AMPHIPOLIS in MACEDONIA 2ndCenBC Zeus Eagle Authentic Ancient Greek Coin i50865

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AMPHIPOLIS in MACEDONIA 2ndCenBC Zeus Eagle Authentic Ancient Greek Coin i50865:
$250.00

Item: i50865

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Greek city of Amphipolis inMacedonia
Bronze 19mm (3.58 grams) Struck 2nd Century B.C.
Reference: SNG Copenhagen 74; Moushmov 5971
Laureate head of Zeus right.
AMΦIΠOΛEITΩN, Eagle standing right on thunderbolt with open wings, head left.

Founded by Athenians in 436 B.C. to protect their mining interests in the north, Amphipolis surrendered to the Spartan general Brasidas in 424. The city preserved its independence until 357 when it was captured by Philip II, King of Macedon.

You are offerding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.

In theancient Greek religion, Zeus was the \"Father of Gods and men\" (πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε)who ruled the Olympians ofMount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was thegod of sky andthunder inGreek mythology. HisRoman counterpart isJupiter andEtruscan counterpart is Tinia.

Zeus was the child ofCronus andRhea, and the youngest of his siblings. In most traditions he was married toHera, although, at the oracle of Dodona, his consort wasDione: according to the Iliad, he is the father ofAphrodite by Dione. He is known for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, includingAthena,Apollo and Artemis,Hermes,Persephone (by of Troy,Minos, and the Muses (by Mnemosyne); by Hera, he is usually said to have fatheredAres,Hebe and Hephaestus.

AsWalter Burkert points out in his book, Greek Religion, \"Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as Father, and all the gods rise in his presence.\" For the Greeks, he was theKing of the Gods, who oversaw the universe. AsPausanias observed, \"That Zeus is king in heaven is a saying common to all men\". In Hesiod\'s Theogony Zeus assigns the various gods their roles. In the Homeric Hymns he is referred to as the chieftain of the gods.

His symbols are thethunderbolt,eagle,bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical \"cloud-gatherer\" also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of theAncient Near East, such as thescepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses: standing, striding forward, with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in majesty.

Macedonia or Macedon was anancientkingdom on the northern periphery ofClassical Greece and later the dominant state ofHellenistic Greece. It was ruled during most of its existence initially by the legendary founding dynasty of theArgeads, the intermittentAntipatrids and finally theAntigonids. Home to theMacedonians, the earliest kingdom was centered on the northEastern part of theGreek peninsula, bordered byEpirus to the west,Paeonia to the north, the region ofThrace to the east andThessaly to the south.

Therise of Macedon, from a small kingdom at the fringe of typical Greekcity states affairs, to one which came to control the fate of the entire Hellenic world, occurred under the reign ofPhilip II. With the innovativeMacedonian army, he defeated the old powers ofAthens andThebes in the decisiveBattle of Chaeronea in 338 BC and subdued them, while keeping Sparta in check. His sonAlexander the Great pursued his father\'s effort to command the whole of Greece through thefederation of Greek states, a feat he finally accomplished afterdestroying a revolting Thebes. Young Alexander was then ready to lead this force, as he aspired, in a large campaign against theAchaemenid Empire, in retaliation for the invasion of Greece in the 5th century BC.

In the ensuingwars of Alexander the Great, he was ultimately successful in conquering a territory that came to stretch as far as theIndus River. For a brief period his Macedonian Empire was the most powerful in the world, the definitiveHellenistic state, inaugurating the transition to this new period ofAncient Greek civilization. Greek arts and literature flourished in the new conquered lands and advancements in philosophy and science were spread to the ancient world. Of most importance were the contributions ofAristotle, a teacher to Alexander, whose teachings carried on many centuries past his death.

After thedeath of Alexander the Greatwars of the Diadochi and the partitioning of his short-lived empire, Macedonia proper carried on as a Greek cultural and political center in the Mediterranean region along withPtolemaic Egypt, theSeleucid Empire, and theAttalid kingdom. Important cities likePella,Pydna, andAmphipolis were involved in power struggles for control of the territory, and new cities were founded, likeThessalonica by the usurperCassander, which is now the second largest city of modern day Greece. Macedonia\'s decline of influence began with therise of Rome until its ultimate subjection during the secondMacedonian Wars.

