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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Smojo, post: 2873451, member: 78058&quot;]Ok, to be honest my coin has nothing to do with pirates, but Cilicia&#039;s history does though.</p><p>Cicilia is located in the southern part of Anatolia, generally associated with its area of piracy. Cilician pirates dominated between 133-67 BC.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]687241[/ATTACH] </p><p>Originally pirate attacks were directed against the Seleucids. Pompey defeated them in 67 BC and &quot;revolutionised warfare&quot; at the time.</p><p>Around 102-100 BC Cilicia was made a Roman Province, and Marcus Antonius was commissioned to curb piracy. At that time pirates had allied with Mithridates (King of Pontos) to fight against Roman Dominance.</p><p>Archaelogical evidence indicates that from the 13th to the 7th century BC, after the fall of the Assyrian Empire the region was known as Kedi/Kode. When it became an independent region ruled by the Syennesis Dynasty, later to be absorbed by the Persian Empire by Cyrus. </p><p>I couldn&#039;t find any real blood and gore military history to justify my interest in the region. I did however find some great tid bits of some interesting history as well as some biblical history. These links are well worth the read in my opinion.</p><p><a href="http://www.livius.org/articles/place/cilicia/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.livius.org/articles/place/cilicia/" rel="nofollow">http://www.livius.org/articles/place/cilicia/</a></p><p><a href="http://bibleatlas.org/full/cilicia.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://bibleatlas.org/full/cilicia.htm" rel="nofollow">http://bibleatlas.org/full/cilicia.htm</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Korykos/Corycus the city is said to be founded by a Cyprian Prince whom&#039;s name just happens to be Korykos.</p><p>It was also known as the Port of Seleucia, where in 191 BC the fleet of Antiochus was defeated by the Romans.</p><p>The city was first recognised in the beginning of the 1st century BC when the people claimed independency following political unrest after the death of Seleucid king Antiochus IV.</p><p>First records go back to the Hetite Period, but main finds are as early as the Hellenistic Period.</p><p>Korykos was a major import and trade center during the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzentine periods, and became the most importanttrade city in Cilicia for nearly 500 years during the Roman period. </p><p>Trade resulted to construction of roads throughout Cilicia so goods could be harvested and transported coast to coast and to overseas regions, many of these roads and urbanization can still be observed in Korykos and have been a part of all the cities historical layers.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now for the god &amp; goddess</p><p>Tyche, the goddess of fortune and prosperity of a city in Greek mythology.</p><p>The daughter of Aphrodite and either Zues or Hermes. Often depicted wearing a mural crown, a crown having the shapes of city walls.</p><p>She was linked to Nemises, goddess of retribution, and Agathos Daimon the good spirit.&nbsp; Tyche appeared on many coins after the Hellenistic period.</p><p>Hermes, Greek god of commerce, son of Zues and Maia.</p><p>Cunning and quick acting, he was able to move between the worlds of man and gods, a messenger of the gods and a link between mortals and olympians.</p><p>The protector of travelers, thieves and athletes. With the ability to move between worlds he served as a guide of souls of the dead to the under world and the after life.</p><p><br /></p><p>I recently bought this coin from [USER=74282]@red_spork[/USER] and at a nice deal. I&#039;ve had it a few weeks but have been terribly busy. </p><p><span style="font-size: 16px">And it&#039;s an ex-Levante&nbsp; to boot.</span></p><p>The obverse portrait of Tyche is just to good and a reverse with Hermes. It&#039;s just a great fit. It&#039;s a great coin in hand, the photo really doesn&#039;t do justice and my skills, well the seller pics are better than I could do <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]687258[/ATTACH] </p><p>Cilicia, Korykos. Circa 1st century BC. Æ22mm(6.30 gm). Turreted head of Tyche right; ΔΙ behind / Hermes standing left, holding phiale and caduceus. ΚΩΡΥΚΙΩΤΩΝ to right. SNG Levante 791 (this coin); cf. SNG France 1075; cf. SNG von Aulock 5679.</p><p>Ex Eduardo Levante collection, CNG 66 lot 549</p><p><br /></p><p>I recently bought a few other coins from the same region from the last Agora auction and a couple others from FAC and patiently waiting for those.</p><p><br /></p><p>As always feel free to pile on and/or comment[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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