DECEMBER 13th :THE DAY THE EARTH SHOOK...

An earthquake -and a big one- struck Antioch in Roman Syria on December 13, 115 AD. Its estimated magnitude is 7.5 on the Richter scale. Antioch and the surrounding areas are devastated with significant human and material losses. It triggers a local tsunami which seriously damages the port of Caesarea Maritima. The Roman Emperor Trajan, as well as his successor Hadrian, then engaged in the war against the Parthians, are present at the scene during the earthquake. They get away with only minor injuries. A description of the earthquake is included by historian Dion Cassius (Roman history, LXVIII, 24-25):

"First there came, on a sudden, a great bellowing roar, and this was followed by a tremendous quaking. The whole earth was upheaved, and buildings leaped into the air; some were carried aloft only to collapse and be broken in pieces, while others were tossed this way and that as if by the surge of the sea, and overturned, and the wreckage spread out over a great extent even of the open country. The crash of grinding and breaking timbers together with tiles and stones was most frightful; and an inconceivable amount of dust arose, so that it was impossible for one to see anything or to speak or hear a word.(...)

Trajan made his way out through a window of the room in which he was staying. Some being, of greater than human stature, had come to him and led him forth, so that he escaped with only a few slight injuries; and as the shocks extended over several days, he lived out of doors in the hippodrome".

Over the past 2000 years, the entire area has been affected by many major earthquakes: on average, one major earthquake every 150 years. The city of Apamea is also destroyed by the earthquake and Beirut suffers significant damage. Gaza, further south, is wiped off the map, and the tsunami appears to have weakly reached Alexandria, Egypt.
The tsunami caused by the earthquake hit the Lebanese coast, in particular Caesarea and Yavneh. The port of Caesarea is probably destroyed according to an interpretation based on the dating of a thick deposit of half a meter lying outside the port. The estimate of the number of deaths at 260,000 is very uncertain and seems to appear only in works published in the last hundred years. This would make it one of the deadliest earthquakes in history. Some historians put forward the figure of 500,000 dead, taking into account the damage caused in the hinterland of Antioch.

Caesarea Maritima


About the mints:

Coins were minted at Caesarea Maritima for almost 250 years. From its founding until the mid-third century, the local mint issued a wide variety of coins, under such authorities as its founder, Herod, his grandson Agrippa II, Roman prefects, procurators and legates, and finally by the colonia itself. Twenty four Emperors struck coins there, from Claudius to Trebonianus Gallus in 253 AD.

My only coin from Ceasarea Maritima
Trebonianus Gallus


The mint of Antioch produced a very high volume of coins during the period of the first and second tetrarchies. In the beginning it started with eight officinae and increased to ten in 299 AD and to eleven later in 312 AD. The mint had to provide the coins with which the legions stationed at the border with the Persian Empire will be payed. During the sole reign of Maximinus Daia (311-313) Antioch reached its maximum number of officinae: fifteen, a number reduced to eight in 321 AD. Constantine The Great will add two additional workshops in 326. His son Constantius II, who needed money to face his commitments in the east, will increase the production of the mint to his maximum number of workshops: fifteen, amount that will remain until 362 AD during the reign of Julian the Apostate, when it is reduced to only four. Under Valens it will operate again with ten officinae, which will be reduced to six in the last months of 378. Theodosius I (379-395) eliminates two other monetary workshops, leaving four operatives until the reign of Theodosius II in which they are reduced first to three and then to only one.
Some examples from Antioch:
Gallienus

Diocletian

Carus

Vabalathus

Valentinian II


On the day of the BIG earthquake, please show me your coins of ANTIOCH and CAESAREA MARITIMA !

 

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Thank you for the writeup. ...Yes, that's a euphemism for saying, "I haven't begun to give it the attention it warrants." Some of it evokes your earlier posts, but only by way of welcome context.

 

Here are a couple of my coins that were minted in Antioch.


Palmyrene Empire. Aurelian and Vabalathus. Minted circa 270-272 CE. AE Antoninianus. 22mm, 3.64g. Antioch mint, seventh officina. Obverse: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG. Radiate, cuirassed bust of Aurelian right. Officina letter Ζ below. Reverse: VABALATHVS VC R IM DR. Laureate bust of Vabalthus right. RIC 381; Cohen 1; Sear 11718. (It is debatable which side is the obverse).



Constantius I Chlorus. Minted circa 296 CE. AE Post-Reform Radiate Fraction. 20mm, 2.86g. Antioch mint, second officina. Obverse: FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES, radiate and draped bust right. Reverse: CONCORDIA MILITVM, Emperor standing right, scepter in left hand, receiving Victory on globe from Jupiter standing left, scepter in left hand. Star over Β in middle field. ANT in exergue. RIC VI Antioch 61a.

 

Thank you for the post. Love brief history lessons.

