AE follis 18mm. 2.26gm. Rome mint. (Good VF) Well centered nice specimen.
Genuine glossy patina and earthen encrustation.
Obv./ IMP C M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust right with short
cropped beard.
Rev./ SALVS PVBLICA, Salus seated left on high backed chair,
feeding snake coiled round altar and placing her hand on its head.
RSC
114. Authenticity guaranteed. Original ancient Roman coin as pictured and described above.
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Coin is in good condition and very rare and nice inclusion to the finest collection!!
In
Greek
and
Roman mythology
, Hygieia (also Hygiea
or Hygeia, Greek Ὑγιεία or
Ὑγεία, Latin Hygēa or Hygīa),
was the daughter of the god of medicine,
Asclepius
, and
Epione
. She was the goddess/personification of
health, cleanliness and sanitation.
Hygieia
and her five sisters each performed a facet of
Apollo
's art: Hygieia ("Hygiene" the
goddess/personification of health, cleanliness, and sanitation),
Panacea
(the goddess of Universal remedy),
Iaso (the goddess of recuperation from illness),
Aceso
(the goddess of the healing process).
Hygieia also played an important part in her father's
cult
. While her father was more directly
associated with healing, she was associated with the prevention of sickness and
the continuation of good health. Her name is the source of the word "hygiene".
She was imported by the Romans as the Goddess Valetudo, the goddess of personal
health, but in time she started to be increasingly identified with the ancient
Italian goddess of social welfare,
Salus
.
History
At Athens, Hygieia was the subject of a local cult since at least the 7th
century BC. "Athena Hygieia" was one of the cult titles given to
Athenaa
, as Plutarch recounts of the building of
the Parthenon
(447-432 BC):
“ |
A strange accident happened in the course of building, which showed that
the goddess was not averse to the work, but was aiding and co-operating
to bring it to perfection. One of the artificers, the quickest and the
handiest workman among them all, with a slip of his foot fell down from
a great height, and lay in a miserable condition, the physicians having
no hope of his recovery. When Pericles was in distress about this, the
goddess [Athena] appeared to him at night in a dream, and ordered a
course of treatment, which he applied, and in a short time and with
great ease cured the man. And upon this occasion it was that he set up a
brass statue of Athena Hygieia, in the citadel near the altar, which
they say was there before. But it was
Phidias
who wrought the goddess's image
in gold, and he has his name inscribed on the pedestal as the workman of
it. |
” |
However, the cult of Hygieia as an independent goddess did not begin to
spread out until the
Delphic oracle
recognized her, and after the
devastating
Plague of Athens
(430-427 BC) and in Rome in
293 BC.
In the 2nd century AD,
Pausanias
noted the statues both of Hygieia and
of Athena Hygieia near the entrance to the
Acropolis
of Athens.
Worship
Hygieia's primary temples were in
Epidaurus
,
Corinth
,
Cos
and Pergamon
.
Pausanias
remarked that, at the Asclepieion
of Titane
in
Sicyon
(founded by
Alexanor
, Asclepius' grandson), statues of
Hygieia were covered by women's hair and pieces of
Babylonian
clothes. According to inscriptions,
the same sacrifices were offered at
Paros
.
Ariphron
, a Sicyonian artist from the 4th
century BC wrote a well-known
hymn celebrating her. Statues of Hygieia were created by
Scopas
,
Bryaxis
and
Timotheus
, among others, but there is no clear
description of what they looked like. She was often depicted as a young woman
feeding a large snake that was wrapped around her body or drinking from a jar
that she carried. These attributes were later adopted by the
Gallo-Roman
healing goddess,
Sirona
. Hygieia was accompanied by her brother,
Telesphorus
.
The
Pythagoreans
called the pentagram ὑγιεία Hugieia ("health"); also the Greek goddess of
health, Hygieia
and saw in the pentagram a mathematical perfection.. Salus (Health) a Goddess of the Romans, the same that was worshipped under
the name of Hygiea by the Greeks, who feigned her to be the daughter of
Asclepius and of Minerva. On a denarius of the Acilia family appears the head
of the goddess and on the reverse a female standing with a serpent in her hand.
