Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVII 28 Mar 2019
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Thrace, Apollonia Pontika AR Tetradrachm. Magistrate Meno..., early 2nd century BC. Laureate head of Apollo right, with spiral locks falling behind neck / Cult statue of Apollo Iastros standing facing, head left, holding long laurel branch in right hand, upon which a bird is perched, and bow and arrows in left hand; on ground line, another arrow; IATPOY downwards to left, AΠOΛΛΩNOΣ downwards to right, ME-NΩ across fields. Unpublished variant, for type cf. S. Topalov, Apollonia Pontica. Contribution to the Study of the Coin Minting of the City, Sofia 2007, p. 624, 98 (magistrate ΑΘ-Ε). 16.85g, 32mm, 1h.
Near Extremely Fine, scattered light marks. A unique and unpublished variant.
Apollo Iatros was the patron deity of Apollonia Pontika (formerly founded as Antheia, but later renamed in the god's honour), and is depicted on the reverse of this coin holding his traditional attributes of a bow and arrow, together with a laurel staff on which is perched a bird, alluding to his birth beneath a laurel tree and the numerous birds including hawks, ravens and crows considered sacred to him. An important sanctuary of Apollo Iatros was situated within view of the city on the island now called St Cryicus, famous in part due to the great statue of the god which stood there. Known as the 'Colossus of Apollonia Pontika', it was designed by the renowned Kalamis of Athens and when completed in 480 BC it stood at over 13 metres tall. There it remained for more than 400 years, until in 72 BC Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus captured the city, seized the statue as a trophy, and had it transported to Rome. Scholars conventionally believe that the types of this coin depict this well known statue (see Pick, 1898, p. 169; Lippold, 1919, p. 1534; Levi, 1965, p. 92; Lacroix, 1949, pp. 248-249), and they have provided the template for a planned reconstruction of the statue by the modern city of Sozopol.
The cult of Apollo Iatros was predominantly confined to the Black Sea Region, prevalent also in the other major Ionian Colonies in this area which include Pantikapaion, Istros and Olbia - all of them of Milesian foundation, yet curiously no trace of this cult has been found at Miletos. This has led Yulia Ustinova (Apollo Iatros: A Greek God of Pontic, Münster 2009) to conclude that the cult was of locally originating deity, later assimilated to Apollo with the influx of Greek colonists.
The epithet 'Iatros' itself literally means 'doctor' or 'healer'; the first evidence of the god as a healer appears in Homer's Iliad where he heals Glaukos' arrow wound (Iliad, 16.527-531). This aspect of Apollo is much broader than the name suggests however, and in addition to being considered a healer of men and women, Apollo was also revered for his responsibility in maintaining the health of the state: the political well-being of the city, the welfare of the crops that fed the people, and the averting of civil war. As the rise of the cult of Apollo's son Asklepios in the 5th and 4th centuries eclipsed this function of Apollo, the epithet Iatros was increasingly used in reference to Asklepios, who represented a specialised god concerned with medicine; his attribute of a serpent wrapped around a staff is still commonly employed as a medical symbol today.
Near Extremely Fine, scattered light marks. A unique and unpublished variant.
Apollo Iatros was the patron deity of Apollonia Pontika (formerly founded as Antheia, but later renamed in the god's honour), and is depicted on the reverse of this coin holding his traditional attributes of a bow and arrow, together with a laurel staff on which is perched a bird, alluding to his birth beneath a laurel tree and the numerous birds including hawks, ravens and crows considered sacred to him. An important sanctuary of Apollo Iatros was situated within view of the city on the island now called St Cryicus, famous in part due to the great statue of the god which stood there. Known as the 'Colossus of Apollonia Pontika', it was designed by the renowned Kalamis of Athens and when completed in 480 BC it stood at over 13 metres tall. There it remained for more than 400 years, until in 72 BC Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus captured the city, seized the statue as a trophy, and had it transported to Rome. Scholars conventionally believe that the types of this coin depict this well known statue (see Pick, 1898, p. 169; Lippold, 1919, p. 1534; Levi, 1965, p. 92; Lacroix, 1949, pp. 248-249), and they have provided the template for a planned reconstruction of the statue by the modern city of Sozopol.
The cult of Apollo Iatros was predominantly confined to the Black Sea Region, prevalent also in the other major Ionian Colonies in this area which include Pantikapaion, Istros and Olbia - all of them of Milesian foundation, yet curiously no trace of this cult has been found at Miletos. This has led Yulia Ustinova (Apollo Iatros: A Greek God of Pontic, Münster 2009) to conclude that the cult was of locally originating deity, later assimilated to Apollo with the influx of Greek colonists.
The epithet 'Iatros' itself literally means 'doctor' or 'healer'; the first evidence of the god as a healer appears in Homer's Iliad where he heals Glaukos' arrow wound (Iliad, 16.527-531). This aspect of Apollo is much broader than the name suggests however, and in addition to being considered a healer of men and women, Apollo was also revered for his responsibility in maintaining the health of the state: the political well-being of the city, the welfare of the crops that fed the people, and the averting of civil war. As the rise of the cult of Apollo's son Asklepios in the 5th and 4th centuries eclipsed this function of Apollo, the epithet Iatros was increasingly used in reference to Asklepios, who represented a specialised god concerned with medicine; his attribute of a serpent wrapped around a staff is still commonly employed as a medical symbol today.