Nomos AG
obolos 25 23 Oct 2022
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PISIDIA. Selge. Otacilia Severa, Augusta, 244-249. Diassarion (Bronze, 24 mm, 10.09 g, 12 h). MAP OTA CEOYHPAN CEB Diademed and draped bust of Otacilia Severa to right, set on a crescent. Rev. CEΛΓEΩΝ The sanctuary of Zeus and Herakles: two altars atop a monumental platform, each one with a sacred styrax tree surmounted by bird, and before which are two small circular altars; to the left and right, a thunderbolt and a club, respectively. KM p. 408, 33. RPC VIII Online ID 20973. SNG PFPS 478. Watson 903. Very rare. Green patina with earthen deposits. Scratches on the obverse, otherwise, very fine.
Very little remains of the ancient city of Selge today, but in the Classical period it was the preeminent city of Pisidia, the most populous and the most prosperous, and was able to field an army of 20,000 men. This was due in part to to its flourishing trade in wine and oil, for it possessed an extremely fertile soil. It was also very rich in timber, which it harvested for trade. One tree in particular, however, from which the Selgeans profited, was the styrax - the same as depicted here within the precinct of the Sanctuary of Zeus and Herakles - and from which the Selgeans gathered a resin with several uses: it was added as a flavor to wine, used in the manufacture of perfumes, used as a fragrant hair dye, and also as incense with expectorant and soothing properties. Unfortunately, the sanctuary has not been identified in today's ruins.
Very little remains of the ancient city of Selge today, but in the Classical period it was the preeminent city of Pisidia, the most populous and the most prosperous, and was able to field an army of 20,000 men. This was due in part to to its flourishing trade in wine and oil, for it possessed an extremely fertile soil. It was also very rich in timber, which it harvested for trade. One tree in particular, however, from which the Selgeans profited, was the styrax - the same as depicted here within the precinct of the Sanctuary of Zeus and Herakles - and from which the Selgeans gathered a resin with several uses: it was added as a flavor to wine, used in the manufacture of perfumes, used as a fragrant hair dye, and also as incense with expectorant and soothing properties. Unfortunately, the sanctuary has not been identified in today's ruins.