The types of this divinity on imperial coins most frequently present to view a
woman clothed in the stola; sometimes
she is sitting, at others standing; in others in a recumbent posture, with a
serpent either on her right or her left arm in a quiescent state, rising in
folds or entwined round an altar before her, and receiving food from a patera,
which she holds in her extended hand. It is in this form (which was doubtless
that of her statues and with these symbols) that she is exhibited on most coins
on the imperial series from Galba to Maximianus. She had a celebrated temple at
Rome, painted, it was said, by Q. Fabius, who thence was surnamed Pictor (the
painter) . - There appears to be some affinity between this personification of
Salus, when offering food in a patella to a serpent, and the Lanuvian virgin
represented in the same act on coins bearing the head of Juno Sospita. - The
opinion also has the probability on the face of it, which refers the serpent on
coins, where mention is made of Salus Augusti, or Augustorum, to Aesculapius and
his daughter Hygaeia (or Salus) as deities of Health. - Certain it is that when
those sanitary divinities, and especially when Dea Salus, occur on coins of
Emperors, they indicate that those princes were labouring at the time under some
diseases; on which account, it would seem, sacred rites had been performed for
them and the memorial of the event recorded on public monuments |
| Augustus: 217-218 A.D. (217-218 A.D. - Sole Reign) (218 A.D. with Diadumenian) | | Father of Diadumenian |
Macrinus (Latin: Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus;
c. 165 - June 218) was Roman Emperor from April 217 to 8 June 218. He
reigned jointly with his young son Diadumenianus. Macrinus was by origin
a Berber from Mauretania Caesariensis. A member of the equestrian
class, he became the first emperor who did not hail from the senatorial
class and was the first emperor from Mauretania. Before becoming
emperor, Macrinus served under Emperor Caracalla as a praetorian prefect
and dealt with Rome's civil affairs. He later conspired against
Caracalla and had him murdered in a bid to protect his own life,
succeeding him as emperor.
Macrinus was proclaimed emperor of Rome
by 11 April 217, while in the eastern provinces of the empire, and was
subsequently confirmed as such by the Senate; however, for the duration
of his reign he never had the opportunity to return to Rome. His
predecessor's policies had left Rome's coffers empty and the empire at
war with several kingdoms, including Parthia, Armenia and Dacia. As
emperor, Macrinus first attempted to enact reform to bring economic and
diplomatic stability to Rome. While Macrinus' diplomatic actions brought
about peace with each of the individual kingdoms, the additional
monetary costs and subsequent fiscal reforms generated unrest in the
Roman military. Julia Maesa, taking advantage of the unrest, instigated a
rebellion to have her fourteen-year-old grandson, Elagabalus,
recognized as emperor. Macrinus was overthrown at the Battle of Antioch
on 8 June 218 and Elagabalus proclaimed himself emperor with support
from the rebelling Roman legions. Macrinus fled the battlefield and
headed for Rome, but was captured in Chaceldon and later executed in
Cappadocia. He sent his son to the care of Artabanus V of Parthia, but
Diadumenianus was also captured and executed. After Macrinus' death the
Senate declared him and his son enemies of Rome and had their names
struck from the records and their images destroyed. Background and careerMacrinus
was born in Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell, Algeria) in the
Roman province of Mauretania to an equestrian family of Berber origins.
He received an education which allowed him to ascend to the Roman
political class. Over the years he earned a reputation as a skilled
lawyer and under Emperor Septimius Severus he became an important
bureaucrat. Severus' successor Caracalla later appointed him a prefect
of the Praetorian Guard. While Macrinus probably enjoyed the trust
of Emperor Caracalla, this may have changed when, according to
tradition, it was prophesied that he would depose and succeed the
emperor. Macrinus, fearing for his safety, resolved to have Caracalla
murdered before he was condemned. In the spring of 217, Caracalla
was in the eastern provinces preparing a campaign against the Parthian
Empire. Macrinus was among his staff, as were other members of the
Praetorian Guard. In April, Caracalla went to visit a temple of Luna
near the site of the battle of Carrhae and was accompanied only by his
personal guard, which included Macrinus. On April 8, while traveling to
the temple, Caracalla was stabbed to death by Justin Martialis, a
soldier whom Macrinus had recruited to commit the murder. In the
aftermath, Martialis was killed by one of Caracalla's men. For two
or three days, Rome remained without an emperor. By April 11, Macrinus
had proclaimed himself emperor and taken for himself all of the imperial
titles and powers, without waiting for the Senate. The army backed his
claim as emperor and the Senate, so far away, was powerless to
intervene. Macrinus never had a chance to return to Rome as emperor and
remained based in Antioch for the duration of his reign. Macrinus was
the first emperor to hail from the equestrian class, rather than the
senatorial and also the first emperor of Mauretanian descent. He adopted
the name of Severus, in honor of the Severan dynasty, and conferred the
imperial title of Augusta to his wife Nonia Celsa and the title of
Caesar and name of Antoninus to his son Diadumenianus, thus making him a
junior co-emperor, in honor of the Antonine dynasty. At the time of
Diadumenian's accession he was eight years old. ReignDespite
his equestrian background, Macrinus was accepted by the Senate for two
reasons: for the removal of Caracalla, and for having received the
loyalty of the army. The senators were less concerned by Macrinus'
Mauretanian ancestry than by his equestrian social background and
scrutinized his actions as emperor. Their opinion of him was reduced by
his decisions to appoint men to high offices who were of similarly
undistinguished background. Only the Senate had the constitutional power
to choose the emperor from among the senators and Macrinus, not being a
senator and having become emperor through force rather than through
traditional means, was looked down upon. Macrinus had several
issues that he needed to deal with at the time of his accession, which
had been left behind by his predecessor. As Caracalla had a tendency
towards military belligerence, rather than diplomacy, this left several
conflicts for Macrinus to resolve. Second, Caracalla had been a
profligate spender of Rome's income. Most of the money was spent on the
army; he had greatly increased their pay from 2,000 sesterces to 3,000
sesterces per year. In turn, Caracalla had stripped bare whatever
sources of income he had. This left Rome is a dire fiscal situation,
which also had to be resolved by Macrinus. Macrinus was at first
occupied by the threat of the Parthians, with whom Rome had been at war
since the reign of Caracalla. Macrinus settled a peace deal with the
Parthians, after fighting an indecisive battle at Nisibis in 217. In
return for peace, Macrinus was forced to pay a large indemnity to the
Parthian ruler Artabanus V. Simultaneously, Rome was under threat from
Dacia and Armenia; any deal with Parthia might have been beneficial to
Rome. Next, Macrinus turned his attention to Armenia. He settled a peace
treaty with them by returning the crown and loot to Tiridates and
releasing his mother from prison, returning Armenia to its status as a
client kingdom of Rome. Macrinus made peace with the Dacians by
releasing hostages, though this was likely not handled by himself but by
Marcius Agrippa. In matters of foreign policy, Macrinus showed a
tendency towards settling disputes through diplomacy and a reluctance to
engage in military conflict, though this may have been due to lack of
resources and manpower than his own personal preference. Macrinus
began to overturn Caracalla's fiscal policies and moved closer towards
those that had been set forth by Septimius Severus. One such policy
change involved the Roman legions; the soldiers that were already
enlisted during Caracalla's reign enjoyed exorbitant payments, it would
be impossible for Macrinus to reduce enlisted soldiers' pay without them
rebelling and so instead reduced the pay of new recruits to the level
that had been set by Severus. Macrinus revalued the Roman currency,
