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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ancientnut, post: 2145607, member: 73212&quot;]I can finally get off the bench with:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://s95.photobucket.com/user/ancientnut/media/28Epidauros_zpsc95861ac.jpg.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://s95.photobucket.com/user/ancientnut/media/28Epidauros_zpsc95861ac.jpg.html" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l155/ancientnut/28Epidauros_zpsc95861ac.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p>Epidauros, Argolis, AR drachm, c 250-245 BC, 20 mm, 4.71 g. OBV: Laureate head of Apollo Maleatas* to right, his long hair falling behind, draping his neck / REV: Asklepios, bearded, seated to left, holding a long scepter in his left hand and extending his right over the head of a serpent that coils to left before him; hound lying to right below him; ΘΕ beneath seat, E in right field. HGC 5 728 (R2: 3-24 known), P. Requier, <i>Le Monnyage d’Epidaure a la lumiere d’un nouveau&nbsp; tresor</i>, <i>SNR </i>72, 1993, plate 5, 64 (this coin) [Coin Hoards, Volume VIII, 298, 1979/80]; De Nanteuil 954 (same dies), Kraay/Hirmer 519; BCD 1240, BMC 7, Jameson 2107, SNG Lockett 2508; Sear GC 2809.</p><p><br /></p><p>The silver drachms of Epidauros were produced on a very limited scale, and before the appearance of the Epidaurus Hoard in 1979-80 (CH VIII, 298) most great collections lacked even a single example. The reverse depicts the statue of Asklepios, son of Apollo, by Thrasymedes of Paros made c 375 BC, and honors the cult of the healing god for which Epidauros was an important site of pilgrimage. Reputed to be the birthplace of Asklepios, Epidauros was famous for the sanctuary that lay about five miles from the town. Known as the Asklepieion, this sanctuary was the most important and celebrated healing place in the Hellenic world; its fame ensured its survival well into Roman and Christian times, being active as late as the mid fifth century AD. Pilgrims would spend the night in enkoimeteria, a big sleeping hall, and in their dreams, the God himself would advise them what they had to do to remedy their ailments. Panhellenic games devoted to the god, the Asklepiaia, were conducted at the great sanctuary located a few kilometers south of Epidauros, where the well-preserved remains of the sanctuary can be seen today.</p><p><br /></p><p>* A sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas was located on a low hill to the Southeast of the sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidauros described above. At the peak of this hill are the remains of an open-air altar which dates to the beginning of the Bronze Age (2,300 BC), where animals were sacrificed and offerings dedicated.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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