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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Roman Collector, post: 3136722, member: 75937&quot;]A new purchase from Frank&#039;s most recent auction -- a bronze of Salonina from Dium, Macedon, featuring Asklepios in a distyle temple.</p><p><br /></p><p>Originally a harbor before it was silted up, Dium (Greek Δίον <i>Dion</i>) was the sacred city of Macedon, built at the foot of Mount Olympus, with sanctuaries dedicated to Zeus, Demeter, Artemis, Asklepios, and Isis. At the end of the 5th century BC King Arkelaos I, founder of Pella, built the sanctuary to Zeus (from whom Dion gets its name), and also a stadium and theater, where the Olympic Games of Dion were held in honor of Olympian Zeus and the plays of Euripides performed. It was to Dion that the Macedonian kings came to make sacrifice before going into battle and where they celebrated their victories; Philip II came after his victory at Olynthos and Alexander made sacrifice before setting off on his conquests.</p><p><br /></p><p>Around 43 BC Roman colonists arrived here and after the Battle of Actium (31 BC) Augustus organized a mass transportation of Italians. In the 2nd century AD there was a burst of building activity the results of which we see today in the ruins of the ancient city. In its heyday 15,000 people lived there.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the fourth century BC, The Asklepion was built. A place was chosen with plenty of water, because it played a special role in the practice of the Asklepion cult. It served the healing of the sick and was needed for the cult practices. So far, the foundations of a building that consisted of two rooms have been excavated. The discovery of a public latrine near the sanctuary suggests that pilgrims stayed there for some time to cure their ailments.</p><p><br /></p><p>You can read more about the archaeological excavations at the ancient city <a href="http://www.ancientdion.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.ancientdion.org/" rel="nofollow">here</a>. Here&#039;s a screenshot from the virtual tour about the Asklepion:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]801089[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Post your coins of Dium, Asklepios, Salonina provincials--anything you feel is relevant.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]801090[/ATTACH]</p><p>Salonina, AD 253-268.</p><p>Roman provincial orichacum diassarion, 8.96 g, 22.0 mm, 7h</p><p>Macedon, Dium.</p><p>Obv: SALONINA AVG, Diademed and draped bust r. on crescent.</p><p>Rev: COL IVL DIEN-[SIS] D - D, Asklepios standing facing in distyle temple, leaning on serpent-entwined staff in r. hand.</p><p>Refs: Varbanov III, p. 409, 3571; AMNG III--; Sear GIC --; BMC--; SNG ANS --; SNG Copenhagen--; Lindgren II--; Moushmov--.</p><p>Notes: Obverse and reverse die match to an <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4603752" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4603752" rel="nofollow">example</a> sold at Leu Numismatik Web Auction 2, lot 381, December 3, 2017 and the only other one I could find online:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]801091[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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