 

Great write-up, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix!

This thread needs some T-Bone! All from the mint at Antioch:

 

Very nice writeup. Here is one from Antioch.



SELEUCIS and PIERIA, Antioch. Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Tetradrachm
(27mm, 14.56 g, 12h).
In the name and types of the Seleucid king Philip I Philadelphus. Dated year 26 of the Caesarean Era (24/23 BC).
Obv: Diademed head of Philip I right within fillet border
Rev: Zeus Nicephorus seated left; monogram to inner left and below throne, ςK (date) and thunderbolt in exergue; all within wreath.
Prieur 19; McAlee 19 (this coin illustrated); RPC I 4142; SC 2491.16; HGC 9, 1360p. Toned, some porosity and surface striations.
Fine. Rare, seven known to Prieur, and two in CoinArchives.
From the Michel Prieur Collection, purchased privately from Richard McAlee.
CNG E-Auction 451 Lot 272 September 4, 2019

 

This one was minted in the city within months of the earthquake. Its obverse legend -- assuming its titulature follows that of the imperial issues -- allows it to be dated to late AD 115 to early AD 116.


Trajan, AD 98-117.
Roman Provincial Æ 29 mm, 15.86 g, 12 h.
Syria, Seleucis and Pieria, Antioch, late AD 115 - early AD 116.
Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚΡ ΚΑΙϹ ΝΕΡ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟϹ ΑΡΙϹΤ ϹΕΒ ΓΕΡΜ ΔΑΚ, laureate head, right. Countermark: laurel branch in incuse rectangle, Howgego 378 (69 sp.).
Rev: S·C in laurel wreath; Є below.
Refs: RPC III 3616; cf. BMC 20, p. 185, 286 (with same countermark); Wruck 196; McAlee 489(e).

 

cool history story Ocat...my coins from Antioch...

Maximianus


Probus


Diocletian


Constantius II


Constantine I


Constantine I


Constantine I


Philip II, Prieur 394


Philip I, Prieur 445

 

Nice write up @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix !

I dug out the max you can post in one posting 10 of them from Antioch.

 

The coin pictured below was struck in Tyre, Phoenicia one year before this devastating earthquake occurred. If Caesarea Maritima was devastated Tyre must have been too.


Tyre - Phoenicia, Trajan, AD 98-117 (dated year 18, Consul 6, AD 113-114). Obverse: Trajan, eagle & club of Hercules. Reverse: Melqart/Hercules. AR Tetradrachm: 14.18 gm, 26 mm, 5 h.

 

Enjoyed the write up and nice coins all!
Galerius.

 

I have some coins from Antioch, and was actually surprised that I have as many as I do. Nothing from the time of the earthquake, though, and my only Trajan coin from Tyre is way too early -- AD 100.

But here are my 8 Antiochs, spanning a period of more than 400 years:

Syria, Seleucid Empire, Antiochos VIII Epiphanes (Grypon) Tetradrachm, 109-96 BCE Antioch Mint. Obv. Diademed head of Antiochos VIII right / Rev. Zeus Nikephoros seated left on high-backed throne, holding Nike on outstretched right hand and scepter in left; to outer left, E/P monogram above A [Antioch]; ΔI monogram below throne; BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANTIOXOY EΠIΦANOYΣ; all within laurel wreath. Seleucid Coins [SC] Pt. 2, 2309; Seleucid Coins Online [same] (see http://numismatics.org/sco/id/sc.1.2309); Seaby 7145 (ill.) [Sear, David, Greek Coins & their Values, Vol. II: Asia & Africa (Seaby 1979)]. [Additional references omitted.] 27 mm., 16.2 g.





Elagabalus AR Denarius, 218-219 AD, Antioch Mint. Obv. Laureate draped bust right, no beard, ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG/Rev. Two standards between two legionary eagles, CONCORDIA MILIT. RIC IV-2 187, RSC III 15, Sear RCV II 7505 (ill.). 18 mm., 2.8 g.




Philip II, billon Tetradrachm, 248-249 AD, Syria, Seleucis and Pieria, Antioch Mint. Obv. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind, AYTOK K M IOΥΛI ΦIΛIΠΠOC CEB / Rev. Eagle standing facing, head right, wings spread, holding wreath in its beak, ΔHMAΡX EΞ OYCIAC YΠATO Δ [4th consulship]; ANTIOXIA / S C in two lines below eagle. Prieur 474 [Michel and Karin Prieur, Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachms (London, 2000)]; BMC 20 Syria 560 [Warwick Wroth, A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 20, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Syria (London, 1899) at p. 218]; McAlee 1042 [Richard McAlee, The Coins of Roman Antioch (2007)]; RPC VIII No. 29020 (https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/29020). 27.15 mm., 14.00 g. Ex. CNG Electronic Auction 466, April 22, 2020, part of Lot 728.



