As we have already seen, the earliest coins bore as their sole guarantee the seal of the issuing authority, consisting of a stamp or device, for the most part distinctive of the place of issue. The intention of such a simple parasaemonπαρα/σημον would of course be well understood within the territory of the city and in its immediate neighbourhood. But as coins began to wander farther and farther from their place of mintage the significance of the local parasaemonπαρα/σημον would naturally become less and less generally intelligible.
At an early period it therefore became necessary to add to the device the initial letter or letters of the name of the city to which the type specially belonged. A single letter, such as the Φ beneath the phoca at Phocaea or the Q beneath the Pegasos at Corinth, was often sufficient to localize the parasaemonπαρα/σημον. The only known instance of a complete inscription is the famous Phaenos emi saemaΦα/ενος `)eμι\ ση~μα above a stag on an archaic electrum stater usually attributed to Ephesus. This remarkable legend is, however, sufficient to afford us a clue to the original motive of inscriptions on coins. They serve, as Macdonald has pointed out (Coin Types, p. 127, and Mémoires du Congres international, 1910, pp. 281 ff.), as translations into written language of the coin-types.
One practical advantage of an epigraphic addition to the parasaemonπαρα/σημον was that the latter soon ceased to be the only employable device. For new coinages
In the vast majority of cases the inscription on autonomous coins consists of the ethnic adjective either abbreviated or in full, and, as a rule, in the genitive plural, e.g. ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ, which, as it occurs in combination with various types, can only mean that the coinage was issued by the Syracusans. Although the legend is usually in the genitive plural of the ethnic, there are nevertheless numerous instances of the nominative singular, masculine, feminine, or neuter, e.g. ΡΗΓΙΝΟΣ, ΡΗΓΙΝΗ, ΡΗΓΙΝΟΝ, which may agree with some such words as tuposτυ/πος, sphragisσφραγι/ς, or saemaση~μα.
Sometimes also the adjectival form in -ikon-ικο/ν is met with as ΑΡΚΑΔΙΚΟΝ, ΣΥΝΜΑΧΙΚΟΝ, &c., or the name of the city itself may be used either in the Dominative or genitive, e.g. ΑΚΡΑΓΑΣ, ΑΚΡΑΓΑΝΤΟΣ, &c.
These few examples make it evident that the word or words to be under- stood must have varied according to circumstances and changing fashions.
Originally the reference would seem to have been to the signet or type, and later to the ‘coinage’ in general, nomisma, dokimonνο/μισμα, δο/κιμον, or even to special denomi- nations such as stataer, drachmaeστατη/ρ, δραχμη/, &c.; cf. the coins of Alexander of Pherae (p. 308) with ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΙΟΣ, ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΙΑ, ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΙΟΝ, and ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ. Those with ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ are probably quite the last issued during his tyranny, B.C. 369-357, for it is noteworthy that, outside Thrace and Macedon, no other tyrant in Hellas, Sicily, or Italy ever placed his name on his coins at so early a date. Even Agathocles of Syracuse towards the close of the fourth century did so, like Alexander of Pherae, at first tentatively with the adjectival inscription ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕΙΟΣ (pp. 180 sqq.).
In Thrace and Macedon, on the contrary, and in Asia Minor, kings, tyrants, and satraps frequently placed their names on their money, e. g. Getas, king of the Edonians; the kings of Macedon, &c., from Alexander I onwards; Hippias, not at Athens but in exile; Themistocles at Magnesia; the Carian and Lycian dynasts; the kings of Cyprus; Persian satraps, &c. The abstention of such absolute potentates as the Sicilian Dionysius from inscribing their names on the coins of Syracuse, &c., when it was perfectly within their power to have done so, can only have been due to the consciousness on their part that it would have been then regarded as an un-Hellenic, not to say sacrile- gious, Asiatic innovation.
No such scruples were, however, felt by autonomous states in authorizing constitutional magistrates or mint-officials to sign their own names on the coins issued during their term of office; cf. the series of names on the federal coins of Boeotia during the first half of the fourth century B.C. Even
When, after Alexander’s time, most of the cities of Greece and Asia lost their individual autonomy and fell by turns under the rule of one or the other of the rival Diadochi, the rights of coinage necessarily passed into the hands of the kings. Whenever the kings found it politic to exercise these rights, the local types and ethnic inscriptions gave place either to the portrait and name of the reigning monarch or to the already popular types of Alexander the Great. If retained at all, the local type and inscription were perpetuated merely as a subsidiary mint-mark and monogram, intelligible on to the authorities of the mints. Thus, for instance, the long series of the Ephesian tetradrachms bearing on the obverses the Bee, the time-honoured parasaemonπαρα/σημον of Ephesus, and the letters ΕΦ, the initials of the ethnic ΕΦΕΣΙΩΝ, together with the name of the eponymous Pryanis at full length on the reverse, was put to and end when, in B.C. 295, Lysimachus made himself master of the town. Ephesus now ranked as only one of a number of his royal mints issuing ordinary tetradrachms of Lysimachus distinguishable from those struck elsewhere merely by a small bee, no longer the principal type but only an adjunct mint-mark in the field. It is true, however, that under the gentler sway of the Ptolemies, to whose dominions Ephesus was afterwards attached, she was allowed to issue money in her own name.
Among the mints which thus regained the right of coinage after having been deprived of it under the Macedonian rule, that of Athens stands out conspicuously as by far the most important. The famous tetradrachms of Athens of the ‘New Style’, extended from about B.C. 220 down to the age of Augustus, and inscribed with the names of the annual and monthly monetary officials, shed of flood of light on the organizations and the control of the Athenian mint, such as is afforded by no other series of coins, not excepting that of the Roman Republican denarii, see infra, pp. 378 sqq.
Unfortunately the coins of Athens struck in Imperial times cease to afford us any information concerning the later organization of that mint, as the Athenian issues were limited to bronze money, apparently struck only in the reigns of Hadrian and Gordian III, and without magistrates’ names. The most
In Imperial times the presence of a magistrate’s name on the bronze coins of Greek cities is usually, though not always, almost equivalent to a date, but it does not always convey information as to the persons who were actually entrusted with the superintendence of the mints. The magistrates’ names on the Imperial coins are frequently accompanied, especially in the Roman Province of Asia, by their titles, preceded by the preposition epi`)eπι/, as `)eπι\ `)a/ρχοντος του~ δει~να. In most cases it would seem that the magistrate whose name is inscribed on the coin was a chief magistrate of the town, but we must beware of inferring that the title which accompanies his name is always the one by virtue of which he caused the money to be minted. Thus, for instance, at many cities where we know that the eponymous magistrate was a strategos we read sometimes epi strataegou`)eπι\ στρατηγου~ and sometimes epi archontos`)eπι\ `)a/ρχοντος. It is clear that in such cases the word archon`)a/ρχων must be taken in a general sense and translated, not by ‘under the Archonship’, but by ‘under the Magistracy’ of so and so, whose official title, perfectly well known at the time and therefore not specified, was strategos, and not archon.
