__________________________________________

Description: Autonomous Greek Bronze of Laodikeia in Phrygia, Asia Minor (modern day Denizli, Turkey). AD 14-37. Under Magistrate Pythes Pythou, time of Tiberius.

Obverse: Wolf seated left, front right leg raised; labrys behind; all within wreath

Reverse: Aphrodite standing left, holding dove; B in upper left field; monogram ΠΥΘ in lower left field; ΛΑΟ∆ΙΚΕΩΝ vertically down right field.

Mint: Laodicea , Phrygia

Size: 14 mm

Weight: 3.53 g

Ref: RPC 2904.  cf. CNG 181, 155 (Est $150;Hammer $105)

Inventory: 52.11

Condition: aVF. A Really Nice coin. As always, Please use the Pictures as your judge as grading is subjective.

Notes:

Laodicea ad Lycum (Laodicea on the Lycus) , also known as Laodikeia, was a stronghold of Seleucid power and influence founded by Antiochus II Theos (B.C. 261-246), and named in honour of his wife Laodice. The territory of Laodiceia included a great part of the Lycus valley, and was bounded by the two streams Lykos and Kapros, often personified on its coins by a Wolf and a Boar.

The territory of Laodiceia included a great part of the Lycus valley and was approximately 17 kilometers west of Colossae, and 10 kilometes south of Hierapolis. It was approximately 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Ephesus and, according to Strabo, was located along a major road. An older city on the same site was believed to be called Diospolis "City of Zeus" or Rhodas. While the site's location is considered to be in Phrygia, some ancient authors place Laodicea in differing provincial territories – not surprising because the precise limits of these territories were both ill-defined and changing over time – for example, Ptolemy and Philostratus call it a town of Caria, while Stephanus of Byzantium describes it as belonging to Lydia.

While initally located in the Hellenistic regions of Caria and Lydia, it later became the Roman Province of Phrygia Pacatiana. In 220 BC, Achaeus was its king. In 188 B.C., the city passed to the Kingdom of Pergamon. After 133 B.C. it fell under Roman control. It suffered greatly during the Mithridatic Wars but quickly recovered under the dominion of Rome. Towards the end of the Roman Republic and under the first emperors, Laodicea, benefiting from its advantageous position on a trade route, became one of the most important and flourishing commercial cities of Asia Minor. It was also the location of one of the Seven churches of Asia mentioned in the Book of Revelation and in 2013 the archaeological site was inscribed in the Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey.

There are some impressive ruins still located in the modern city of Denizili that attest to its former greatness. The ruins are generally well preserved and are being substantially renovated. There are many buildings including a stadium, baths, temples, a gymnasium, theatres, and a bouleuterion (Senate House). On the eastern side, the line of the ancient wall may be distinctly traced, with the remains of the Ephesus gate; there are streets traversing the town, flanked by colonnades and numerous pedestals. North of the town, towards the Lycus, are many sarcophagi, with their covers lying near them, partly imbedded in the ground, and all having been long since rifled.

Particularly interesting are the remains of an aqueduct starting several kilometres away at the Baspinar spring in Denizli, and possibly having another more distant source. Unusually, to cross the valley to the south of Laodicea, instead of the usual open channel carried above the level of the city on lofty arches as was the usual practice of the Romans, an inverted siphon was employed consisting of a double pressurised pipeline, descending into the valley and back up to the city. The low arches supporting the siphon commence near the summit of a low hill to the south where the header tank was located, and thence continue to the first terminal distribution tank (castellum aquae) at the edge of the hill of the city, whose remains are visible to the east of the stadium and South Baths complex. The water was heavily charged with calcareous matter, as several of the arches are covered with a thick incrustation where leaks occurred at later times. The siphon consisted of large carved stone pipes; some of these also are much incrusted, and some completely choked up. The terminal tank has many clay pipes of various diameters for water distribution on the north, east and south sides which, because of the choking by sinter, were replaced in time. To the west of the terminal is a small fountain next to the vaulted gate. The aqueduct appears to have been destroyed by an earthquake, as the remaining arches lean bodily on one side, without being much broken. A second distribution terminal and sedimentation tank is visible 400 metres (1,300 ft) north of the first, to which it was connected via another siphon of travertine blocks, and this one is bigger and supplied most of the city.

Excerpts From Head, Hist. Numorum, and Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia