Dear friends of ancient coins! This wonderful coin lies like lead in my collection because I have not yet been able to decipher the inscription on the shield. But this inscription is decisive for the significance of this coin. That is why I am now putting all my hopes in the expertise of this forum. Ionia, Magnesia ad Maeandrum, Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161 AE 34, 26.53g, 33.3mm, 210°. struck under the grammateus L. Dioskourides Gratos Metr. Obv.: [T AI]ΛIOC KAICAP - ANTΩNEINO[C]. Bust, draped and cuirassed, laureate, r. Rev.: EΠI ΔIOCKOVPIΔ[OV] ΓP - MAΓ - NHTΩN Themistokles, naked to waist, seated on throne with lion's feet l., holding a shield set on a stele before him with the inscription .EM / .AN / OC (?), his l. hand on a sword hanging in a sheet from his left hip; r. behind him a horse with its head turned to the left. Ref.: unpublished; cf. Schultz 104 (V3); RPC IV.2; 11511 (temp., this coin) extremely rare, almost SS After lengthy research and discussions with luminaries such as Peter Weiss and Ruprecht Ziegler, we were able to agree on Themistokles. But what is the legend on the shield? Any one who has an opinion for the legend of the shield? Even crazy ideas are welcome! Best regards
Intriguing. I had no idea Roman coins referenced him some six hundred years later. What was his tie in to Ionia and what made you decide it was Themistocles? Looks like Apollo to me (or is the man in question bearded?) The shield boss should simply have the name of the place or person(s) it was trying to protect. Could it be a reference to a local diety, Magistrate maybe or a reference to something the man said? But it's all Greek to me. @Curtisimo just had a wonderful thread on the fella. Wonder if he has any idea?
One thing is certain: your specimen is the best compared to the other six on RPC online... I can probably distinguish the horse, but is it really a sword ???
@Ocatarinetabellatchitchix It is a parazonium in a scabbard. @Ryro One of my most important sources is Sabine Schultz, Die Münzprägung von Magnesia am Mäander in der römischen Kaiserzeit, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Georg Olms 1975. Under Antoninus Pius (no. 102A, p.61) she describes a pentassarion with the same obverse (V2A, pl.7). The reverse (R5, pl.7) shows a statue of Themistokles l., naked; his left hand grasps the sword in its scabbard with the sword belt hanging down, with his right hand stretched out in front he holds a patera over an burning altar, before him the front part of a humped cattle lying l. The legend is: EΠI ΔIOCKO(YPIΔOY) ΓPATOY MHTP (MAΓNH)in the left field Θ(E)M - ICTOKΛH-(C). The figure of Themistokles is naked, as befits a hero, and he holds the sword at his side in the same attitude as on my coin. The anatomically strange shape may even speak for the same die cutter. Schultz 102A From this it follows: (1) My coin is indeed from Magnesia ad Maeandrum. (2) It is indeed Themistokles. Why now Ionia?After Themistokles, the hero of Salamis, was driven into exile by the Athenians through the infamous shard court (ostrakismos), he fled to Persia, where, according to Thukydides, he was appointed satrap of Lampsakos, Myos and Magnesia ad Maendrum by King Artaxerxes I, who treated him more honourably than his own countrymen. Finally, Themistokles moved his residence to Magnesia ad Maeandrum, where Artaxerxes guaranteed him permanent provision because of his loyalty and strategic advice. Especially in the Roman imperial period, when the independence of the Greek cities was practically abolished, they felt the need to emphasise their great ancient history. We have this fact to thank for the most beautiful mythological reverses. Themistokles is depicted on this coin. But his figure has changed from a Greek general to a mythological hero. Why horses? Magnesia was founded by Magnets from Thessaly (according to others by Leukippos from Caria). And Thessaly was known for its horses. The vast plain of the Thessalian heartland were more suitable for horse breeding than any other part of Greece. The Thessalian cavalry was famous. The horse was the symbol of Thessaly. Therefore, the emphasis on the horse on this coin is not surprising. The coin of Antoninus Pius depicted in Schultz with the statue of Themistocles has the inscription Θ(E)M-ICTOKΛH-(C) in the left field. This fits well with the 1st line on the shield, which could then also be ΘEM. The 3rd line is OC. Then only the 3rd line with 5 or 6 letters is missing Best regards