This applies more particularly to the numerous agonistic, sacerdotal, and other honorary titles. When a chief magistrate happened to be also invested with the office and dignity of a priesthood he would, as often as not, omit all mention of the true title which constituted him eponymous Magistrate, while taking especial care to record the fact that he was `)Aσια/ρχης, `)Aρχιερευ/ς, `(Iερευ/ς, Στεφανηφο/ρος, Σοφιστη/ς, or what not.
The above remarks of course only apply to the coins of cities which we know to have been governed by a civil magistrate, for there can be no doubt that at some towns the eponymous magistrate was the Archiereus`)Aρχιερευ/ςor some other sacerdotal dignitary. It is only by a careful study of entire series of the coins of a particular city that we can sometimes ascertain positively what was the local custom in such matters.
Although the use of epi`)eπι/ with a proper name in the genitive usually implies an eponymous date, many instances may be cited where this is not the case. Thus, for example, when the title accompanying the name partakes in any way of a financial character, such as Tamias, LogistaesΤαμιας, Λογιστης, &c., it is not to be supposed that these officers were eponymous magistrates; evidently they were appointed for some special purpose which included the supervision of the coinage. The less important cities indeed seem only to have coined money at intervals as occasion required, when some one of the citizens would be delegated by the regular magistrates to direct the issue, epimeleisthaiεπιμελεισθαι, or might even voluntarily undertake the whole expense. In such cases the prepositions diaδια and paraπαρα were used at some Carian and Phrygian towns (p. 628), instead of epiεπι before the name of the person who caused the money to be struck.
Nothing in fact can be clearer than the evidence afforded by the coins of the Province of Asia as to the prevalence in Imperial times of leitourgiaiλειτουργιαι of this kind among the citizens. It appears to have been no uncommon practice for private individuals to present to their native towns considerable sums of money in acknowledgment of municipal or sacerdotal honours conferred upon them by the city or the Emperor. The money so contributed for some special purpose or occasion, by private munificence, was, we may suppose, forthwith minted in the name of the donor, the usual dedicatory formula being the name of the donor in the nominative with or without his honorary title, followed by the verb anethaekeανεθηκε and the ethnic in either the genitive or dative, as ΠΟΛΕΜΩΝ CΤΡΑΤΗΓΩΝ ΑΝЄΘΗΚЄ CΜΥΡ[ΝΑΙΟΙC], ΟCΤΙΛΙΟC ΜΑΡΚЄΛΛΟC Ο ΙЄΡЄΥC ΤΟΥ ΑΝΤΙΝΟΟΥ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΩΝ ΑΝЄΘΗΚΕN. Even ladies occasionally contributed in this manner to the expenses of the municipalities, as we gather (among other instances) from coins of Attuda in Caria bearing the name of Ulpia Carminia Claudiana, to whom had fallen, by inheritance, the priestly office of StephanaephorosΣτεφανηφορος (Imhoof, Zur gr. u. röm. Münzkunde, 1908, p. 87).
Sometimes the verb anethaekeανεθηκε is either abbreviated to ΑΝ or Α, or even altogether omitted for want of space, but it is always to be understood when a proper name in the nominative is followed by the dative, as ΒЄΤΟΥΡΙΟC ΤΟΙC ΑΡΚΑCΙ (p. 446).
Dedicatory issues, such as those above described, are not of rare occurrence, and at certain towns it appears to have been the rule for a magistrate, or other wealthy citizen, to provide out of his private means for the bronze coinage of his native town (see Index III, s. v. AnethaekeΑνεθηκε, also p. 664).
The Magistrates’ titles in Greek which occur on the coins chiefly of the Imperial series may be divided into the following classes :—
I. Roman.
II. Greek.
Among other titles, which are dynastic lather than magisterial, are ArchiereusΑρχιερευς, DunastaesΔυναστης, and ToparchosΤοπαρχος, employed by the priestly family which ruled over Olba in Cilicia; ArchonΑρχων, used by Asander and Hygiaenon of Bosporus; EthnarchaesΕθναρχης,
In all Greek lands there existed, from the earliest times down to the latest, certain uniform customs and common ties which served to bind together the divergent branches of the Hellenic race into one comparatively homogeneous family. ... to Ellaenikon eon omaimon te kai omoglosson, kai theon idrumata te koina kai thusiai, aethea te omotropa... το Ελληνικον εον ομαιμον τε και ομογλοσσον, και θεον ιδρυματα τε κοινα και θυσιαι, ηθεα τε ομοτροπα (Herod. viii. 144). Among these the Olympian, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games were undoubtedly the most influential bonds of union. These great festivals may be regarded as types of many smaller associations of a similar character, local amphictyonies and koinaκοινα of various districts, partly political and partly religious, common to the inhabitants of one and the same district or to people of homogeneous race.
So long as Greece remained free these common councils and periodical con- ventions exercised a well-marked political influence and watched over the interests of the various cities which were enrolled as members of the Union, but under the rule of the Romans the political functions of the koinaκοινα ceased to exist, although for purposes of common worship, and as a most valuable means of keeping the subject populations contented in the apparent exercise of their ancient privileges, and happy in the actual performance of their time- honoured rites and sacrifices and in the enjoyment of frequently recurring splendid festivals, these gatherings were not only permitted, but were looked upon with an approving eye by the Emperor himself.
As a stimulus to trade and as a convenient means of inculcating the Augustan worship the Common Games and Festivals of the Greeks were not only main- tained in many places where they already existed, but received still further extension at the hands of the Roman governors and of successive Emperors, under whose direct auspices many new festivals were founded, of which the temples of Roma and Augustus in the numerous metropolitan centres of the various provinces, more especially in Asia Minor, were the chief points of union.
From the frequent mention of the public Games on the coins of the Imperial age struck in Greek cities, it is evident that these recurring periodical festivals created a demand for money in larger quantities than was sufficient at other times. Hence we may safely infer that even in earlier times, before the Roman conquest, a great number of mints were only active in Festival years. On many autonomous coins the types alone are often sufficiently indicative of the Festivals for which the coins were struck, but sometimes the name of the Festival was added, e. g. Acheloio aethlonΑχελοιο αεθλον, Metapontum (p. 76); OlumΟλυμ. and ChariΧαρι. for the Olympia and the Charitesia (?), Arcadia (p. 446); OlunpikonΟλυνπικον at Elis (p. 420) and IthomΙθωμ. for the Ithomaia at Messene (p. 432).
On such festive occasions, in Imperial times, when a great concourse of people poured into the city from the surrounding districts and from neigh- bouring towns, the magistrate whose function it was to arrange the details of
Most valuable is the information which may be gathered from these out- wardly unattractive bronze coins concerning the widespread popularity of the famous Hellenic games, which formed the prototypes of similar local agonistic contests held from time to time in almost every city which could boast of a strain of Hellenic blood, and in many which had little or no claim to do so.
