Dear friends of ancient mythology! I have always tried to find out the historical and mythological background of the coins in my collection. Today I want to share a bit obscure coin about which we actually don't know much. I have tried to gather all I could find. And at the end I have made a discovery which I will present at the end of this article. 1st coin: Bithynia, Tion, Domitian, AD 81-96 AE 22, 7.45g, 21.74mm, 180° Obv.: AVT ΔOMITIANOΣ KAIΣAP ΣEBA ΓEPM (BA and PM ligate) Laureate head r. Rev.: ZEVΣ ΣYPΓAΣTHΣ - TEIANΩN Zeus Syrgastes, in himation, stg. l., holding patera in extended r. hand and resting with raised l. hand on sceptre; left.before him an unknown object (surely an animal but surely not an eagle!) Ref.: Rec.Gen. II, p.619, no.22, pl.CVI, 25; RPC 702 extremely rare, VF, red-brown patina Thanks to Pat Lawrence for attribution of this coin! Syrgastes was a Thracian-Bithynian deity who - as so many others too - was melted with Zeus. Much more we don't know. Coins with his depiction are known only from Tion from Domitian to Gallienus. Inscriptions citing his name we know from Philippi, Amphipolis and Hadrianopolis. Etymology: Syrgastes is a Thracian personal name with a sacral value but is used as sacral epithet too. So the epithet of the Bithynian sun-god was Syrgastes, Syrgastor, presumably related to the Thracian personal name Suregethes ="the bright one". If so, the meaning must have been 'the bright god". Compare to the Roman "sur" (now still only used for horses) = with whitish fur. This may be eventually related to Basque txur (tsuri) = "white, whitish". If this relationship with Basque (and it is not unique) is accepted then the Thracian "sur(e)-" may be of Pre-Indo-European origin (Sorin Paliga). Roscher however is of another opinion. It is true that he too suggests that Syrgastes is related to Suregethes, but he writes: Referring to the etymology Tomaschek believes that "surs-" stems from the ar. "tsura" (= strengthen, enhancing), the same stem which is found in the Scythian name for Apollon as Goito-syros (Herod. 4. 59) = "gaitha-tsura" (strengthen the world of living). And the second part "-gethes" he compares with the Dacian "(Sarmi)ze-gethousa", whose stem is "g'e", enhanced to "g'et" (=advancing, walking). In the meantime, inscriptions have been found which indicate that Syrgastes was an ancient Phrygian god. Alexandru Auram states, that we are allowed to admit that Syrgastos was a very old divinity with Hittite-Luwian roots worshipped in Phrygia for a long time (7th century BC) before its main sanctuary was established at Tion. The Burial Society of Philippi: In Philippi/Macedonia inscriptions were found which gave evidence that a burial society has existed for Suregethes. The most interesting inscription reads: "I, Valeria Montana, have according to the order of my husband Aurelios Zipyron Dizas given 50 denarii to the burial society of the god Suregethes next to the agora opposite the clock; from that they shall from the interest income sacrifice annually by the sepulchre at the time of the Rosalia. If they don't sacrifice they shall give the double of the sum to the members of the burial society of the hero 'pros ta Torbiana' as punishment." Dizas is a Thracian name. So the dead person was a Thracian who - may be because he has been in the Roman army - has adopted the surname Aurelios. The Festival of Roses (Rosalia): The Rosalia were a festival of roses within the Roman funerary cult but not attested before the 1st century AD (Plin. nat. 21, 11). So it can't be ancient Roman as I have read too. It was a festival celebrated primarily by the ordinary people and associated most of all with the dead. The date of the Rosalia to which several sepulchral inscriptions from Philippi refer depends on the date of the rose blossom which is different from region to region. At the Rosalia the survivors of the society annually betake to the sepulchre of the deceased colleague of the society who had made the donation to lay down roses (some inscriptions in Philippi are talking from burning too). Not only roses were offered but food too. If there was enough money it was cared for the members of the society, a safe way to go on living in grateful memory. The deceased donator and the members of the society celebrated a joint dinner or the society was dining at the sepulchre from the money which was left after the decoration with roses. In principle the Rosalia were a Roman phenomena which initially has nothing to do with the veneration of Dionysos. But just for Philippi the connection of the Rosalia with the veneration of Dionysos was specific. Here the Rosalia so to speak have made an alliance with the Cult of Dionysos. The donations were committed to the myst of Dionysos and the association of mysteries should celebrate the Rosalia and annually hold the