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<p>[QUOTE="TIF, post: 2504981, member: 56859"]This coin was acquired in April at CICF. I had previously seen a couple of others at auction but was either unsuccessful in my bids or had money committed elsewhere at the time.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]532065[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>CILICIA, Seleucia ad Calycadnum. Gordian III</b></p><p>238-244 CE</p><p>Æ 27 mm, 11 gm</p><p>Obv: ...ΓOPΔIANO radiate and draped bust right; C/M dot within triangle (Howgego 670?)</p><p>Rev: CEΛEVKEΩN; Athena advancing right, holding her shield with her extended left arm & preparing to hurl a spear at an anguipede giant (Enceladus?) who is throwing stones at her.</p><p>Ref: c.f. SNG Levante 763</p><p><br /></p><p>This reverse type was struck in Seleucia ad Calycadnum (Cilicia) during the reign of several emperors in the Crisis and Decline period. What I didn't notice until studying the coin later is that the ethnic is different than all others I've seen-- Calycadnum is not written on the coin as it is on others. So far I've not been able to access any old references which clarify the matter. On other coins with this reverse, Calycadnum is abbreviated behind Athena (see comparisons at the end of this post). At first I was worried that my coin had been aggressively smoothed or tooled, removing that part of the legend. That is not the case, nor does the coin appear to be inauthentic. Maybe the die engraver was in a hurry or just forgot to add the full city name?</p><p><br /></p><p>If I correctly understand the naming of ancient cities in this area, the "ad Calycadnum" means roughly "at the river Calycadnum (Calycadnus)", so the addition of "ad Calycadnum" just helps clarify the location of this Seleucia. Founded by Seleukos Nikator in ~296-280 BCE, Seleucia remained independent despite many surrounding conquests until CE 72. Its current name is Silifke, <a href="http://www.tifcollection.com/roman-provincials-by-map" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.tifcollection.com/roman-provincials-by-map" rel="nofollow">marker 9 on this map</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]532071[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>As for the reverse scene, I'm still trying to sort out the myth of the Gigantomachy. Various books and online resources tell the story differently, sometimes confusing it with the Titanomachy, which took place some time before the Gigantomachy. Accounts vary; you may find slightly different versions from what I've outlined below.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Gigantes' origin is, like much Greek mythology, confusing to me. In a nutshell, the Giants sprung forth from the blood which spilled upon and impregnated earth-goddess Gaia when Cronus castrated his father, sky-god Uranus. (Nice, huh?)</p><p><br /></p><p>The Gigantomachy was an epic battle for cosmic supremacy pitting the Giants against the <a href="http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/olympian-gods.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/olympian-gods.html" rel="nofollow">Olympian gods</a>. The Olympians prevailed with the assistance of Herakles. Athena personally took on Enceladus, throwing the island of Sicily at him, burying him under Mount Etna. Other giants were similary entombed under the earth. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes were attributed to their movement in these subterranean tombs.</p><p><br /></p><p>Vivid statue of Enceladus, showing him partly buried under rocks (park of Versailles; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus_(mythology)#/media/File:Parc_de_Versailles,_Bosquet_de_l%27Encelade,_bassin_03.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus_(mythology)#/media/File:Parc_de_Versailles,_Bosquet_de_l%27Encelade,_bassin_03.jpg" rel="nofollow">image from Wikipedia</a>):</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Parc_de_Versailles%2C_Bosquet_de_l%27Encelade%2C_bassin_03.jpg/1920px-Parc_de_Versailles%2C_Bosquet_de_l%27Encelade%2C_bassin_03.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Mosaic featuring anguipede (serpent-footed) giants, Villa Romana del Casale, c. 3rd century CE (<a href="http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/Z43.1.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/Z43.1.html" rel="nofollow">image from www.theoi.com</a>):</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://www.theoi.com/image/Z43.1Gigantes.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Frieze of the Gigantomachy on the Pergamon Altar (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon_Altar#/media/File:Pergamonmuseum_-_Antikensammlung_-_Pergamonaltar_02-03.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon_Altar#/media/File:Pergamonmuseum_-_Antikensammlung_-_Pergamonaltar_02-03.jpg" rel="nofollow">image from Wikipedia</a>):</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Pergamonmuseum_-_Antikensammlung_-_Pergamonaltar_02-03.jpg/1920px-Pergamonmuseum_-_Antikensammlung_-_Pergamonaltar_02-03.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>...