The names of these festivals are frequently identical with those of the first two of the four famous Hellenic contests, the Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean, and in many cases the coins furnish us with the names of the local games celebrated in various parts of the ancient world.
The following list comprises ail the more important Games and Festivals mentioned on the coins. They may be divided into the following groups:—
I. Festivals named after the first two of the four great Hellenic Games—
To these must be added—
II. Festivals called after other Greek divinities, e.g. Asklepeia, Dionysia, Helia, Herakleia, Heraea, Koraea, Letoeia, Panathenaea, and many others.
III. Festivals called after Alexander the Great, Attalus, &c., as well as the Augustan and other Games named after Roman Emperors.
IV. Common Games or District Festivals, as Koina Asias, Koina KilikiasΚοινα Ασιας, Κοινα Κιλικιας, &c., celebrated in each province or smaller district at various cities probably in rotation. These koinaκοινα were under the direction of the Asiarch or Archiereus, the Bithyniarch, the Cilicarch, &c., who presided over the KoinobetaoulionΚοινοβεταουλιον of the Union.
V. Games distinguished by names descriptive of their nature, conditions, or places of celebration, or by vague titles merely expressive of their importance. In most cases the Festivals bore high-sounding double or triple titles, so that in point of fact we can hardly say to which of the above groups they properly belong: thus the Games called Olympia Augusteia Pythia might be assigned to either the first or third group.
I.
The Greater Games.
(α) ΟΛΥΜΡΙΑ. The famous Olympian Games in honour of the Olympian Zeus were celebrated at Pisa in Elis every fifth year in the month of July. In Imperial times quinquennial Festivals modelled on the Olympia were held at numerous cities, and are frequently distinguished by additional
(β) ΠΥΘΙΑ. The Pythian Games were, after the Olympian, the greatest in importance of the four chief Hellenic festivals. They were held at Delphi in the third year of each Olympiad in the month of January.
In Imperial times many cities assimilated their contests to those of the Pythian festival, or at any rate called them by the same name, frequently with the addition of other more distinctive titles, e.g. PuthiaΠυθια combined with ‘Ακτια, ‘Ακτια ‘Αντωνεια, ‘Αλεξανδρεια, Διονυσια, ‘Ηλια, Καβειρια, Κενδρεισεια, Αητωεια, ‘Ολυμπια, ‘Ολυμπια Αυγουστεια, Πανιωνια, ‘Ιερος μυστικος οικουμενι- κος, ‘Ηρακλεια, &c.
Compound titles such as Olumpia PuthiaΟλυμπια Πυθια or Aktia PuthiaΑκτια Πυθια may possibly mean that the games bearing such names comprised contests borrowed from each of those festivals (cf. IsoputhiaΙσοπυθια, infra), or that, like their prototypes, they were pentaeteric games.
(γ) ΙΣΘΜΙΑ. The Isthmian Games in honour of Ino and Melikertes were celebrated at Corinth every two years (the first and third of each Olympiad), in spring and summer alternately, so as not to clash with the Olympian or Pythian. There is no evidence on coins for the celebration of Isthmian games elsewhere than at Corinth.
(δ) ΝΕΜΕΙΑ. The Nemean Games were held at Cleonae, and later at Argos, every two years (the second and fourth in each Olympiad), in winter and summer alternately. Argos is the only city on whose coins this festival is mentioned, sometimes as Nemeia and sometimes in combination with the Heraean games as Nemeia HraiaΝεμεια Ηραια (p. 440).
(ε) ΑΚΤΙΑ. Games in honour of the Actian Apollo celebrated on the pro- montory of Anactorium. This festival was restored with great splendour by Augustus at Nicopolis, founded in commemoration of the battle of Actium. These quinquennial games were placed on the same footing as the Olympian, and like them were the model of games named after them instituted at a large number of cities, principally in Asia Minor and the East, usually with the addition of other titles, such as Καισαρηα, Αυγουστεια, Κομοδεια, Πυθια ‘Αντωνινεια, Πυθια Φιλαδελφεια, Δουσαρια, Κοραια, ‘Ολυμπια, ‘Ηρακλεια, &c.
(ζ) ΚΑΠΕΤΩΛΙΑ. The Ludi Capitolini in honour of Jupiter Capitolinus were first constituted by Furius Camillus, and at a later period restored by Domitian and placed, like the Actian, on an equality with the national Hellenic festivals, and, together with the cult of Jupiter Capitolinus, estab- lished in various eastern provinces as KapetoliaΚαπετολια, or Kapetolia PuthiaΚαπετολια Πυθια at Aphrodisias, and Certamina sacra Capitolina oecumenica iselastica at Heliopolis.
II.
Games in honour of various other Divinities.
ΑΣΚΛΗΠΕΙΑ, in honour of Asklepios, celebrated at Cleonae, Epidaurus, Nicaea, Philadelpheia, Laodiceia Phr., &c.; also with the epithet SotaereiaΣοτηρεια at Ancyra Gal., and, according to inscriptions, at many other cities.
ΑΧΕΛΟΙΟΑΕΘΛΟΝ. Games in honour of the River-god Acheloös. Archaic coin of Metapontum (p. 76).
ΔΑΡΖΑΛΕΙΑ. Odessus, see Pick (Jahrb. Arch. Inst., xiii. 15).
ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΑ, in honour of Demeter at Nicomedeia and Tarsus.
ΔΙΔΥΜΕΙΑ, in honour of Apollo Didymeus at Miletus, with the epithet KomodeiaΚομοδεια.
ΔΙΟΝΥΣΙΑ, in honour of Dionysos at Nicaea with epithet PuthiaΠυθια, and at Adana with ιερα οικουμενικα.
ΔΟΥΣΑΡΙΑ and Aktia DousariaΑκτια Δουσαρια, in honour of Dusares the Arabian Dionysos, at Bostra and Adraa.
ΕΝΜΟΝΙΔΕΙΑ or ΕΜΜΟΝΙΑΣΙΑ. Signification doubtful. Magnesia ad Sipylum (B. M. C., Lyd., p. lxxiii, note). See ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΙΑ and ΑΔΡΙΑΝΑ, infra.
ΕΦΕΣΙΑ, in honour of the Ephesian Artemis. Hierapolis and Ephesus (p. 676).
ΗΛΙΑ or Hlia PuthiaΗλια Πυθια, in honour of Helios. Emisa.
ΗΡΑΙΑ or Nemeia ‘HraiaΝεμεια ‘Ηραια, in honour of Hera. Argos.
ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΑ with title PuthiaΠυθια, Perinthus; with OlumpiaΟλυμπια or with AktiaΑκτια, Tyre.
ΘΕΟΓΑΜΙΑ with oikoumenika,οικουμενικα, in honour of the marriage of Hades and Per- sephone. Nysa.
