Faustina Friday – Ankyra in Phrygia and Ankyra in Galatia Edition

TGIFF!!



I recently acquired a provincial coin of Faustina I because of its similarity to a coin of Faustina II I already had in my numophylacium Faustinae. Each were struck in the city of Ankyra (Ancyra) in Phrygia. I am not going to discuss the reverse type because I have previously done so here and here.

Faustina I, AD 138-140.
Roman provincial Æ 19.4 mm, 4.2 g.
Phrygia, Ankyra, AD 138-140.
Obv: ΦΑΥϹΤЄΙΝΑ ϹЄΒΑϹΤΗ, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: ΑΝΚΥΡ-ΑΝΩΝ, cult statue of Ephesian Artemis standing facing, wearing kalathos, arms resting on supports and flanked by two stags.
Refs: RPC IV.2, 1732 (temporary); SNG Cop 139.
Notes: The Greek obverse inscription, ΦΑΥϹΤЄΙΝΑ ϹЄΒΑϹΤΗ, makes no mention of the empress' deified status and corresponds to FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, used on imperial issues from AD 139-140. Accordingly, RPC dates the coin to "early in the reign of Antoninus Pius," and suggests "c. 138-140."​

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman provincial Æ 19.1 mm, 3.81 g, 7 h.
Phrygia, Ankyra, AD 147-165.
Obv: ΦΑΥϹΤЄΙΝΑ ϹЄΒΑϹΤΗ, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: ΑΝΚΥ-ΡΑΝΩΝ, cult statue of Ephesian Artemis standing facing, wearing kalathos, arms resting on supports and flanked by two stags.
Refs: RPC IV.2, 1727 (temporary); BMC 25.64,35-36; RG 5644; Sear 1774; SNG Cop 142-143; SNG von Aulock 3436; SNG Munich 99-100.
Notes: Dating this is difficult. The empress is depicted in a hairstyle used on imperial issues from 147-c. 150, but the obverse inscription corresponds to one used on imperial issues after 158. Accordingly, RPC is uncertain whether it was issued under Antoninus Pius or Marcus Aurelius.​

You might think that the city that issued these coins is now Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, but you'd be wrong. You see, there are TWO cities named Ankara, one in Phrygia and another in Galatia, east of Phrygia. Galatian Ankyra is now the modern city of Ankara.

There are two cities named Ankyra, one in western Phrygia and one in central Galatia. From "Asia citerior," Auctore Henrico Kiepert Berolinensi. Geographische Verlagshandlung Dietrich Reimer (Ernst Vohsen) Berlin, Wilhemlstr. 29. (1903). David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.​

Each city issued coins during the Roman imperial period, but their coins have unique features which allow them to be distinguished. Nonetheless, they are often confused with each other. For example, my coin of Faustina II above is incorrectly listed at Wildwinds as being issued by Ankyra in Galatia, not Phrygia. To add to the confusion, Ankyra is the Greek word for "anchor,"[1] and each city issued coins depicting anchors as design elements, typically as an attribute of Zeus or Mên, as a canting device to evoke the name of the city.

Phrygian Ankyra was the chief city of the district of Abbaïtis in western Phrygia. It struck coins bearing the reverse inscription ΜΥΣΩΝ ΑΒΒΑΙΤΩΝ in the second century BC. It did not begin to strike money in its own name until the reign of Nero, when the title Julia was conferred on the city (c.f. a coin of Nero and Poppaea reading ΙΥΛΙΕΩΝ ΑΝΚΥΡΑΝΩΝ, RPC I, 3111). The ordinary inscription on subsequent coins is simply ΑΝΚΥΡΑΝΩΝ, as on the coins illustrated above. The city issued quasi-autonomous and imperial coins from the reign of Nero through Philip the Arab. In addition to the name of the city, the reverse inscriptions may include the name of a local magistrate under various titles, such as Archon or Hiereus.[2]

