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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TIF, post: 2010667, member: 56859&quot;][ATTACH=full]362256[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>What this coin lacks in quality it makes up for in history.&nbsp; Struck in Phoenicia under emperor Elagabalus, the reverse depicts Queen Dido overseeing the construction of Carthage.&nbsp; It’s a fascinating story of a legendary woman.</p><p><br /></p><p>The abbreviated version:</p><p><br /></p><p>Born to Tyrian King, the beautiful Dido (also known as Elissa) was to be co-heir with her younger brother Pygmalion.&nbsp; Upon the king’s death, however, Pygmalion was made sole ruler.&nbsp; Dido married her rich uncle Acerbas (also known as Sychaeus); Pygmalion murdered Acerbas in hopes of finding his reported hoard of buried treasure.&nbsp; Sensing trouble if she stayed, Dido devised a clever ruse to escape Tyre with the treasure.</p><p><br /></p><p>She did escape, treasure in tow, and fled to coastal North Africa.&nbsp; There she persuaded King Iarbas to grant her some land.&nbsp; Her request was modest:&nbsp; only as much land as could be encompassed by an ox hide.</p><p><br /></p><p>Dido cleverly cut the ox hide into fine strips and used that as a perimeter rope.&nbsp; It was long enough to surround and entire hill*.&nbsp; Local Berbers and nearby Phoenicians joined her.&nbsp; She enlisted their aid in construction; thus was born the magnificent and powerful city of Carthage.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Turner_Dido_Building_Carthage.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><font size="3">J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851); <i>Dido Building Carthage</i>, 1815</font></p><p><br /></p><p>This otherwise clever woman did something quite foolish at the end though.&nbsp; She killed herself in order to avoid marrying King Iarbas.&nbsp; History and legends say it was because she wanted to remain faithful to her first husband and because of this, she was deified and worshipped for honor her self-sacrifice.</p><p><br /></p><p>A somewhat different and more poetic story of Queen Dido&nbsp; is told by Virgil in <i>Aeneid</i>.&nbsp; After his murder, Acerbas appeared to Dido in a dream and warned her to flee.&nbsp; He revealed where his gold was buried.&nbsp; Dido heeded the dream, took the treasure, and fled.</p><p><br /></p><p>After establishing Carthage, notable visitors arrived… the last prince of Troy, Aeneas, along with various companions.&nbsp; The gods Juno and Venus conspired to make Dido and Aeneas fall in love.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Gu%C3%A9rin_%C3%89n%C3%A9e_racontant_%C3%A0_Didon_les_malheurs_de_la_ville_de_Troie_Louvre_5184.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><font size="3">Pierre-Narcisse Guérin (1774-1833, France); <i>Aeneas Relating to Dido the Disasters of Troy</i>, 1815.</font></p><p><br /></p><p>King Iarbas wanted to marry Dido but she declined; she was in love with Aeneas.&nbsp; Angry that she preferred another, Iarbas banished Aeneas from the land.</p><p><br /></p><p>Aeneas fled, leaving Dido heartbroken and scorned.&nbsp; Upon seeing his ship leaving she cursed him and promised endless hate between Carthage and Aeneas’s homeland, Troy.&nbsp;&nbsp; This legend lays the foundation for the impending Punic Wars.</p><p><br /></p><p>As for this coin’s obverse— the very colorful emperor Elagabalus— I will save that story for the next coin, which I hope to post within the next few days.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3">*Commemorated in modern mathematics, “Dido’s Problem” deals with how to enclose the maximum area within a fixed boundary.</font></p><p><br /></p><p><i>Elagabalus Æ29 of Tyre, Phoenicia. AD 218-222. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / Dido building Carthage; she stands to front before the arched gate of the city, looking left, holding a rule and transverse sceptre; above the gate, a mason at work, [below, a man digging with pick]; murex shell in upper field, palm tree to right. Rouvier 2375; BMC 409; AUB 245; Price &amp; Trell 748. 13.4g, 29mm, 6h. Very Fine. Rare.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>Post your coins of Carthage, Tyre, Elagabalus, or whatever else you feel fits the thread <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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