Gallienus, Billon Antoninianus, 264-265 AD, Antioch Mint, 11th emission (Göbl). Obv. Radiate head left, GALLIENVS AVG / Rev. Lion walking left, bucranium [bull’s head] in front of paws, P M TRP XIII; in exergue, CVIPP [CVI = COS VI], palm branch left below. RIC V-1 602 var. obv. [bust draped & cuirassed] & rev. [lion radiate]; RSC IV 847 var. rev. [lion radiate]; Sear RCV III 10327 var. rev. [lion radiate]; Göbl MIR [Moneta Imperii Romani] Band 36, No. 1622 [see http://www258.pair.com/denarius/coinage.htm, Coinage of Gallienus and Family, with Göbl numbers, descriptions, & images for Gallienus coins]. 21 mm., 4.05 g., 12 h.




Vabalathus with Aurelian, billon Antoninianus, 270-272 AD, Antioch Mint. Obv. Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Vabalathus right, VABALATHVS V C R IM D R [Vir Clarissimus, Rex, Imperator, Dux Romanorum ] / Rev. Radiate and cuirassed bust of Aurelian right, Γ [gamma] (Antioch, Officina 3) below, IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG. RIC V-1 Aurelian 381, Sear RCV III 11718, Cohen 1. 21 mm., 3.43 g.



Carus, silvered AE Antoninianus, 283 AD, Antioch Mint (1st Officina) Obv. Radiate bust right, IMP C M AVR CARVS PF AVG/ Rev. VIRTUS AVGGG, Carus, standing right, receives Victory from Jupiter standing left, holding long scepter, star in upper field, A in lower middle field (= 1st Officina, Antioch Mint), XXI in exergue. RIC V-2 125(A), Sear RCV III 12190, ERIC II 141, Cohen 117. 20.25 mm., 3.59 g.



Diocletian, silvered AE Antoninianus, 293-294 AD, Antioch Mint (7th Officina). Obv. Radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right, IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIANVS PF AVG / Rev. Jupiter stdg. left, holding long scepter, presents Victory on globe to Diocletian, CONCORDIA MILITVM; Z in lower middle field (= 7th officina of Antioch mint), XXI in exergue. RIC VI 322 (p. 256), Sear RCV IV 12637, Cohen 34. 20.87 mm., 4.75 g.



Delmatius Caesar (nephew of Constantine I), Billon reduced Centenionalis, Antioch Mint (10th Officina), 335-337 AD. Obv. Laureate and cuirassed bust right, FL DELMA-TIVS NOB C / Rev. Two helmeted soldiers, standing facing one another, reversed spears in outer hands, inner hands on shields resting on ground, one standard between them, GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS; in exergue, SMANI [Antioch, 10th Officina]. RIC VII Antioch 112, p. 697; Sear RCV IV 16901; Cohen 4. 15x16 mm., 1.7 g.

 

Thanks for the well-written and informative article!
I have a few coins from Antioch, though I've already posted them before:

Claudius II (268-270), Antoninianus, Antioch mint, 4th emission (Late 270).
Obverse: IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate left-facing head.
Reverse: CONC-OR AVG, Proserpina standing right, holding long-handled torch in hand, facing Ceres standing left, holding corn-ears in right hand and long-handled torch in left hand.
RIC 200, RIC V online 1073

Claudius II (268-270), Antoninianus, Antioch mint, 4th emission (Late 270).
Obverse: IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate left-facing head.
Reverse: AETE-R A-V-G, Luna standing left, holding long-handled lighted torch in both hands, facing Sol standing right, with right hand raised and holding whip in left hand.
RIC 198, RIC V online 1070

 

Wow. I have to like your coissue of Valabalthus. Tres, Tres Cool.

 

...the day Antioch rocked...here's one of Nerva minted before the calamity ...

 

ANTIOCH

My Oldest

Seleukid Demetrios I Soter 162-150 BCE AE 17 serrate 16.8mm 3.9g Antioch on Orontes mint Horse Hd L - Elephant Hd R- SC 1646 SNG Spaer 1299-1304


My Youngest

BZ Justin I 518-527 CE Copper Folles Antioch 20 nummia K monogram

 

Great write up and coins! Thank you..


Licinius I
Obverse: IMP LICI-NIVS AVG,
Reverse: IOVI CONS-ERVATORI AVGG


Claudius II, 268-270
IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG
NEPTVN AVG
Antioch


Constantius as Caesar, 293-305
IOV ET HERCVLI CONS CAES
Jupiter and Hercules, protectors of the Caesars
Antioch

 

Galerius As Caesar Ar Argenteus Antioch 298 AD Obv Head right laureate Rv. Camp gate RIC 43/4a 3.18 grms 20mm I remember when the argenteus was considered a very rare and difficult coin to acquire. Times have certainly changed.