The Big So-and-so-opolis Thread

I decided to start this thread because elsewhere, in this thread about coins from Hadrianopolis, @Limes asks "Makes me wonder, did every emperor have a [insert name]opolis?"

Indeed, many did, such as Philippopolis, Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, Trajanopolis, and Laodicea and many others.

There are TWO ways to play:

You can post a coin from a CITY and name the person after whom it was named

or​

You can post a coin from a PERSON and name the city named after him/her.

Completely okay to duplicate rulers or cities -- there's more than one interesting coin from Marcianopolis, for example.

~~~

I'll start:

This is Plotina, after whom Plotinopolis (Thrace) is named:


Plotina, c. AD 105-122.
Roman provincial Æ 20.0 mm, 5.43 g, 6 h.
Caria, Tabae, AD 105-122.
Obv: ΠΛΩΤЄΙΝ CЄΒΑCΤΗ, diademed and draped bust, right, hair in plait behind
Rev: ΤΑΒΗ-ΝΩΝ, stag standing right.
Refs: RPC III 2292; BMC 18. 170, 79; SNG von Aulock 2720; SNG München 455-6; Robert 143.
Notes: Reverse die match to SNG von Aulock 2720. "Plate" coin at Austin College's Virtual Catalog of Roman Coins.

 

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Justinian....the city of Coptos in Egypt was renamed Justinianopolis during his reign. There remains some stone and mud brick ruins of the city today, though it is off the beaten track. I visited it a few years back. Today the village is called Qift and is situated 43 km north of Luxor. In ancient times its proximity to the port of Berenike on the Red Sea made it a trading hub between India, Punt, and Arabia Felix. The city fell to the Blemmeyes in the 3rd century A.D. and was almost destroyed by Diocletian in 292. Rebuilt, it remained prominent into Byzantine times and later became a seat of the Ayyubid Dynasty.

 

at least a dozen cities all over the empire were named after Hadrian, ie: Hadrianopolis

 

Interesting thread, @Roman Collector.

Here's a coin that was issued to commemorate Agrippa's re-founding of Caesarea Paneas as Neronias, named for...guess who? Agrippa honored the emperor with this re-naming in 61 AD, but it lasted only until the 30-year-old Nero committed suicide in 68 AD, and the subsequent "damnatio memoriae" by the senate. So there was a short period for coins to spring from Neronias (pun intended as there was a famous spring there where Pan, among others, was worshipped).




Agrippa II, 49/50- 94/95 AD, under Nero. 54 - 68 AD, large bronze of 23.4 mm, 14.21 grams.

Obverse: Laureate head of Nero right.
Reverse: EΠI/BACIΛE/AΓPIΠΠ/NEPΩ/NIE (in the time of King Agrippa in Neronias) in five lines within wreath. RPC 4988; Meshorer 129; Hendin 1273; TJC 129; RPC 4988.

It was once believed that the IE in the reverse legend referred to a date, but this is not correct. Instead it is part of NIE, the abbreviation for the name of the mint city Neronias.

 

Fine - I will get Alexander and Alexandria out of the way...

Kingdom of Macedon
Alexander III (the Great), r. 336-323 B.C. (c. 325-315 B.C.)
Pella Mint, AR Tetradrachm, 27.72mm x 17.2 grams
Obv.: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin
Rev.: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus Aëtophoros enthroned left, holding eagle and sceptre, ΣΙ in left field




Provincial Rome - Egypt
Nero, r. 54-68 A.D. (64-5 A.D.)
Alexandria mint, BL Tetradrachm, 24.23 mm x 11.8 grams
Obv.: NEPΩ KΛAYΔOΣ ΣEB ΓEP. Radiate bust right, wearing aegis
Rev.: AYTOKPA. Eagle standing left, palm frond behind, LIA to left
Ex. Doug Smith Collection

cool idea for a thread @Roman Collector !

 

As a long time collector of Severan coins, I can't think of a city named for any of them. What am I overlooking?

 

Here is a coin that qualifies both ways:


LYCAONIA. Iconium (as Claudiconium, after Claudius). Hadrian (117-138 AD). AE17. 2.36 g.
Obv: ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟС ΚΑΙСΑΡ. Bare head left.
Rev: ΚΛΑΥΔЄΙΚΟΝΙЄωΝ. Perseus standing facing, head right, holding harpa and severed head of Medusa.
Ref: von Aulock Lykonians, 290-2; RPC III 2825 (this coin is specimen 9!)

Let us not leave the Hellenes out. Here is a coin issued by Seleukos I at the city he founded, Seleucia-on-the-Tigris:


Seleukid Kingdom. Seleukos I Nikator. Seleukeia on the Tigris, circa 280 B.C. Æ 23, 10.92 g
Obv: Winged head of Medusa right
Rev: BASILEUS SELEUKOY, bull butting right; Θ above, monogram below bull.
ex Agora Auctions, March 2014, lot 6-033

 

PHRYGIA, Trajanopolis. Pseudo-autonomous issue.
AE15. 2.22g, 14.7mm. PHRYGIA, Trajanopolis, Pseudo-autonomous, time of Hadrian, circa AD 117-138. BMC 14, SNG von Aulock 8458. O: Laureate bust of young Herakles right. R: TPAIANOΠOΛITΩN, Nike advancing right with palm and wreath.
Notes from AMCC 2: "A lovely little coin, and rare (cf. Naumann 15, 06.04.2014, lot 487: 70 EUR/95 USD). It was minted not long after the city's founding, which occurred not under Trajan as many suppose, but rather under Hadrian. Allegedly the founders, from Troas, asked Hadrian’s permission to name the town after his predecessor."

SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
AE Tetrassarion. 10.86g, 28.3mm. PONTUS, Sebastopolis-Heracleopolis, dated CY 208 (AD 205/6). Amandry & Remy 17b; Voegtli type 4o. O: AY KAI Λ CЄ-ΠTI [...], laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. R: CEBACTΟΠO H[PAKΛE]-O-ΠO, The Seventh Labour of Heracles: Heracles wrestling the Cretan Bull, in field, ЄT HC (date).
Note: Originally called Carana, the city was renamed Sebastopolis after Emperor Augustus ("sebastos" being Greek for Augustus), with the secondary name Heracleopolis added later in recognition of the city's chief deity, Heracles.

 

Thought I'd go with the painfully obvious:

Constantine I
Constantinople mint, A.D. 327-328
Obv: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG
Rev: LIBERT-A-S PVBLICA - Victory on galley, holding wreath in both hands
CONS in exergue; E in left field


Constantinopolis Commemorative
Constantinople mint

 

Does this count? 'Colonia Augusta Nemausus'. Not sure, I've read that it is uncertain that the city of Nemausus officially wore that name. The city of Nemausus received its titel 'colonia', after veterans moved in that served under Augustus.

 

Here's a different one....
The town Avantipur (Modern day Awantipora) Kashmir was named after Avanti Varman 855-883 AD The king who founded the Utpala Dynasty...

 

Augusta Traiana was, of course, founded by Trajan.


Faustina Jr, AD 147-175.
Roman provincial AE 25.1 mm, 8.88 g.
Thrace, Augusta Traiana, AD 161-175.
Obv: ΦΑVCΤΕΙΝΑ CΕΒΑCΤΗ, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: ΑVΓΟVCΤΗC ΤΡΑΙΑΝΗC, Artemis standing right, holding bow, drawing arrow from quiver, hound at her side.
Refs: RPC IV.1, 10333 (temporary); CN 6015.; Schönert-Geiß, MATT 43, p. 60, pl. 3-4.

 

I am going to push the boundaries and go with Herakles and the towns named Herakleia. These are from VCoins at the moment.



One thing I find interesting is the more or less anonymous portraits of Herakles before Alexander and the images of Alexander-as-Herakles later.

 

The Greek word is oikist (οἶκιστής‎).
From the Oxford Classical Dictionary online:
Founders were chiefly important before Alexander the Great in the case of colonies (see apoikia), founded under the leadership of an oikist (οἶκιστής‎), whose achievements frequently led to his posthumous worship as a hero (see hero-cult). In 5th-cent. BCE Athens oikists were state officials who returned home after completing their task, as with Hagnon at Amphipolis. Among Hellenistic founders of cities (ktistēs was now the preferred term) kings naturally loomed largest, although not all attended in person the founding rituals like Alexander the Great ...


From Leu Numismatics, Taras as the oikestes of the town with his name. (Punic occupation issue.) Seaching CoinArchives revealed many of these, though no others attributed with OIKIST. The word was more common in identifying other Ancient Greek coins in attributions of 100 years ago based on Historia Numorum and other works of the time.

 

Can’t forget the father of Alexander the Great, Philip ll (or as Gandy believes, Philip the great!):

Philippos Macedonia
v. 221-179 BCE AE-Tetrachalkon 18.15 mm 5.19g. Head of the youth. Heracles in the lion's skin N.R./rider on rising horse N. R., including BA, in the field L.??. SNG cop. 1234. Dark green Patina


Is Phillipi also named after Philip ll?


MACEDON. Philippi
Ae (Circa 357-330 BCE).
Obv: Head of Herakles left, wearing lion's skin.
Rev: ΦIΛIΠΠΩN.
Tripod, bow in bowcase in field left.
BMC 17.
Condition: Very fine.
Weight: 5.05 g.
Diameter: 18 mm
Former SAVOCA

 

Great idea RC!

Bithynia, Juliopolis. Gordian III, AE16.
Renamed from Gordiou Kome to Juliopolis in honour of the Emperor Augustus


Cilicia, Flaviopolis. Marcus Aurelius AE22
Unknown whether it got it's name from Vespasian or a member of the Constantine family.



Cilicia, Irenopolis. AE 17 - Domitian
Eirenopolis was also know as Neronias in honor of Nero.


Macedonia, Philippi. Tiberius, AE17
Named after Macedonian King Phillip II.


Phrygia, Tiberiopolis. AE18, Cult statue of Artemis Ephesia.
?

 

Here’s one from Marcianopolis:


Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, AE Pentassarion, Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, (28 mm., 14.09 g.), Confronted busts of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, AY K L CEPT CEVHPOC IOVLIA DOMNA CEB/ Rev. Y ΦΛ OYΛΠIANOY MAΡKIANOΠOΛITΩN, Kybele seated left, holding patera, arm resting on drum, lions at sides. Epsilon in left field. Varbanov 845(var).

Marcianopolis was named after Trajan’s sister, Ulpia Marciana, but you don’t see her coins very often...does anyone on CT have a Marciana?

 

Wow, of course you would have a Marciana, RC. Fantastic coin.