Dear friends of ancient mythology! The next article is about Gerusia - the Council of Elders The Coin: Caria, Antiocheia ad Maeandrum, pseudo-autonomous, 3rd century AD. AE 20, 4.93g, 19.68mm, 180°. Obv.: IEPA Γ[E - POVCIA] Bust of Gerusia, draped, r. Rev.: ANTIO - XEΩN. Athena in double chiton and helmet standing l., holding in left arm shield and spear and in outstretched right hand patera. Ref.: BMC 18; not in RPC very rare, VF- Gerusia, the council of elders, originated in Sparta. It consisted of 28 citizens of Sparta, the gerontes (from Greek γέρων = old man), who had to be at least 60 years old. Thus it roughly corresponded to the Roman Senate (from Latin senex = old man). The two kings always belonged to it. In the 7th century, the Gerusia was made one of the central organs of state, along with the Ephors and the People's Assembly. The text of the oldest Greek constitution is attributed to Lycurgus and has been handed down to us by Plutarch. According to him, it was an oracle saying from Delphi that was presented to Lycurgus. Plutarch himself held a priesthood at the temple of Apollo in Delphi from 95.According to current research, Lykurg is probably not a historical but a mythical person. The picture shows the oil painting "Lycurgus of Sparta", 1791, by Jacques-Louis David (748-1825), Musee des Beaux-Arts de Blois (Wikidata). In fact, however, it was not a single act, but developed gradually. As a result of the Messenian wars, the Spartan territory had expanded to such an extent that it required a new ruling and administrative structure. At the same time, it was intended to counteract a concentration of power in the hands of a few. The gerontes were elected for life. They decided which motions were submitted to the People's Assembly and which were not. They had the right to revoke or prevent decisions of the People's Assembly. Thus they formed an important political interface in the Spartan state. However, it is historically known that they were corruptible. In the classical period, however, the gerusia did not appear frequently. Through democratic developments, which also touched Sparta, their function became less and less important politically. Aristotle criticised the Spartan gerusia in the strongest terms, in particular the much too high age of its members and the "childish" selection procedure (Wikipedia). This consisted of shouting as loud as possible! A procedure that was easy to manipulate. The personification of Gerusia has no predecessor in Classical and Hellenistic art. Coins depicting her did not appear until the time of the Flavians, whereby these representations show a greater variety than those of the Boule (Martin). While on our coin Gerusia appears as an elderly matron, on other coins she is a youth. This also exists in Aphrodisias. It is possible that this different representation also denotes different institutions. In Ephesus, for example, a C. Vibius Saltutaris at the time of the Antonines consecrated a silver statue to the holy Gerusia, by whom he understood the Boule of the city (Martin). Literature: (1) Plutarch, Life of Lykurg (2) Katharina Martin, Boule.Demos.Gerousia, Münster 2013 (3) Der Kleine Pauly (4) Wikipedia Best regards
Hierapolis, Phrygia. AE24, 10g. Gerousia and Zeus Lydios, the hellenized form of Mên. From the Clain-Stefanelli collection. RPC cites only a specimen from Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien. While not sure if my coin is very rare, it is certainly very scratched.
