SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS 193AD Nicaea Bithynia SERPENT CISTA MYSTICA Roman Coin i45452

Description

Item:
i45452
Authentic Ancient Coin of:
Septimius Severus - Roman Emperor: 193-211 A.D. -
Bronze 15mm (1.97 grams) of
<="" font="" color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">
Nicaea
in
Bithynia
Reference: RG 440; Weiser –; SNG Copenhagen –; SNG von Aulock 582
AV KA CЄ
ΠT
CЄVHPOC, Laureate head right.
NIKAIЄΩN, Serpent peering out of a half-open cista mystica.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
In the
Mystery cult
, a
cista mystica
(literally "sacred chest") is a basket or chest used to house snakes. Cistae mysticae were used in the initiation ceremony of the cult of Bacchus, or
Dionysus
, as well as an early
gnostic
sect called the
Ophites
. Cistae mysticae appear on ancient Roman and Greek coins.
A
cista
(kiste) in the classical world was generally a casket, used for example to hold unguents or jewels. More specifically, in the
Mystery cult
, a
cista mystica
(literally "sacred chest") is a basket or chest used to house snakes. Cistae mystica were used in the initiation ceremony of the cult of Bacchus or
Dionysus
, as well as an early
gnostic
sect called the
Ophites
. Cistae mysticae appear on ancient Roman and Greek coins.
Furthermore small Cistas were worked in Etruria, contained in cylindrical bronze containers for domestic use and storage of toiletries. Their faces were usually adorned engraved with figures, soldered on the top small bronze figures.
The Cista could be realised with different materials like wicker, wood, rawhide, but above of all in metal, used from the 5th century. The Etruscans manufactured it in different qualities from the 5th century, at first in ovoid form with thrown scenes, and then in cylindrical form with engraved scenes. The handle of the lid was consisted by little structures. One of the most important city of production of Cista is Preneste, an old city of Lazio, which realised different types of Cista from the 4th century.
The place is said to have been colonized by
Bottiaeans
, and to have originally borne the name of
Ancore
(
Steph. B.
s. v.) or
Helicore
(Geogr. Min. p. 40, ed. Hudson); but it was subsequently destroyed by the
Mysians
. A few years after the death of
Alexander the Great
,
Macedonian
king
Antigonus
— who had taken control of much of
Asia Minor
upon the death of Alexander (under whom Antigonus had served as a general) — probably after his victory over
Eumenes
, in 316 BC, rebuilt the town, and called it, after himself,
Antigoneia
(
Greek
:
Αντιγόνεια
). (Steph. B. l. c.; Eustath. ad Horn. II. ii. 863) Several other of Alexander's generals (known together as the
Diadochi
(Latin; original Greek
Diadokhoi
Διάδοχοι/
"successors")) later conspired to remove Antigonus, and after defeating him the area was given to
Thessalian
general
Lysimachus
(
Lysimakhos
) (circa 355 BC-281 BC) in 301 BC as his share of the lands. He renamed it
Nicaea
(Greek:
Νίκαια
, also
transliterated
as
Nikaia
or
Nicæa
; see also
List of traditional Greek place names
), in tribute to his wife Nicaea, a daughter of
Antipater
. (Steph. B., Eustath., Strab., ll. cc.) According to another account (Memnon, ap. Phot. Cod. 224. p. 233, ed. Bekker), Nicaea was founded by men from
Nicaea
near
Thermopylae
, who had served in the army of Alexander the Great. The town was built with great regularity, in the form of a square, measuring 16 stadia in circumference; it had four gates, and all its streets intersected one another at right angles, so that from a monument in the centre all the four gates could be seen. (
Strabo
xii. pp. 565
et seq.
) This monument stood in the gymnasium, which was destroyed by fire, but was restored with increased magnificence by the
younger Pliny
(Epist. x. 48), when he was governor of
Bithynia
.
The city was built on an important crossroads between
Galatia
and
Phrygia
, and thus saw steady trade. Soon after the time of Lysimachus, Nicaea became a city of great importance, and the kings of Bithynia, whose era begins in 288 BC with
Zipoetes
, often resided at Nicaea. It has already been mentioned that in the time of Strabo it is called the metropolis of Bithynia, an honour which is also assigned to it on some coins, though in later times it was enjoyed by
Nicomedia
. The two cities, in fact, kept up a long and vehement dispute about the precedence, and the 38th oration of
Dio Chrysostomus
was expressly composed to settle the dispute. From this oration, it appears that Nicomedia alone had a right to the title of metropolis, but both were the first cities of the country.
The younger Pliny makes frequent mention of Nicaea and its public buildings, which he undertook to restore when governor of Bithynia. (Epist. x. 40, 48, etc.) It was the birthplace of the astronomer
Hipparchus
(ca. 194 BC), the mathematician and astronomer
Sporus
(ca. 240) and the historian
Dio Cassius
(ca. 165). It was the death-place of the comedian
Philistion
. The numerous coins of Nicaea which still exist attest the interest taken in the city by the emperors, as well as its attachment to the rulers; many of them commemorate great festivals celebrated there in honour of gods and emperors, as Olympia, Isthmia, Dionysia, Pythia, Commodia, Severia, Philadelphia, etc. Throughout the imperial period, Nicaea remained an important town; for its situation was particularly favourable, being only 40 km (25 mi) distant from
Prusa
(
Pliny
v. 32), and 70 km (43 mi) from
Constantinople
. (
It. Ant.
p. 141.) When Constantinople became the capital of the
Eastern Empire
, Nicaea did not lose in importance; for its present walls, which were erected during the last period of the Empire, enclose a much greater space than that ascribed to the place in the time of Strabo. Much of the existing architecture and defensive works date to this time, early 300s.
Nicaea suffered much from earthquakes in 358, 362 and 368; after the last of which, it was restored by the emperor
Valens
. During the Middle Ages it was for a long time a strong bulwark of the
Byzantine
emperors against the
Turks
.
Nicaea in early Christianity
See also:
First Council of Nicaea
and
Second Council of Nicaea
In the reign of
Constantine
, 325, the celebrated
First Council of Nicaea
was held there against the
Arian
heresy
, and the prelates there defined more clearly the concept of the
Trinity
and drew up the
Nicene Creed
. The
doctrine
of the Trinity was finalized at the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD which expressly included the Holy Ghost as equal to the Father and the Son. The first Nicene Council was probably held in what would become the now ruined mosque of Orchan. The church of Hagia Sophia was built by
Justinian I
in the middle of the city in the 6th century (modelled after the larger
Hagia Sophia
in Constantinople), and it was there that the
Second Council of Nicaea
met in 787 to discuss the issues of
iconography
.
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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