ΚΑΒΙΡΕΙΑ, in honour of the Kabeiri, Kabireia PuthiaΚαβιρεια Πυθια. Thessalonica.
ΚΕΝΔΡΕΙΣΕΙΑ or ΚΕΝΔΡΕΣΙΑ, in honour of the Thracian god Kendrisos; Kendreiseia PuthiaΚενδρεισεια Πυθια, Philippopolis.
ΚΟΡΑΙΑ, in honour of Persephone, Tarsus; Koraia AktiaΚοραια Ακτια, and Koraeia AktiaΚορηια Ακτια, Sardes. See also infra ΧΡΥΣΑΝΘΙΝΑ.
ΚΥΠΑΡΙΣΣΙΑ, in honour of Artemis. Lacedaemon (p. 435).
ΛΗΤΩΕΙΑ, in honour of Leto, sometimes with Puthia. Tripolis Lyd.
ΛΥΚΑΙΑ, in honour of Zeus Lykaeos. Megalopolis (p. 451).
ΝΥΜΦΙΑ, in honour of local nymphs, Sebaeria NumphiaΣεβηρια Νυμφια. Anchialus.
ΠΑΝΑΘΗΝΕΑ. The famous Athenian quinquennial festival. Athens, time of Gordian;also Synnada, of the same period, with title AdrianiaΑδριανια (Mion. iv. 983).
ΠΑΝΕΛΛΗΝΙΑ. A festival founded by Hadrian at Athens on the completion of the temple of Zeus Panhellenios. Athens, time of Gordian (p. 390).
ΣΩΤΗΡΕΙΑ, see ΑΣΚΛΗΠΕΙΑ supra. Ancyra Gal.
ΤΥΡΙΜΝΕΙΑ, in honour of Apollo Tyrimnaeos at Thyatira (p. 658).
III.
Festivals in honour of Kings and Emperors. Chiefly on coins of late
Imperial times.
ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΙΑ, in honour of Alexander the Great, probably first celebrated at Beroea in Macedon under Gordian III as Olumpia AlexandriaΟλυμπια Αλεξανδρια (p. 241); AlexandreiaΑλεξανδρεια, Byzantium; Alexandreia PuthiaΑλεξανδρεια Πυθια, Philippopolis; Αδριανα Αλεξανδρεια Ενμονιδεια, Magnesia ad Sipylum, Sev. Alex. (B. M. C., Lyd., p. lxxii).
ΑΤΤΑΛΗΑ, in honour of Attalus II Philadelphus, Γορδιανηα ‘Ατταληα, Aphrodisias.
ΚΑΙΣΑΡΕΙΑ, ΑΥΓΟΥΣΤΕΙΑ, ΣΕΒΑΣΜΙΑ, ΣΕΒΑΣΤΑ, &c. Ακτια Και- σαρεα, Tyre; Sebasta KaisareaΣεβαστα Καισαρεα, Metropolis Ion.; Αυγουστεια Ακτια, Ολυμπια Αυγουστεια Πυθια, Αυγουστεια αριστα, Μεγαλα Αυγουστεια αριστα, Ολυμπια Αυγουστεια Πυθια, Αυγουστεια Σεβασμια or Σεβαστα, Αυγουστεια Σευηρια, Αυγουστεια και Φιλαδελφια, Σεβασμια Ολυμπια, Αγια ιερα Σεβασμια, &c. Games celebrated in connexion with the Augustan worship at very many cities. Cf. Suetonius, Aug. c. 58 ‘(Augusto Caesari) provinciarum pleraeque super templa et aras ludos quoque quinquennales paene oppidatim con- stituerunt'.
ΣΕΒΑΣΤΑ ΟΜΟΒΩΜΙΑ. These games are mentioned only on coins of Cadi, Elagabalus and Treb. Gallus (B. M. C., Phr., p. xliv). The word omobomiaομοβομια beneath an agonistic table points to the union at Cadi of the Augustan worship with that of some other divinity, or possibly of the Capitoline Triad; cf. coin of Treb. Gallus with this type and the same Magistrate’s name (B. M. C., Phr., p. 125).
ΑΔΡΙΑΝΑ, ΑΔΡΙΑΝΕΙΑ. Games in honour of Hadrian. AdrianeiaΑδριανεια, Athens, Tarsus; Augousteia Puthia Adrianeia OlumpiaΑυγουστεια Πυθια Αδριανεια Ολυμπια, Thyatira; Αδριανα Αντο- νεια Ενμονιδεια, Magnesia ad Sipylum; Adriana PanathaenaiaΑδριανα Παναθηναια, Synnada; Adrianios OikoumenikosΑδριανιος οικουμενικος, Anazarbus, &c.
ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΑ, ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΙΑ, ΑΝΤΩΝ ΙΝ ΙΑΝ Α, ΑΓΩΝ ΑΝΤΩΝΙΝΙΑ- ΝΟΣ, in honour of the various emperors who bore the name of Antoninus. Sometimes with additional titles as Sebasta, Aktia, Puthia, Auraelia, Ko-Σεβαστα, Ακτια, Πυθια, Αυρηλια, Κο-
ΚΟΜΟΔΕΙΑ, in honour of Commodus. Κομοδειος, Ακτια Κομοδεια, Αντω- νεινια Κομοδεια, Διδυμεια Κομοδεια, Κομοδειος οικουμενικος, &c. Nicaea, Miletus, Tarsus, Tyre, &c.
ΣΕΥΗΡΕΙΑ, in honour of Sept. Severus. Σευηρεια πρωτα, Σευηρια μεγαλα, Σεβηρεια, Σεουηρεια, Σεουηρια Νυμφια. Perinthus, Nicaea, Tarsus, and other cities. See also ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΕΙΑ, &c.
ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΕΙΑ, in honour of the brothers Caracalla and Geta. Φιλαδελφεια Πυθια, Ακτια Πυθια Φιλαδελφια, Αυγουστια και Φιλαδελφια, Σευηρια Φιλα- δελφια, Κοινος Σευηριος Φιλαδελφιος. Perinthus, Nicaea, Sardes, Eumeneia, &c.
ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΗΑ. Games held at Aphrodisias in honour of Gordian III and in commemoration of Attalus II, king of Pergamum. Γορδιανηα Πυθια, Γορδια- νηα Ατταληα Καπιτολια.
ΔΕΚΙΟΣ ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΟΣ. Games in honour of Trajan Decius. Anazarbus (B. M. C., Cil., p. cv).
ΟΥΑΛΕΡΙΑΝΑ, in honour of Valerian, Nicaea; also Γορδιανηα Ουαλεριανα οικουμενικα, Aphrodisias.
ΓΑΛΛΙΗΝΑ, in honour of Gallienus. Nicaea.
ΤΑΚΙΤΙΟΣ ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΙΟΣ, ΚΑΙΣΑΡΙΑ (?), in honour of the Emperor Tacitus, A. D. 270. Perga.
IV.
Common Games and District Festivals.
