Nomos AG
obolos 27 21 Mar 2023
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CILICIA. Anazarbus. Valerian I, 253-260. Triassarion (Bronze, 27 mm, 10.91 g, 5 h), year 272 = 253-254. ΑΥΤ Κ Π ΛΙK ΟΥ-ΑΛΕΡΙΑΝΟC CE Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Valerian I to right. Rev. ANAZ-APBOY / Γ/Γ / ΕΤ ΒΟC / A M K Dionysos seated left, head right, on back of panther right with head reverted. SNG BN 2157 (same dies). Ziegler 827 (Vs2/Rs2). Green patina. Very fine.
Dionysos, or to the Romans either Bacchus or Liber Pater, was the god of ecstasy and wine. He is often depicted in Graeco-Roman art draped in a panther or leopard's skin, holding a cup of wine, and often his staff of power, his thyrsos, a vine-wrapped scepter topped with a pinecone. The significance of the panther (or leopard, as it may be) is not certain, but probably indicates Dionysos' foreign origin (at least that is what the Graeco-Roman world believed; he was actually worshipped in Mycenean times, so while he antedates the Olympic pantheon he was essentially an indigenous deity).
Dionysos, or to the Romans either Bacchus or Liber Pater, was the god of ecstasy and wine. He is often depicted in Graeco-Roman art draped in a panther or leopard's skin, holding a cup of wine, and often his staff of power, his thyrsos, a vine-wrapped scepter topped with a pinecone. The significance of the panther (or leopard, as it may be) is not certain, but probably indicates Dionysos' foreign origin (at least that is what the Graeco-Roman world believed; he was actually worshipped in Mycenean times, so while he antedates the Olympic pantheon he was essentially an indigenous deity).