renditions from tiny miniatures in
manuscripts
to huge stained glass windows in cathedrals, such as at
Amiens
. Lady Fortune is usually represented as larger than life to underscore her importance. The wheel characteristically has four shelves, or stages of life, with four human figures, usually labeled on the left
regnabo
(I shall reign), on the top
regno
(I reign) and is usually crowned, descending on the right
regnavi
(I have reigned) and the lowly figure on the bottom is marked
sum sine regno
(I have no kingdom). Medieval representations of Fortune emphasize her duality and instability, such as two faces side by side like
Janus
; one face smiling the other frowning; half the face white the other black; she may be blindfolded but without scales, blind to justice. She was associated with the
cornucopia
, ship's rudder, the ball and the wheel. The cornucopia is where plenty flows from, the Helmsman's rudder steers fate, the globe symbolizes chance (who gets good or bad luck), and the wheel symbolizes that luck, good or bad, never lasts.
Fortune would have many influences in cultural works throughout the Middle Ages. In
Le Roman de la Rose
, Fortune frustrates the hopes of a lover who has been helped by a personified character "Reason". In Dante's
Inferno
(vii.67-96)
Virgil
explains the nature of Fortune, both a devil and a ministering angel, subservient to God.
Boccaccio
's
De Casibus Virorum Illustrium
("The Fortunes of Famous Men"), used by
John Lydgate
to compose his
Fall of Princes
, tells of many where the turn of Fortune's wheel brought those most high to disaster, and Boccaccio essay
De remedii dell'una e dell'altra Fortuna
, depends upon Boethius for the double nature of Fortuna. Fortune makes her appearance in
Carmina Burana
(see image). The Christianized Lady Fortune is not autonomous: illustrations for Boccaccio's
Remedii
show Fortuna enthroned in a triumphal car with reins that lead to heaven,
[20]
and appears in chapter 25 of Machiavelli's
The Prince
, in which he says Fortune only rules one half of men's fate, the other half being of their own will. Machiavelli reminds the reader that Fortune is a woman, that she favours a strong, or even violent hand, and that she favours the more aggressive and bold young man than a timid elder. Even
Shakespeare
was no stranger to Lady Fortune:
When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state ...
—
Sonnet 29
Pars Fortuna in Astrology
llustration by Al-Biruni (973-1048) of different phases of the moon, from the Persian
Kitab al-tafhim
In
Astrology
the term ‘Pars Fortuna’ represents a mathematical point in the
zodiac
derived by the longitudinal positions of the
Sun
,
Moon
and
Ascendant
(Rising sign) in the birth chart of an individual. It represents an especially beneficial point in the horoscopic chart. In
Arabic
Astrology
, this point is called
Arabian Parts
.
The procedure followed for fixing one’s
Pars Fortuna
in ancient and traditional astrology depended on the time of birth, viz., during daylight or night time (whether the Sun was above or below the
horizon
). In modern
western astrology
the day time formula only was used for many years, but with more knowledge of ancient astrology, the two calculation methods are now often used.
The formula for calculating the day time Part of Fortune (PF) is (using the 360 degree positions for each point):
PF = Ascendant +
Moon
-
Sun
The formula for the night-time Part of Fortune is PF = Ascendant + Sun - Moon
Each calculation method results in a different
zodiac
position for the
Part of Fortune
.
Al Biruni
(973 – 1048), an 11th-century mathematician, astronomer and scholar, who was the greatest proponent of this system of prediction, listed a total of 97 Arabic Parts, which were widely used for astrological consultations. Paul Vachier has prepared an Arabic Parts Calculator for all the Arabic Parts.
Marcianopolis
, or
Marcianople
was an ancient Roman city in
Thracia
. It was located at the site of modern day
Devnya
,
Bulgaria
.
The city was so renamed by Emperor
Trajan
after his sister
Ulpia Marciana
, and was previously known as Parthenopolis. Romans repulsed a
Gothic
attack to this town in
267
(or
268
), during the reign of
Gallienus
.
Diocletian
made it the capital of the
Moesia Secunda
province.
Valens
made it his winter quarters in 368 and succeeding years, Emperor
Justinian I
restored and fortified it. In 587, it was sacked by the king of the
Avars
but at once retaken by the Romans. The Roman army quartered there in 596 before crossing the Danube to assault the Avars.
Between 893 and 972 it was one of the most important medieval cities in south-eastern Europe.
L
ucius 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
Roman martyrology
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
[
needed
clarification
]
had failed to execute its purpose.
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