ΚΟΙΝΑ, or KoinosΚοινος. The Festival held on the occasions of the meetings of the Provincial Council, KoinoboulionΚοινοβουλιον, e. g. Κοινον Μακεδονον, Κοινον Ασιας, and many others. Thus coins reading koina Asiasκοινα Ασιας or προτα κοινα Asias were issued in the Province of Asia by turns at Ephesus, Sardes, Hierapolis Phr., Laodiceia, &c., wherever the Provincial Diet happened to be held. There were also smaller KoinaΚοινα confined to groups of neigh- bouring cities, such as the Panionian KoinonΚοινον of thirteen cities (p. 566), or even KoinaΚοινα of only two cities (p. 676), united for the purpose of celebrating certain festivals in common. In some cases the word KoinonΚοινον seems to imply no more than omonoia.ομονοια.
ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΑ. Public games in which the contests were open to all comers. Οικουμενικος, Ιερα οικουμενικα, Ιερος Ολυμπιος οικουμενικος, Ολυμ- πια Οικουμενικα, Θεογαμια Ολκουμενικα, Αδριανος Ολκουμενικος, Κομοδειος οικουμενικος, Γορδιανηα Ουαλεριανα Ολκουμενικα Δεκιος οικουμενικος. Certamen sacrum Capitolinum oecumenicum iselasticum, Certamen sacrum periodicum oecumenicum iselasticum, &c.
ΠΑΝΙΩΝΙΑ, Panionia PuthiaΠανιονια Πυθια—Games held at the meetings of the Panionian Κοινον of thirteen cities (p. 566).
V.
Games distinguished by epithets indicative of the locality or conditions of their
celebration, the kind of prizes offered, or by titles proclaiming their nature or
importance.
ΑΓΩΝΕΣ ΙΕΡΟΙ, Ieros agon, IeraΙερος αγον, Ιερα, &c. Sacred Games. An epithet of very general application, though perhaps originally limited to games held in con- nexion with some sacred enclosure, or in honour of some divinity.
ΑΡΙΣΤΑ. A superlative epithet applied to festivals celebrated with great magnificence, see supra under ΑΥΓΟΥΣΤΕΙΑ.
ΑΣΥΛΙΑ, Asulia ieros, Puthia asulia ierosΑσυλια ιερος, Πυθια ασυλια ιερος—Games celebrated in connexion with a temple or city enjoying the right of asuliaασυλια, e.g. the temple of Artemis Pergaia (p. 702).
DONATIO, DONATIO SACRVM CERTAMEN, DONATIO IEROS (sic). A festival provided by the munificence of a public benefactor. Cremna (p. 708).
ΔΩΡΕΑ, when applied to Games, has a similar signification. Side (p. 704).
ΕΙΣΕΛΑΣΤΙΚΑ. Contests in which the victor was authorized by the Emperor, on his return to his native city, to make his entry, eiselauneinεισελαυνειν, in a triumphal quadriga through a breach made for the occasion in the city wall, and entitled thenceforth to a daily dole either of food or of money, opsonionοψωνιον. Various agonesαγονες were established as iselastic by different emperors, but the privilege might be arbitrarily withdrawn or transferred to other contests. See Pliny's Letter to Trajan and Trajan’s rescript (x. 118, 119). The epithet occurs on coins of Side (p. 704), Anazarbus (B. M. C., Cil., p. cv), Heliopolis (p. 785), Sidon (p. 798), &c.
ΕΠΑΡXΙΚΑ (?) or Koinos ton trion eparcheion.Κοινος των τριων επαρχειων. The common games of the three eparchies of Cilicia, but see under EparchikosΕπαρχικος (p. lxviii). Tarsus (p. 733). Cf. B. M. C., Cil., xcii and xcvii.
ΕΠΙΝΕΙΚΙΑ, EpineikiosΕπινεικιος. Triumphal Games in commemoration of victories. Laodiceia Phr., Tarsus. Kabireia epineikiaΚαβιρεια επινεικια, Thessalonica. Επινεικια Σευηρεια Ολυμπια εν Κοδριγαις οροις Κιλικον, Games held at a place called KodrigaiΚοδριγαι on the borders of Cilicia probably in celebration of the victory of Severus over Pescennius Niger in A.D. 194 (B. M. C., Cil., p. xciv).
ΘΕΜΙΔΕΣ. Games in which the prize consisted of a sum of money, ThemaΘεμα, celebrated at various Pamphylian and Cilician cities.
ΙΣΟΠΥΘΙΑ. An epithet applied to games claiming to be equal to the Pythian or of which the contests were ordered in the same manner. Ancyra Gal. (p. 748).
ΜΕΓΑΛΑ. An epithet applied like apistaαπιστα to festivals of special importance. Nicaea (p. 577). See supra under ΑΥΓΟΥΣΤΕΙΑ.
ΜΥΣΤΙΚΑ. Games held in connexion with certain Mysteries, e. g. Ιερος Πυθιος μυστικος οικουμενικος. Side (p. 704).
ΝΑΥΜΑ[XΙΑ]. Contests of ships. Gadara in Decapolis. Cf. also autono- mous coins of Corcyra of the third century B.C. (p. 327).
ΠΕΡΙΟΔΙΚΑ. Games recurring at fixed periods. Nikan taen periodon was a phrase applied to one who had borne off the prize at each of the four great public games. Hence periodosπεριοδος came to mean also the period of time between one celebration of the games and the next, and so games recurring after an interval of years were termed Periodica, as the Certamina sacra periodica oecumenica iselastica at Sidon (p. 798).
ΠΡΩΤΑ. An epithet applied to various games held at cities claiming the title protaeπρωτη, e.g. Prota koina AsiasΠρωτα κοινα Ασιας at Smyrna, the ‘first city’ of the Province of Asia. Sometimes protaπρωτα was used in a more general sense for games of the highest importance, as Antoniniana prota taes oikoumenaesΑντωνινιανα πρωτα της οικουμενης. Anazarbus (p. 717).
ΣΥΝΘΥΣΙΑ ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΗΣ. Anazarbus (p. 717). I do not know whether the name of this festival has any special signification beyond that of an occumenic gathering at which sacrifice to the Emperor was offered in accor- dance with the common ritual of the Augustan worship.
ΧΡΥΣΟΡΟΑΙ, ta para toτα παρα τω. Games named after the river Chrysoroas, on whose banks they were held. Hierapolis Phr.
Under Roman rule many Greek cities sought to preserve a semblance of their ancient freedom by adding to their names high-sounding titles or epithets, with some of which there can be no doubt that certain immunities and privi- leges were bound up, while others seem to have had little or no distinct value or signification. The limits of this work do not permit of an inquiry into the nature of the privileges conveyed by these titles (where such existed). I shall therefore content myself with enumerating as briefly as possible some of the more remarkable.