increasing the silver purity and weight of the denarius from 50.78
percent and 1.66 grams at the end of Caracalla's reign to 57.85 percent
and 1.82 grams from Fall 217 to the end of his reign, so that it
mirrored Severus' fiscal policy for the period 197-209 A.D. After 209
A.D. Macrinus' goal with these policies might have been to return Rome
to the relative economic stability that had been enjoyed under Severus'
reign, though it came with a cost. The fiscal changes that Macrinus
enacted might have been tenable otherwise, but not for the military. By
this time the strength of the military was too great and by enacting his
reforms he angered the soldiers and paved the way for his downfall. Caracalla's
mother Julia Domna was initially left in peace when Macrinus became
emperor. This changed when Macrinus discovered that she was conspiring
against him and had her placed under house arrest in Antioch. By this
time Julia Domna was suffering from an advanced stage of breast cancer
and soon died in Antioch, possibly by starving herself. Afterwards,
Macrinus sent Domna's sister Julia Maesa and her children back to Emesa
in Syria, from where Maesa set in motion her plans to have Macrinus
overthrown. Macrinus had decided to remain in Antioch instead of going
to Rome upon being declared emperor, a step which furthered his
unpopularity in Rome and contributed to his eventual downfall. DownfallJulia
Maesa had retired to her home town of Emesa with an immense fortune,
which she had accrued over the course of twenty years. She took her
children, Julia Soaemias and Julia Mamaea, and grandchildren, including
Elagabalus, with her to Emesa. Elagabalus, aged 14, was the chief priest
of the Phoenician sun-deity Elagabalus (or El-Gabal) in Emesa. Soldiers
from Legio III Gallica (Gallic Third Legion), that had been
stationed at the nearby camp of Raphanea, often visited Emesa and went
to see Elagabalus perform his priestly rituals and duties while there.
Julia Maesa took advantage of this, to suggest to the soldiers that
Elagabalus was indeed the illegitimate son of Caracalla. On May 16,
Elagabalus was proclaimed emperor by the Legio III Gallica at its
camp at Raphanea. Upon Elagabalus' revolt, Macrinus travelled to Apamea
and conferred the title of Augustus onto Diadumenianus and made him
co-emperor. ExecutionMacrinus realised that his life was
in danger but could not decide upon a course of action and remained at
Antioch. Not to remain idle, Macrinus sent Ulpinus Julianus with a force
of cavalry to regain control of the rebels. This attempt to bring about
an end to the rebellion failed and resulted in the death of Ulpinus and
further strengthened Elagabalus' army. Soon after, a force under
Elagabalus' tutor Gannys marched on Antioch and engaged a force under
Macrinus on 8 June 218 near the village of Immae, located approximately
24 miles from Antioch. At some point during the ensuring Battle of
Antioch, Macrinus deserted the field and fled to Antioch. Macrinus was
then forced to flee from Antioch as fighting erupted in the city as
well. Elegabalus himself entered Antioch as the new ruler of the Roman
Empire. Macrinus fled for Rome, he managed to get to Chalcedon before
being recognized and captured. His son and co-emperor Diadumenianus,
sent to the care of Artbanus V of Parthia, was himself captured in
transit at Zeugma and killed in June of 218. Diadumenianus' reign lasted
a total of 14 months, and he died at around the age of 10. Macrinus,
upon learning of his son's death, tried to escape captivity, injuring
himself in the process. Unable to complete the journey, Macrinus was
executed in Cappadocia and his head was sent to Elegabalus. Much like
Macrinus, Diadumenianus' head was also cut off and sent to Elegabalus as
a trophy. Damnatio MemoriaeMacrinus and his son Diadumenianus were declared hostes,
enemies of the state, by the Senate immediately after news had arrived
of their deaths and as part of an official declaration of support for
the usurper Elagabalus, who was recognized in the Senate as the new
Emperor. The declaration of hostes led to two actions being taken
against the images of the former Emperors. First, their portraits were
destroyed and their names were stricken from inscriptions and papyrii.
The second action, taken by the Roman soldiers who had rebelled against
Macrinus in favour of Elagabalus, was to destroy all of the works and
possessions of Macrinus. The damnatio memoriae against Macrinus
is among the earliest of such sanctions enacted by the Senate. Many of
the marble busts of Macrinus that exist were defaced and mutilated as a
response to the damnatio memoriae and many of the coins depicting
Macrinus and Diadumenianus were also destroyed. These actions against
Macrinus are evidence of his unpopularity in Rome.
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