Galatian Ankyra is now the capital city of Ankara, Turkey. In ancient times, it was the capital city of the Tectosages, one of three Gallic tribes of Galatia. In the Roman imperial period, it became the capital of the province of Galatia. It began striking Roman provincial issues during the Flavian period. These types bear the reverse inscription ΣΕΒΑΣΤΗΝΩΝ ΤΕΚΤΟΣΑΓΩΝ or some variation thereof, but not the name of the city itself. From the reign of Antoninus Pius through that of Gallienus, the coins usually bear various forms of "Metropolis of Ankyra," such as ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙϹ ΤΗϹ ΓΑΛΑΤΙΑϹ ΑΝΚΥΡΑ (Metropolis of Galatia, Ankyra), ΜΗΤΡΟ ΑΝΚΥΡΑC, and other abbreviated forms. During the reign of Valerian, the abbreviation B N is sometimes inserted, referring to the city as having two neocorates.[3]

Here are some Faustina-related issues from Galatian Ankyra for comparison. These are illustrated from examples in RPC; I do not (yet) own any examples of these coins.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman provincial Æ 22 mm, 10.10 g, 6 h.
Galatia, Ankyra, c. AD 158-165.
Obv: ΦΑΥϹΤЄΙΝΑ ϹЄΒΑ, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: ΜΗΤΡΟ ΑΝΚVΡΑϹ, Mên standing, facing, head, l., wearing Phrygian cap, holding anchor and pinecone; behind his shoulders, crescent.
Refs: RPC IV.3, 5687 (temporary); BMC 20.9,8; RG 6610.​

Marcus Aurelius, Augustus, AD 161-180.
Roman provincial Æ 26 mm, 10.84 g, 6 h.
Galatia, Ankyra, AD 161.
Obv: ΑVΤ Μ ΑVΡ ΑΝΤΩΝΙΝ, bare-headed bust of Marcus Aurelius wearing cuirass, right.
Rev: ЄVΤЄΚΝΙΑΝ ΑΝΚVΡΑ, Faustina II as Fecunditas standing, left, holding infant imperial twins (Commodus and T. Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus).
Refs: RPC IV.3, 10043 (temporary).
Notes: This reverse type was also used on coins of this city issued for Marcus Aurelius' co-emperor, Lucius Verus (c.f. RPC IV.3, 5855). The epithet, εὐτεκνία, means "blessing of children" and may be used as the name of a personification.[4] This epithet is unique to this reverse type of this city and thus almost certainly is the Greek equivalent of the Latin Fecunditas.​

Let's see your coins of Ankyra, whether Phrygian or Galatian (please specify), coins depicting Ephesian Artemis, or whatever you feel is relevant!

~~~

Notes:

1. S.v. ἄγκυρα, Liddell, Henry George, et al. A Greek-English Lexicon Revised and Augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the Assistance of Roderick McKenzie. The Clarendon Press (the Oxford University Press), 1940.

2. Head, Barclay Vincent. Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Phrygia. Printed by Order of the Trustees, 1906, pp. xxix-xxxi.

3. Wroth, Warwick. Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Galatia, Cappadocia, and Syria. Trustees of the British Museum, 1899, pp. xx-xxi, 8-16.

4. S.v. εὐτεκνία, Liddell et al, op. cit.

 

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Very cool coins RC! Here's my ephing Artemis:

Aurelian
Pisidia. Kremna AD 270-275.
Bronze Æ 32mm., 14,18g. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / Facing statue of Artemis Ephesia, with supports. nearly very fine Cf. Von Aulock, Pisidien II 1621-3.
Ex Savoca London

 

Is this common for the name starting at 1 o'clock, all the ones I have seen start at 8 oclock.

 

Well-known and common variant. Considered the same catalog number by RPC online. See examples 16, 17, and 18 here, all in the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

 

What does conventus of Sardis mean

 

A conventus was a sub-division of some provinces (a county or district), conventus iuridicus was the capital city of a subdivision of some provinces e.g. Asia Minor, which served as the seat for the district courts and perhaps had other regional accountabilities. RPC seems to use "region" the the division like Lydia in Asia minor, and "province" (for the sub-division like conventus of Sardis).

Note for example that the city of Maeonia is also described as being in the conventus of Sardis. https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/search/browse?city_id=116