It is obviously unnecessary to recapitulate in this place all the Imperial titles, such as ΚΑΙΣΑΡΕΩΝ, ΙΟΥΛΙΕΩΝ, ΑΔΡΙΑΝΩΝ, ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΙΑ- ΝΩΝ, &c., which so many cities appended to their names by permission of the Emperor or of the Senate, either in commemoration of benefits conferred upon them or merely out of flattery to the reigning prince. I may also pass over another class of titles by which certain Asiatic cities sought to perpetuate the memory of their origin, such as ΔΩΡΙΕΩΝ, ΕΙΩΝΩΝ, ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ, &c.; nor need I dwell upon those cases where the geographical position of a city is specified by the addition to its name of the prepositions απο, εν, επι, κατα, προς, or upoυπο, followed by the name of the mountain, river, or sea, on which the city stood, as ΣΕΛΕΥΚΕΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΠΡΟΣ ΤΩΙ ΚΑΛΥΚΑΔΝΩΙ. Lists of these three classes of titles will be found in Index IV.
These eliminated, the following will be found to be still divisible into two sections, (α) Titles involving privileges more or less real and substantial, and (β) Vainglorious and empty titles.
(α) Titles involving Privileges.
Α. Μ. Κ. Γ. B. and Α. Μ. Κ. Γ. Γ., Protae megistae kallistae, grammati boulaesΠρωτη μεγιστη καλλιστη, γραμματι βουλης or gerousiasγερουσιας. Tarsus and Anazarbus Ciliciae. (Le Bas and Waddington, Voy. arch., iii. 349.)
ΑΣΥΛΟΣ, ΙΕΡΑ Α ΣΥΛΟΣ, ΙΕΡΑ ΚΑΙ ΑΣΥΛΟΣ. The titles ‘sacred and inviolable’ are usually found combined in the formula ΤΗΣ ΙΕΡΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΣΥΛΟΥ, which occurs most frequently on the coins of Cilician and Syrian cities from the second century B.C. downwards. The towns which enjoyed the right of asuliaασυλια claimed to be under the divine protection of the gods whose temples stood within their territories. In some few instances the Divinity itself is said to possess the right of asylum, as ΑΣΥΛΟΥ ΑΡΤΕ- ΜΙΔΟΣ (Ephesus).
ΑΤΕΛΕΙΑ, ΑΤΕΛΕΙΟΣ. Possessing the privilege of immunitas or exemption from duties (Alabanda, p. 607).
ΑΥΤΟΝΟΜΟΣ. The privilege of ‘autonomy’ was conferred by the Romans upon many Asiatic cities, chiefly in Pisidia, Cilicia, and Syria. With regard to the lex or constitution of such cities see Marquardt, Handbuch der römischen Alterthümer, iv, p. 78.
ΕΒΔΟΜΗ ΤΗΣ ΑΣΙΑΣ. Seventh city of Asia, Magnesia Ion. (p. 583); referring to the order of precedence which the city took in the festal procession with which the games called koina Asiasκοινα Ασιας were opened.
ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΑ. Civitas libera, an epithet applied to those cities which had received the rights and privileges of freedom at the hands of the Romans by means of a Senatus consultum. The right of libertas was a free gift which could be withdrawn at the pleasure of Rome. Cf. Tacitus, Ann. xii. 58.
ΗΤΟΚΑΠΟΥΣ[?] ΕΧΟΥΣΑ. Termessus Major (p. 712), signification doubt- ful. (See B. M. C., Lycia, &c., p. xcii.)
ΚΑΤΑΠΛΟΥΣ Α, Ephesus, Prima adnavigatio. By a rescript of Augustus the Proconsuls of Asia were ordered to make Ephesus their first port of disembarkation. See Eckhel, ii, p. 518.
ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙΣ. In its literal acceptation of the ‘mother-city’ in respect of her colonies this title rarely occurs; but cf. the legend of certain Imperial coins of Heracleia in Bithynia, ΗΡΑΚΛΕΩΤΑΝ ΜΑΤΡΟΣ ΑΠΟΙΚΩΝ ΠΟΛΙΩΝ (p. 516). Many towns were, however, called MaetropolisΜητροπολις which had never sent forth colonies. In such cases the word simply means the chief city of a province or district. In some provinces, as in Asia, there were several MaetropoleisΜητροπολεις, which is perhaps to be accounted for by the fact that such provinces were composed of several previously distinct parts. In many instances, however, the title MaetropolisΜητροπολις seems to have been granted merely as an honorary distinction, probably, in the case of the Province of Asia, to those towns in which the games called koina Asiasκοινα Ασιας were celebrated. Similarly the title Maetropolis taes IoniasΜητροπολις της Ιονιας, applied to Miletus (Corp. Inscr. Att., iii. 480), may be explained as referring to the Panionian Festival koinon igκοινον ιγ
ΝΑΥΑΡΧΙΣ was a title adopted by, or conferred by the Emperor upon, various maritime cities, such as Nicopolis in Epirus, Side in Pamphylia, Aegeae, Corycus, and Elaeusa in Cilicia, Dora, Sidon, and Tripolis in Phoenicia, on account of their convenience as naval stations or of their naval importance in their several provinces.
ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΣ, ‘Temple-Keeper,’ was a title applied to those whose function it was to keep in repair the sacred edifices, and generally to superintend all affairs connected with the due observance of the sacred rites and ceremonies, and to safeguard the temple treasury. The office of NeokorosΝεοκορος was a dignity often conferred upon the highest magistrates of the State, such as Archons, Strategoi, Prytaneis, Grammateis, &c.
As an honorary title it was also commonly adopted by the city itself. Of this practice the Imperial coinage affords ample evidence, as does also the well-known passage in the Acts of the Apostles (xix. 35), Ανδρες Εφεσιοι, τις γαρ εστιν ανθροπος ος ου γινοσκει την Εφεσιον πολιν νεοκορον ουσαν της μεγαλης θεας Αρτεμιδος και του Διοπετους;
So also when temples were erected and altars set up in honour of the Roman Emperor and of the Imperial city, various Greek towns of Asia sought and usually obtained permission to style themselves ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΙ, the words ΤΩΝ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΩΝ being either expressed or understood. The Imperial Neocory probably carried with it the right of presidency at the Augustan Festivals (SebasmiaΣεβασμια) and the duty of providing for the expenses of the sacrifices and games appertaining thereto. From time to time an additional Neocory was conferred upon a city which had erected another temple to an Emperor. Thus Ephesus in the reign of Claudius is simply ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΣ, from Hadrian to Caracalla ΔΙΣ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΣ, then, under Caracalla ΤΡΙΣ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΣ, also ΤΡΙΣ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΣ (ton Sebastonτων Σεβαστων) ΚΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΟΣ, Caracalla and Geta, and in the time of Elaga- balus ΤΕΤΡΑΚΙΣ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΣ, and then again ΤΡΙΣ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΣ under Maximinus. A similar return to a lower number, after a higher had already been in use, has been noticed at several cities, and was, sometimes at least, the direct consequence of the damnatio memoriae (see p. 577).
