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Message:: [QUOTE="Jochen1, post: 8158658, member: 103829"]Dear friends of ancient mythology! Here I want to speak about personifications known only from coins of Asia minor. First:Boule - The Holy City Council The Coin:Caria, Trapezopolis, pseudo-autonomous, AD 150-250AE 18, 3.29g, 18.44mm, 180°.Obv.: IEPA - BOVΛH.         Bust of Boule, draped and veiled, r.Rev.: TPAΠE - ZOΠOΛI.         Kybele, in girdled double chiton, wearing kalathos, standing frontal, holding          outward-turned hands over 2 lions, seated r. and l. beside her with raised paws          outward.Ref.: SNG Tübingen 3505; Martin 12; Mionnet Supp.6, 554; RPC IV.2 online, 9243rare, VF, brown-green patina[ATTACH=full]1423791[/ATTACH] Our coin comes from Trapezopolis in Caria in the present province of Denizli in Turkey On the reverse the goddess Kybele is depicted with 2 lions at her side. What interests us here, however, is the front, which shows the female bust of Boule, draped and veiled to the right. The veil is the expression of her honour. The legend IEPA - BOVΛH translates as the "Holy City Council". Yes, those were the days when the local council was still holy! True, even today it often behaves as if it is sacrosanct and unassailable, but fortunately those days are gone. And one should remember that as a counterpart to the sacred city council there was also the IEPOΣ ΔHMOΣ, the sacred people of the state or the sacred community of citizens, from which our concept of democracy derives. The Boule originated in Athens and belongs to the beginning of Attic democracy. At first it was exclusively for nobles, but then every unbowed citizen was allowed to become a member. It decided on the budget, the fleet and impeachments. In Roman times, the principle of oligarchy prevailed again, membership was only possible for a circle of wealthy citizens. And their powers were limited to local tasks. The meeting of the Boule took place in a special building, the Bouleuterion, a richly decorated building usually near the Agora, the market place and centre of the city. [ATTACH=full]1423792[/ATTACH] The picture shows the Bouleuterion of Aphrodisias in Caria (own photo from 2011) In inscriptions, the Boule is always mentioned first, where it says, for example, "The Boule and the Demos have issued the following decree". But it is striking that on coins the Boule is always depicted on the smaller denominations than the Demos. Since nothing was random in this period, as is so often the case today, this can only mean that the Demos, the people, was above the Boule, the council assembly, in the hierarchy, which is actually understandable, since the latter consisted of only a part of the city people. The coin depicted comes from Asia Minor at the time of the Roman Empire. The depictions of the Boule, the Demos and other institutions of the Greek polis were intended to convey the message that these late Hellenised (Martin) cities were also part of the great tradition of Greek history and, despite being part of the Roman provincial administration, did not need to hide from the famous classical cities. The coin does not show the image of an emperor and is therefore called "pseudo-autonomous". It reflects an autonomy that had in fact long since ceased to exist. The terms "holy city council" or "holy community of citizens" still recall the old traditions, but in fact the rights of the cities and their institutions were severely curtailed. We know that today, too. There, the city council cannot decide for itself how wide a planned road can be, or whether or not cars may overtake each other on the road to the next town. Times do not seem to have changed after all. All the more reason for today's local councillors to take care that they fulfil their task of controlling the administration and do not degrade themselves to insignificance. I had this article first published as a letter to the editor in view of the current situation, since our local council is known for its uncritical approval of all proposals from the administration. Literature:(1) Der Kleine Pauly(2) Katharina Martin, Demos.Boule.Gerousia: Personifikationen städtischer  Institutionen auf kaiserzeitlichen Münzen aus Kleinasien, Münster 2013(The standard reference!)(3) Katharina Martin, Demos und Boule auf Münzen phrygischer Städte. Überlegungen zu Ikonographie und Funktion von Münzbildern (4)  Wikipedia Best regards[/QUOTE]

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