TheRoman province of Macedonia (Latin:Provincia Macedoniae,Greek: Ἐπαρχία Μακεδονίας) was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman generalQuintus Caecilius Metellus defeatedAndriscus of Macedon, the last self-styledKing of the ancient kingdom ofMacedonia in 148 BC, and after the four client republics (the \"tetrarchy\") established by Rome in the region were dissolved. The province incorporated ancientMacedonia, with the addition ofEpirus,Thessaly, and parts ofIllyria,Paeonia andThrace. This created a much larger administrative area, to which the name of \'Macedonia\' was still applied. The Dardanians, to the north of the Paeonians, were not included, because they had supported the Romans in their conquest of Macedonia.

Amphipolis was anancientnt Greekcity in the region once inhabited by theEdoni people in the present-dayperiphery ofCentral Macedonia. It was built on a raised plateau overlooking the east bank of theriverStrymon where it emerged from Lake Cercinitis, about 3 m. from theAegean Sea. Founded in 437 BC, the city was finally abandoned in the 8th century AD. The present municipality Amfipoli, named after the ancient city, occupies the site. Currently, it is a municipality in theSerres Prefecture,Central Macedonia with a population of 3,623 (2001 census).

Origins

Archaeology has uncovered remains at the site dating to approximately 3000 BC. Due to the strategic location of the site it was fortified from very early.Xerxes Iof Persia passed during his invasion of Greece of 480 BC and buried alive nine young men and nine maidens as a sacrifice to the river god. Near the later site of AmphipolisAlexander Iof Macedon defeated the remains of Xerxes\' army in 479 BC.

Throughout the 5th century BC,Athens sought to consolidate its control over Thrace, which was strategically important because of its primary materials (the gold and silver of thePangaion hills and the dense forests essential for naval construction), and the sea routes vital for Athens\' supply of grain fromScythia. After a first unsuccessful attempt at colonisation in 497 BC by theMiletianTyrantHistiaeus, the Athenians founded a first colony at Ennea-Hodoi (‘Nine Ways’) in 465, but these first ten thousand colonists were massacred by theThracians. A second attempt took place in 437 BC on the same site under the guidance ofHagnon, son ofNicias.

The new settlement took the name of Amphipolis (literally, \"around the city\"), a name which is the subject of much debates aboutlexicography.Thucydides claims the name comes from the fact that the Strymon flows \"around the city\" on two sides; however a note in the Suda (also given in the lexicon ofPhotius) offers a different explanation apparently given byMarsyas, son of Periander: that a large proportion of the population lived \"around the city\". However, a more probable explanation is the one given byJulius Pollux: that the name indicates the vicinity of anisthmus. Furthermore, theEtymologicum Genuinum gives the following definition: a city of the Athenians or of Thrace, which was once called Nine Routes, (so named) because it is encircled and surrounded by the Strymon river. This description corresponds to the actual site of the city (see adjacent map), and to the description of Thucydides.

Amphipolis subsequently became the main power base of the Athenians in Thrace and, consequently, a target of choice for theirSpartans adversaries. The Athenian population remained very much in the minority within the city. An Athenian rescue expedition led by strategist (and later historian) Thucydides had to settle for securingEion and could not retake Amphipolis, a failure for which Thucydides was sentenced to exile. A new Athenian force under the command ofCleon failed once more in 422 BC during abattle at which both Cleon and Brasidas lost their lives. Brasidas survived long enough to hear of the defeat of the Athenians and was buried at Amphipolis with impressive pomp. From then on he was regarded as the founder of the city and honoured with yearly games and sacrifices. The city itself kept its independence until the reign of the kingPhilip II despite several other Athenian attacks, notably because of the government ofCallistratus of Aphidnae.

Conquest by the Romans

In 357 BC, Philip removed the block which Amphipolis presented on the road to Macedonian control over Thrace by conquering the town, which Athens had tried in vain to recover during the previous years. According the historian Theopompus, this conquest came to be the object of a secret accord betweenAthens and Philip II, who would return the city in exchange for the fortified town ofPydna, but the Macedonian king betrayed the accord, refusing to cede Amphipolis and laying siege to Pydna.

After the conquest by Philip II, the city was not immediately incorporated into the kingdom, and for some time preserved its institutions and a certain degree of autonomy. The border of Macedonia was not moved further east; however, Philip sent a number of Macedonians governors to Amphipolis, and in many respects the city was effectively ‘Macedonianized’. Nomenclature, the calendar and the currency (thegold stater, installed by Philip to capitalise on the gold reserves of the Pangaion hills, replaced the Amphipolitandrachma) were all replaced by Macedonian equivalents. In the reign ofAlexander, Amphipolis was an important naval base, and the birthplace of three of the most famous MacedonianAdmirals: Nearchus, Androsthenes[6] andLaomedon whose burial place is most likely marked by the famous lion of Amphipolis.