ΠΡΩΤΗ. The precise signification of the title protaeπρωτη has been a subject of nearly as much discussion among archaeologists as the claim to possess it was a matter of eager contention between rival cities in ancient times. Among the towns which claimed the proteionπρωτειον or primacy in their several districts were Nicaea and Nicomedeia in Bithynia, Ephesus and Smyrna in Ionia, Pergamum in Mysia, and others. By Dio Chrysostom this strife was ridiculed as a contention about a mere empty title signifying nothing, as is evident from the following passage: ημεις δε οιομεθα, εαν επιγραφομεν που προτοι, το προτειον εξειν ποιον, ανδρες Νικομηδεις, προτειον;—ου τι το οφελος
ΦΙΛΗ ΣΥΜΜΑΧΟΣ ΡΩΜΑΙΩΝ or ΠΙΣΤΗ ΦΙΑΗ ΣΥΜΜΑΧΟΣ ΡΣ- ΜΑΙΣΝ, Civitas foederata, a title to which those cities only had a right between whom and Rome a formal treaty existed, by which it was stipulated ut eosdem, quos populus Romanus, amicos atque hostes habeant (Livy, 38. 8. 10). See Side (p. 704), Sillyum (p. 705), Sagalassus (p. 710), Diocaesareia- Seppholis (p. 802).
ΦΙΛΟΡΩΜΑΙΟΣ, Arnica Romanorum (Carrhae, p. 814), has perhaps a similar signification.
ΦΙΛΟΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ, Lover of the Emperor (Stratoniceia, p. 625): This and the two preceding titles could not be adopted except with the permission of the Roman Senate or the Emperor (Res gestae divi Augusti, 5. 41 and 5. 17 ‘Germanorum populi per legatos amicitiam meam et populi Romani petierunt’).
(β) Empty Titles.
ΑΡΙΣΤΗ ΜΕΓΙΣΤΗ, Best and greatest. Nicaea, p. 516.
ΑΡΧΕΟ[ΠΟΛΙΣ] or ΑΡΧΕΟ[ΤΑΤΗ] ΠΑΦΑ[ΑΓΟΝΙΑΣ], Gangra and Ger- rnanicopolis Paphlagoniae, p. 506.
Γ[ΝΩΡΙΜΟΣ(?)], Notable. Abila, p. 786; Gadara, p. 787.
ΕΝΔΟΞΟΣ, Illustrious. Side, p. 704; Anazarbus, p. 717; Damascus, p. 784.
ΕΝΔΟΞΟΤΕΡΑ, More illustrious. Syedra, p. 729.
ΕΝΤΕΙΜΟΣ, Honourable. Aspendus, p. 701.
ΕΠΙΣΗΜΟΣ, Distinguished. Neapolis Samariae, p. 803.
ΕΣΤΙΑ ΘΕΩΝ, Altar of the Gods. Germanicopolis, p. 506, on account of the numerous temples in the city.
ΕΥΓΕΝΗΣ ΠΙΤΗ ΘΕΟΦΙΑΗΣ, Noble, Trusty, and God-loved. Aegeae Cilic., p. 716.
ΕΥΣΕΒΗΣ, Holy. Zephyrium, p. 734.
ΕΥΣΕΒΗΣ ΕΥΓΕΝΗΣ, Holy and noble. Nicaea, p. 516.
ΘΕΙΟΣ, Divine. Carrhae, p. 814.
ΛΑΜΠΡΟΤΑΤΗ, Most splendid. Side, p. 704.
ΜΑΤΗΡ ΑΠΟΙΚΩΝ ΠΟΛΙΩΝ, Mother of Colonies. Heracleia Bith., p. 516. See also ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙΣ.
ΜΕΓΙΣΤΗ, ΚΑΛΛΙΣΤΗ. See ΠΡΩΤΗ, supra.
ΜΥΣΤΙΣ, Initiated. Side, p. 704.
ΣΕΜΝΗ, Venerable. Syedra, p. 729.
ΤΙΜΙΩ[ΤΑΤΗ], Most honourable. Anazarbus, p. 717.
ΤΡΟΠ[ΑΙΟΦΟΡΟΣ] ΡΩΜ[ΑΙΩΝ], Trophy-bearer of the Romans. Anazar- bus, p. 717. In allusion perhaps to a Triumphal arch erected in the city.
Under this general heading various very different classes of joint-coinages may often be clearly distinguished. (i) The Political or Federal Alliance Coins, such as those of the Boeotian cities and those of the cities of Chalcidice, in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., and, at a later period, those of the Achaean League and other confederacies. These are characterized by uniformity of type and standard, though they were not in all cases struck at a single central mint. (ii) The Commercial Alliance Coinages of neighbouring independent cities united, not politically, but simply for the practical advantages to be gained by increased facilities of exchange. Of these the best known example is that of the monetary convention between Mytilene and Phocaea for the issue in alternate years, and turn by turn at either mint, of electrum money, chiefly hectae, for common circulation in their respective territories and spheres of commercial activity. The terms of this convention are recorded in a lapidary inscription (Hicks and Hill, Hist. Inscr., No. 94) dating from circ. B.C, 400. This is probably only one among other similar monetary alliances for the issue of electrum coins of uniform weight and fineness, though of various types, between neighbouring cities along the west coast of Asia Minor in the fifth century B.C. It is noteworthy that, according to the stipulations of the above-mentioned agreement, not the city but the mint-official was personally responsible for the quality of the coin, whence it is apparent that the great variety of types on most electrum coinages is due to the fact that these were the personal signets of the responsible moneyers, and not civic types. On the Cyzicene staters, for instance, the subordination of the παρασημον of Cyzicus, the tunny, to the personal signet, of the responsible magistrate is especially remarkable. (iii) The Military Alliance money. This consists of coins issued by different independent cities allied for mutual defence against a common foe. The best known among such summachika nomismataσυμμαχικα νομισματα are the silver staters of Ephesus, Iasus, Cnidus, Samos, Rhodes, and Byzantium struck between Conon’s victory, B.C. 394, and the Peace of Antalcidas, B.C. 387. These cities appear to have combined in an anti-Spartan symmachy, and to have issued for military purposes a common coinage consisting of staters equivalent, for purposes of exchange, to didrachms of the Aeginetic or tridrachms of the Rhodian standard, and bearing on their obverses ΣΥΝ (for sunmachikonσυνμαχικον) and the infant Herakles strangling the serpents, and on their reverses the respective types of the allied cities (Regling, Z. f. N., xxv. 210 ff.).
It is not at all improbable that the cities of which coins of this class are known to us may not have been the only members of this alliance, as it is not mentioned in history. Another example of a symmachy revealed to us by coins, in this instance only of bronze, is that of the Sikel towns of Sicily in support of Timoleon, the liberator of the island from the Carthaginians, circ. B.C. 340.
