High on my want list has always been a coin with a portrait depicting not a deity or ruler, but instead, an ancient poet, philosopher, or mathematician. Mark Staal's website has a great page with an extensive list of coins with such historical figures depicted, though unfortunately, many of these are extremely rare. I'd been looking for one for years, and finally, a few weeks ago, I got my chance. A further enticement: it had not just one but two portraits, namely, those of Chrysippus the philosopher, and Aratus the poet. I'm still a little embarrassed about my decidedly non-philosophical approach when I had to fight tooth and nail at Hammer Time to win it, but it was 4am, and I just really really wanted the coin. After I paid for my prize, I waited another week, and then did my new coin happy dance when it arrived in the mail. Though it's in pretty rough condition, both portraits remain fairly clear, and it's a type that doesn't come along every day, so, needless to say, I'm glad to have it! CILICIA, Soloi-Pompeiopolis. Pseudo-autonomous issue. AE26. 12.98g, 25.8mm. CILICIA, Soloi-Pompeiopolis, CY 229 (AD 163/4), time of Marcus Aurelius. SNG von Aulock 8712; RPC Online IV.3 temp 5840. O: Draped bust of Chrysippus right, touching beard with hand; ΘKΣ behind. R: ΠOMΠHEIOΠOΛEITΩN, draped bust of Aratus right, looking upward. Struck in Soloi in Cilicia, the coin celebrates two of the city's most famous sons. On the obverse is Chrysippus (279-206 BC), one of the ancient world's most important philosophers, who was known as the Second Founder of Stoicism. "If Chrysippus had not existed, neither would the Stoa," wrote Diogenes Laertius in his Lives of the Philosophers, referring to the Stoic academy in Athens, where Chrysippus would serve as head, succeeding Zeno, the school's original founder, and Cleanthes, Chrysippus's teacher. Chrysippus was the main architect of the Stoic system of propositional logic, and of the more than 700 works he was said to have authored, about half of them were devoted to the topic. None of Chrysippus's texts have survived in full, but apparently hundreds of fragments exist, including at least two segments that have been found amongst the Herculaneum Papyri. Later Stoics like Epictetus and Seneca were admirers of Chrysippus, as was that most philosophical of emperors, Marcus Aurelius. I'm not sure if it was mere coincidence, but I do get a kick out of the fact that my coin - dated AD 163/4 by the civic year shown on it - was struck during Aurelius's reign. I also imagine that in Soloi, where he was born, Chrysippus's significance was probably the equivalent of Elvis's in Tupelo, Mississippi, so I'm not surprised at all by the rock star treatment he gets on its coinage. His portrait on this one in particular is a classic - the quintessential bald and bearded Greek philosopher with a riveting gaze, one hand contemplatively stroking his beard. It was possibly even copied straight from an original Hellenistic era marble bust of Chrysippus. Roman copy of a Hellenistic bust of Chrysippus (British Museum) It would be too much for this post to go into greater detail about Chrysippus's life and ideas, but if anyone is interested, I'll just leave a link to an excellent summary here. Moving on to the other side of the coin, we have the poet Aratus, his head turned upwards towards the sky, a nod to his most famous work, Phaenomena, a poetic description of the constellations and other heavenly bodies. Now, if Chrysippus was the Elvis of Soli, then Aratus would be its Diplo... Just for the record - I like Diplo, but he's no Elvis. As for Aratus, even though he was and is famous in his own right, to be honest, I knew nothing about him before this coin came along. Born in Soloi around 315 BC, Aratus studied abroad in a number of different cities, including Ephesos, Kos, and Athens. His fame as a poet began in his lifetime, and grew to a level where invitations came from rulers such as Antigonus II Gonatas of Macedon and Antiochus I of Syria to write verses for them. At Antigonus's court, Aratus penned a celebration of the king's triumph over the Gauls in 277 BC, and it was also there that he produced Phaenomena, the poem that was to become his calling card for posterity. Despite the fact that it was essentially a rewrite of a 100-year-old text by the astronomer Eudoxus of Cnidus (that notably left uncorrected significant inaccuracies), Phaenomena proved to be hugely popular and enduringly influential. In the New Testament of the Bible (Acts 17:28), we see St. Paul, while addressing the Athenians, quoting a line - "For we are also his offspring" - directly from the at the time 300-year-old poem, knowing that the reference wouldn't be lost on his audience. It was also translated into Latin by no less than Cicero and (possibly) Germanicus. The poet Ovid, a particularly smitten fan, wrote of Aratus in his Amores (1.15): "While the sun and moon shine, Aratus will reflect their light." With that last quote in mind, it seems fitting that today, we have a crater on the moon as well as an asteroid (12152 Aratus) named after Aratus. And, of course, a really neat portrait on a coin! Moon crater Aratus (Pic credit: Lunar Networks) Thanks for reading, and please feel free to share anything related!