Amphipolis became one of the main stops on the Macedonian royal road (as testified by a border stone found betweenPhilippos and Amphipolis giving the distance to the latter), and later on the ‘Via Egnatia’, the principalRoman Road which crossed the southern Balkans. Apart from the ramparts of the low town (see photograph), the gymnasium and a set well-preserved frescoes from a wealthy villa are the only artifacts from this period that remain visible. Though little is known of the layout of the town, modern knowledge of its institutions is in considerably better shape thanks to a rich epigraphic documentation, including a military ordinance ofPhilip V and anephebarchic law from the gymnasium. After the final victory ofRome over Macedonia in abattle in 168 BC, Amphipolis became the capital one of the four mini-republics, or ‘merides’, which were created by the Romans out of the kingdom of theAntigonids whichsucceeded Alexander’s Empire in Macedon. These \'merides\' were gradually incorporated into the Roman client state, and later province, ofThracia.

Revival in Late Antiquity

During the period ofLate Antiquity, Amphipolis benefited from the increasing economic prosperity of Macedonia, as is evidenced by the large number ofChristian Churches that were built. Significantly however, these churches were built within a restricted area of the town, sheltered by the walls of theacropolis. This has been taken as evidence that the large fortified perimeter of the ancient town was no longer defendable, and that the population of the city had considerably diminished.

Nevertheless, the number, size and quality of the churches constructed between the fifth and sixth centuries are impressive. Fourbasilicas adorned with rich mosaic floors and elaborate architectural sculptures (such as the ram-headedcolumn capitals - see picture) have been excavated, as well as a church with a hexagonal central plan which evokes that of thebasilica ofSt. Vitalis inRavenna. It is difficult to find reasons for such municipal extravagance in such a small town. One possible explanation provided by the historianAndré Boulanger is that an increasing ‘willingness’ on the part of the wealthy upper classes in the late Roman period to spend money on localgentrification projects (which he terms ‘\'évergétisme’\', from the Greek verb εύεργετέω,(meaning ‘I do good’) was exploited by the local church to its advantage, which led to a mass gentrification of the urban centre and of the agricultural riches of the city’s territory. Amphipolis was also adiocese under thesuffragan ofThessaloniki - the Bishop of Amphipolis is first mentioned in 533 AD.

From the reduction of the urban area to the disappearance of the city

TheSlavic invasions of the late 6th century gradually encroached on the back-country Amphipolitan lifestyle and led to the decline of the town, during which period its inhabitants retreated to the area around the acropolis. The ramparts were maintained to a certain extent, thanks to materials plundered from the monuments of the lower city, and the large unused cisterns of the upper city were occupied by small houses and the workshops of artisans. Around the middle of the 7th century AD, a further reduction of the inhabited area of the city was followed by an increase in the fortification of the town, with the construction of a new rampart with pentagonal towers cutting through the middle of the remaining monuments. The acropolis, theRoman baths, and especially the Episcopal basilica were crossed by this wall.

The city was probably abandoned in the eighth century, as the last bishop was attested in 787. Its inhabitants probably moved to the neighbouring site of ancientEion, port of Amphipolis, which had been rebuilt and refortified in theByzantine period under the name “Chrysopolis”. This small port continued to enjoy some prosperity, before being abandoned during theOttoman period. The last recorded sign of activity in the region of Amphipolis was the construction of a fortified tower to the north in 1367 byGrand Primicier Jean and theStratopedarque Alexis to protect the land that they had given to the monastery of Pantokrator onMount Athos.

Archaeology

The site was rediscovered and described by many travellers and archaeologists during the 19th century, including E. Cousinéry (1831) (engraver), L. Heuzey (1861), and P. Perdrizet (1894–1899). In 1934, M. Feyel, of theÉcole française d\'Athènes, led anepigraphical mission to the site and uncovered the remains of a funeral lion (a reconstruction was given in the, a publication of the EfA which is available on line). However, excavations did not truly begin until after the Second World War. TheGreek Archaeological Society under D. Lazaridis excavated in 1972 and 1985, uncovering a necropolis, the rampart of the old town (see photograph), the basilicas, and the acropolis.

Amphipolitans

Demetrius of Amphipolis, student of Plato\'s
Zoilus (400 BC-320 BC), grammarian, cynic philosopher
Pamphilus (painter), head of Sicyonian school and teacher of Apelles
Aetion, sculptor
Philippus of Amphipolis, historian
Nearchus, admiral
Erigyius, general
Damasias[disambiguation needed] of Amphipolis 320 BC Stadion Olympics
Hermagoras of Amphipolis (c. 225 BC), stoic philosopher ,follower of Persaeus
Xena, the Warrior Princess of Amphipolis.

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