Passing on to Imperial times, it is noteworthy that a considerable number of the Alliance coins bearing the legend ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ may be most reasonably accounted for in the same manner, especially when the allied cities happen to be near neighbours, although it must be admitted that, when they are remote from one another, ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ can signify little more than an entente cordiale, for in no case can such omonoiaiομονοιαι be regarded as veritable alliances either political or commercial, for these would certainly not have been permitted under their Roman masters. A closer relationship than a mere omonoiaομονοια amounting to kinship or fraternity, appears to have been claimed by Attaleia Pampllyliae with Athens on an alliance coin reading ΑΤΤΑΛΕΩΝ ΑΘΗΝΑ/ΩΝ ΣΥΝΓΕ- ΝΙΑ (p. 701). It has also been suggested that the word ΟΜΗΡΟΣ on an alliance coin between Laodiceia Phr. and Smyrna may imply somewhat more than ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ (B. M. C., Phr., p. 325, note 2).
Strictly speaking, a discussion of the coins of the Roman Colonies and Municipia planted sporadically over the various provinces of the Empire belongs to the category of Roman rather than of Greek numismatics.
The coinage of the Roman colonies in the Western portion of the Empire comes to an end quite early. In Sicily it does not extend beyond the reign of Augustus; in Africa and Numidia, that of Tiberius; in Spain, that of Cali- gula; in Gaul, that of Nero. Babba in Mauretania is the only colony in the West which continues to coin money down to the time of Galba, A.D. 68-69 (Eckhel, iv. 500).
In the East, on the other hand, the colonial coinage was prolonged, like that of the Greek towns, down to the age of Aurelian. A large number of cities were, in point of fact, not colonized until the time of Sept. Severus or even later. Nearly all such towns, with the exception of Thessalonica and a few cities in the remote East, made use, on their colonization, of the Latin language. The types are various, and, sometimes, as at Corinth, Tyre, and Alexandreia Troas, of considerable local interest. There are, however, a few which, from their continual recurrence on the coins of colonies, and of colonies only, must be considered as distinctive colonial types. These are the following :—
(i) The Founder of the Colony performing the sacred rite of marking out the boundaries of the town with a plough to which a bull and a cow are yoked. Cf. Servius, ad Virgo Aen. vii. 755 ‘Conditores ellim civitatis taurum in dexteram, vaccam intrinsecus jungebant, et incincti ritu Gabino, id est, togae parte caput velati, parte succillcti, tenebant stivam incurvam ut glebae omnes intrinsecus caderent. Et ita sulco ducto loca murorum designabant, aratrum suspendentes circa loca portarum'.
(ii) Military standards, sometimes accompanied by the numbers of the Legions from which the colonists were drawn.
(iii) The Wolf and Twins, symbolical of the Roman origin of the colony.
(iv) Aelleas carrying his father Anchises and accompanied by the young Ascanius.
(v) A Silenus, standing with his right hand raised and with a wine-skin thrown over his shoulder, in the attitude of the famous statue in the Roman Forum, popularly known as Marsyas, and symbolical of the jus Latinum enjoyed by a town. (Cf. Servius, ad Aen., iii. 20; iv. 58; and Macrob. Saturn., iv. 12.)
The inscriptions on the coins of Colonies are, as a rule, in the nominative case and much abbreviated, as C. L. I. COR. for Colonia Laus Julia Corinthus, on coins of Corinth. (For other abbreviations see Index IV (β).) In addition to the names which the colonies received from the Emperors by whom they were founded, such as Julia, Trajana, Hadriana, &c., they frequently adopted an additional epithet or title, such as Victrix, Triumphalis, Felix, Pacensis, Nobilis, Concordia, Prima, Fida, Pia or Pulchra, Gemella or Gemina, &c. The origin of most of these is doubtful; the title GEMINA, however, clearly signifies that the colonies so called were founded by veterans from two legions, or from a legion itself called Gemina or Gemella from its mixed composition. Cf. Caesar, Bell. Civ., iii. 4 ‘Unam (legionem) quam factam ex duahus gemellam appellabat'.
Roman magistrates’ titles are of frequent occurrence on the coins of Roman colonies (see Index V (β)).
The ordinary method by which the Greeks dated their coins was, as we have seen, by inscribing upon them the name of the eponymous annual magistrate. It was not until after the age of Alexander that the custom of placing real dates in the form of numerals upon the coins began to prevail. After the foundation of the dynasty of the Seleucidae in Syria the practice was introduced
The eras in use at the various cities owed their origin to various circum- stances. Some are local eras, dating from an important event ill the history of the city on the coins of which they occur. Others were computed from one or other of the great landmarks in the history of the district or the province in which the cities using them were situated. Of the former class it is frequently impossible, in the absence of sufficient evidence, to decide to what event they owe their origin, and there is sometimes a little difficulty in fixing the exact year from which they start. The coins struck at Alexandreia under the empire are always dated by the regnal years of the Emperor.
Among the well-known and widely used historical eras the following may be here mentioned. Those of merely local interest are noticed under the towns where they occur, and a list of them will be found in Index VII, S.v. ‘Eras'.
THE SELEUCID ERA. After the victory of Seleucus and Ptolemy over Demetrius at Gaza, B.C. 312, the former took possession of Babylonia. Hence the Seleucid era, in Syria and the neighbourhood, was reckoned from October 1st, B.C. 312.
THE ERA OF THE PROVINCE OF ASIA, B.C. 134-133. The Ephesian cistophori bear dates reckoned from this era.
THE POMPEIAN ERA. In B.C. 64 Pompey, after the defeat of Tigranes, entered Syria. During the winter B.C. 64-63 he had his head quarters in Damascus and spent some months in organizing the affairs of Syria and reducing it to the condition of a Roman province.
THE CAESAREAN ERA dates from the victory of Caesar over Pompey at Pharsalia, Aug. 9th, B.C. 48. The city of Antioch, however, reckoned the commencement of the era from the autumn of the preceding year, B.C. 49, and other cities from slightly varying dates.
THE ACTIAN ERA dates from the victory of Caesar over Antony at Actium in B.C. 31.
The mode of expressing dates is as follows:—
| Units | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Α | Β | Γ | Δ | Ε | Ϛ | Ζ | Η | Θ | |
| Tens | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 |
| Ι | Κ | Λ | Μ | Ν | Ξ | Ο | Π | Q | |
| Hundreds | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 900 |
| Ρ | Σ | Τ | Υ | Φ | Χ | [Ψ | Ω | {Sampi}] |
Letters of the Greek alphabet such as Α-Ν, standing for the months of the lunar year on the Athenian coins, or Α-Ω (= 1-24) and ΑΑ-ΩΩ (= 25-48), &c., on the series of Ptolemaic coins commencing with the era of Arsinoë II, are not, strictly speaking, dates but sequence letters.
For the various Cyprian and Phoenician methods of dating coins the student should consult the volumes of the British Museum Catalogue, Cyprus and Phoenicia.