Oh, MAN! @zumbly , that is INCREDIBLE! Congrats on the fantastic find! Super envious here. I am speechless, but am rambling on writing. REALLY cool tie-in with a Stoic minted during Aurelius. I am always a fan of Stoicism. LOL, I would have loved to been a fly-on-the-wall listening / watching you fight through the bidding process, trying to get this coin!!! Ok, did you record that??? CONGRATS, Z, wow!
Truly amazing acquisition and insightful yet hilarious write up! No shame in your bidding game. I'm pretty sure most of us have pressed that bid button a couple times passed the amount we told ourselves we'd go when push came to shove Best I can do is add the poet Homer, who was kinda like the Jimi Hendrix of poets:
Well, it involved me hitting that bid button a lot, while silently swearing at the n̶i̶n̶n̶y̶ fellow bidder with discerning taste on the other side. It ended with me going ten increments higher than my pre-sale max bid... so yeah, just abit of shame there. Love this coin type too. And he was definitely the Jimi Hendrix of poets!
NO shame, man! I know you paid more than expected, BUT, you GOT it! And, you would had been lamenting if you lost it! GREAT catch!!! really awesome, Z.
I love the new addition Z. You are quite the coin connoisseur and I always enjoy reading about your reasons for buying a coin. I have regretted many times I did not bid more for a coin but I very rarely regret overbidding for a coin I actually won. I can assume we will see this poet and philosopher duo crop up again come top 10 time. With that I am going to cheat and post a coin of an emperor AND philosopher.
Thanks for the kind comments, everyone! Yup, absolutely no regrets here! For sure. And thanks for posting that awesome Aurelius. It's a standout example, without even mentioning that provenance I'm still envious of. Another emperor and philosopher, Julian the Neoplatonist... JULIAN II AR Siliqua. 2.37g, 18.5mm. Arelate (Arles) mint, AD 362-363. RIC VIII 309. O: D N FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bearded bust right. R: VOTIS/ X/ MVLTIS/ XX in four lines within wreath, eagle in medallion at top of wreath; SCONST in exergue. Ex 1887 East Harptree, Somerset Hoard (IRBCH 1424)
Nice Z! It looks like you managed to snag an ex Harptree Hoard coin this year too. I remember you saying you missed out a few years ago when a lot of them went up for sale. My Harptree Julian.
I have an Aratos as well! Although mine is quite worn... Provincial Rome - Cilicia Caracalla, r. 198-217 A.D. Soloi-Pompeiopolis mint, AE33, 32.91mm x 16.37 grams Obv.: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right Rev.: Bust of Aratos right
Cool! And large and hefty, as many of the Cilician bronzes from this period tend to be. Thanks for sharing it here.
Whoa whoa, people are throwing around crazy hot MAs and Julians, the last sane man, like they were going out of style Don't mind if I do
How did I miss this thread?! I had no idea Chrysippus had appeared on a coin, and understand completely why you went for it. Remarkable.
I think this was in a recent auction but it is now on Vcoins.https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/pr...ronomer_aratus_very_rare/1493121/Default.aspx It's on my watch list!
Here's an example of Peripatics! Seleukeia, Cilicia, Æ19, AD 1-200 4.65, 18.7mm, Levante 704; France 2 Obv: ΣΕΑΥΚΕΩΝ (SELEUKEWN) Head of Athena wearing crested helmet and armor facing right. Head tilted upward slightly and “eyes to heaven” pose. Beaded border. Rev: ΣΕΝΑΡΧΟΥ (XENARCOU) Head of Helios facing right. Wearing radiate crown. Head tilted upward slightly and “eyes to heaven” pose. Beaded border. Xenarchus of Seleucia in Cilicia was a Greek Peripatetic philosopher and grammarian. Xenarchus left home early, and devoted himself to the profession of teaching, first at Alexandria, afterward at Athens, and last at Rome, where he enjoyed the friendship of Arius and afterward of Augustus; and he was still living, in old age and honor, when Strabo wrote. Xenarchus disagreed with Aristotle on many issues. He denied the existence of the aether, composing a treatise entitled Against the Fifth Element. He is also mentioned by Simplicius, by Julian the Apostate, and by Alexander of Aphrodisias. There are two Peripatics from Seleukeia, Xenarchus and Athenaeus. Head mentions both in his book HISTORIA NVMORVM, p. 727. Strabo mentions a contemporary of his, Athenaeus of Seleucia, a Peripatetic philosopher. He was for some time the leading demagogue in his native city, but afterwards came to Rome and became acquainted with Lucius Licinius Varro Murena. On the discovery of the plot which the latter, with Fannius Caepio, had entered into against Augustus, Athenaeus accompanied him in his flight. He was retaken, but pardoned by Augustus, as there was no evidence of his having taken a more active part in the plot. He is perhaps the same person as the writer mentioned by Diodorus, a historian who mentioned Semiramis. I'm still looking for the other Peripatic, Athenaeus! Granted this are not portrait coins of the people....