</p><p><br /></p><p>Here's my coin's reverse shown with a similar Gordian III coin from CNG's archives. The comparison coin has the "full" legend (although the extent of the legend and placement varies a bit from coin to coin), with KAΛV behind Athena. If any of you have a reference or more information about my coin's legend variation, please let me know. Perhaps it's an unimportant detail but lack of "Calycadnum" on my coin is curious.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]532083[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>As usual, please post anything you feel is related to this coin <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="TIF, post: 2504981, member: 56859"]This coin was acquired in April at CICF. I had previously seen a couple of others at auction but was either unsuccessful in my bids or had money committed elsewhere at the time. [ATTACH=full]532065[/ATTACH] [B]CILICIA, Seleucia ad Calycadnum. Gordian III[/B] 238-244 CE Æ 27 mm, 11 gm Obv: ...ΓOPΔIANO radiate and draped bust right; C/M dot within triangle (Howgego 670?) Rev: CEΛEVKEΩN; Athena advancing right, holding her shield with her extended left arm & preparing to hurl a spear at an anguipede giant (Enceladus?) who is throwing stones at her. Ref: c.f. SNG Levante 763 This reverse type was struck in Seleucia ad Calycadnum (Cilicia) during the reign of several emperors in the Crisis and Decline period. What I didn't notice until studying the coin later is that the ethnic is different than all others I've seen-- Calycadnum is not written on the coin as it is on others. So far I've not been able to access any old references which clarify the matter. On other coins with this reverse, Calycadnum is abbreviated behind Athena (see comparisons at the end of this post). At first I was worried that my coin had been aggressively smoothed or tooled, removing that part of the legend. That is not the case, nor does the coin appear to be inauthentic. Maybe the die engraver was in a hurry or just forgot to add the full city name? If I correctly understand the naming of ancient cities in this area, the "ad Calycadnum" means roughly "at the river Calycadnum (Calycadnus)", so the addition of "ad Calycadnum" just helps clarify the location of this Seleucia. Founded by Seleukos Nikator in ~296-280 BCE, Seleucia remained independent despite many surrounding conquests until CE 72. Its current name is Silifke, [URL='http://www.tifcollection.com/roman-provincials-by-map']marker 9 on this map[/URL]: [ATTACH=full]532071[/ATTACH] As for the reverse scene, I'm still trying to sort out the myth of the Gigantomachy. Various books and online resources tell the story differently, sometimes confusing it with the Titanomachy, which took place some time before the Gigantomachy. Accounts vary; you may find slightly different versions from what I've outlined below. The Gigantes' origin is, like much Greek mythology, confusing to me. In a nutshell, the Giants sprung forth from the blood which spilled upon and impregnated earth-goddess Gaia when Cronus castrated his father, sky-god Uranus. (Nice, huh?) The Gigantomachy was an epic battle for cosmic supremacy pitting the Giants against the [URL='http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/olympian-gods.html']Olympian gods[/URL]. The Olympians prevailed with the assistance of Herakles. Athena personally took on Enceladus, throwing the island of Sicily at him, burying him under Mount Etna. Other giants were similary entombed under the earth. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes were attributed to their movement in these subterranean tombs. Vivid statue of Enceladus, showing him partly buried under rocks (park of Versailles; [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus_(mythology)#/media/File:Parc_de_Versailles,_Bosquet_de_l%27Encelade,_bassin_03.jpg']image from Wikipedia[/URL]): [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Parc_de_Versailles%2C_Bosquet_de_l%27Encelade%2C_bassin_03.jpg/1920px-Parc_de_Versailles%2C_Bosquet_de_l%27Encelade%2C_bassin_03.jpg[/IMG] Mosaic featuring anguipede (serpent-footed) giants, Villa Romana del Casale, c. 3rd century CE ([URL='http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/Z43.1.html']image from www.theoi.com[/URL]): [IMG]http://www.theoi.com/image/Z43.1Gigantes.jpg[/IMG] Frieze of the Gigantomachy on the Pergamon Altar ([URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon_Altar#/media/File:Pergamonmuseum_-_Antikensammlung_-_Pergamonaltar_02-03.jpg']image from Wikipedia[/URL]): [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Pergamonmuseum_-_Antikensammlung_-_Pergamonaltar_02-03.jpg/1920px-Pergamonmuseum_-_Antikensammlung_-_Pergamonaltar_02-03.jpg[/IMG] ... Here's my coin's reverse shown with a similar Gordian III coin from CNG's archives. The comparison coin has the "full" legend (although the extent of the legend and placement varies a bit from coin to coin), with KAΛV behind Athena. If any of you have a reference or more information about my coin's legend variation, please let me know. Perhaps it's an unimportant detail but lack of "Calycadnum" on my coin is curious. [ATTACH=full]532083[/ATTACH] As usual, please post anything you feel is related to this coin :)[/QUOTE]
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