dinner of Rosalia at the sepulchre of the donor. This clearly is an amalgamation of Thracian, Greek and Roman religious beliefs. Especially in Thrace the belief in an afterlife was very distinct and the paradise promised by the god to his devotees was painted in brightest colours. This surely was one of the reasons why just here the Christian belief has been fallen on so fertile ground. Philippi - as we all know - was the first Christian parish in Europe. The problem for Christianism was rather the fact that the Philippians were used to venerate several gods side by side without problems. Now the 2nd coin of Tion: Bithynia, Tion, Trajan, AD 98-117 AE 27, 11.47g, 26.8mm, 20° obv. AVT NEP TPAIANOC - KAICAP CEB ΓEP Laureate bust r.. rev. ΔIONYCOC K - T - ICT TIANΩN Dionysos, in himation, stg. l., resting with raised l. hand on garlanded thyrsos decorated on both ends with pine cones and pouring from kantharos in lowered r. hamd; l. beside him the panther std. l., with raised r. paw and head turned r. looking up to him. ref. Rec.Gen. II, p. 620, no. 28 var., pl. CVII, no. 2 (has ΔINVCOC!); not in SNG Copenhagen, SNG von Aulock, SNG Tübingen, Lindgren, BMC extremely rare, F+/about VF, nice green patina On this coin Dionysos is depicted on the rev. Both gods are explicitly named and both gods are depicted on these coins very similarly: Both are wearing a himation whose end is thrown over the left shoulder, a garb we see only rarely at Dionysos. And Zeus Syrgastes is resting on a knotty sceptre shaped like the thyrsos of Dionysos. Both gods have an accompanying animal at their side: Dionysos his panther and Zeus Syrgastes usually the eagle. But here it is obviously another animal! Pat Lawrence has addressed it as a snake but not without making a big questionmark to the suggestion of Zeus with a snake. After having learned so much about the close relation of Zeus Syrgastes with Dionysos I have a new explanation: Is it possible that we can see the spotted forepart of a panther behind Syrgastes! Sources (1) Herodotus, Histories (2) Plinius, Nat. Hist. Literature: (1) W.H.Roscher, Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie, 1884 (2) Martin P.Nilsson, Das Rosenfest, Lecture given already AD 1914, edited 1951) (3) Sorin Paliga, Etymological Lexicon of the Indigenous (Thracian) Elements in Romanian, 2006 Bukarest (4) Peter Pilhofer, Philippi - Die erste christliche Gemeinde in Europa, 1995 Tübingen (5) Pat Lawrence, Post to the coin of Domitian in FAC 19.12.2006 (6) Alexandru Auram, Two Phrygian Gods Between Phrygia and Dacia, in "Colloquium Anatolicum 2016 / 15" Best regards Jochen
Interesting research, Jochen! Looking for other examples, I see that when Zeus Syrgastes is accompanied by an eagle it is often shown in full to his side, but here's one where the eagle is behind him with it's head sticking out in a similar way. What's notable here is that the eagle's feathers have a similar "spotted" appearance. https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/2/700
@Heliodromus: RPC is careful here and writes in its note: There seems to be something behind Zeus on 3, perhaps part of a sacred animal? It is presumably the same as can be seen to the left of Zeus on RPC II, 702/1-4. Jochen
Jochen1, Another great article with detailed explanation of complicated symbolism . Pictured below is a Corycus octassarion of Valerian with Dionysus & a panther on the reverse. CILICIA, Corycus. Valerian I, AD 253-260. AE Octassarion: 23.48 gm, 34 mm, 6 h. Obverse: Radiate, draped & cuirassed bust seen from the front. Reverse: Dionysus wearing nebris, holding thyrsus & wine skin over panther; to left, large agnostic prize crown containing a caduceus, palm branch, & aplustre, set on three-legged table. SNG von Aulock 5686. Ex CNG Electronic Auction 112, lot 128, April 13, 2005.
@Al Kowsky Thank you for posting your coin. I have the same type in my collection. May I add the following? According to Edith Specht's profound work "Kranz, Krone oder Korb für den Sieger", in "Zeitschrift für Archäologie 14/III/2000", we should call the big pumpkin shaped object not "prize urn" but "prize basket". It bears the inscription ΘEMIA which stands for the Themic Games. The presiding deity of the Themic Games was the goddess Themis, the personification of law and order who was also the patroness of the Pythian Oracle in Delphi in the time before Apollo. But Themia also means a deposit, usually of money, and the Themian games were unusual in that the prize for the winners was cash, unlike other games where the typical prize was wreaths, wine or celery. Best regards Jochen
Jochen, Thanks for posting the Edith Specht info, it makes more sense than the usual description that everyone else is using . We have a lot more to learn about about Roman provincial coinage, & your diligence is much appreciated .
