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Ephesos AE35 SNGCop 397cf of Caracalla

Caracalla AE35 of Ephesos, Ionia. AV M AVP ANTWNEINOC CE, laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right / DIC NEWKORWN EFECCIWN, octostyle Temple of Artemis, statue within.

Lot No.2694. EF, rare and historical. 26.6 grams.

$ 1500.

Ex. Kovacs.

Conceived by architect Chersiphron and his son, Metagenes, the temple's inner space featured a double row of at least 106 columns, each believed to be 40 to 60 feet high. The foundation was approximately 200 feet by 400 feet.

The original temple burned in 356 B.C. and was rebuilt on the same foundation. Fire devastated the second temple in 262 A.D., but its foundation and some debris have survived. The British Museum in London counts some of the second temple's sculptures among its treasures.

Diana was the daughter of Jupiter, the Chief God and the twin sister of Apollo. Her mother, Latona, was one of Jupiter's paramours. When Diana was born her mother bore her painlessly, and then Diana helped her mother deliver Apollo, thus making Diana the Patroness of Childbirth. As a child Jupiter asked Diana what she like to have as gifts. She replied that she wanted eternal virginity (in the sense of always being true to her own nature), as many names as Apollo, a bow and arrow like Apollo's, the office of bringing light (providing guidance to others), a saffron tunic with a red hem, and nine nymphs as her maidens. Diana was believed to hunt in the moonlight with her hounds. She can see clearly in the dark, guided by the moon (her own intuition).

Caracalla (ruled 188-217 AD) was the nickname of the Roman emperor who ruled as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Originally named Bassianus, he was born in Gaul, and was nicknamed Caracalla because he introduced into Roman fashion a long cloak or tunic from Gaul called the caracalla. When his father, Septimius Severus, died in 211, Caracalla became joint emperor with his younger brother, Publius Septimius Geta. In 212 Caracalla became sole emperor after murdering Geta in their mother's arms, and arranging the massacre of thousands of Geta's followers.

Caracalla's reign was marked by cruelty, extravagance, and treachery, but he followed his father's advice to treat the soldiers well, and he was well loved by the army. He increased their pay and introduced the double denarius, also known as the Antoninianus in his honor, presumeably to facilitate this military pay raise.

On his birthday, April 4th, 217 AD, while campaigning against the Parthians, as he stopped to empty his bladder on the road to Carrhae, he fell victim to a plot engineered by Macrinus, who was Praetorian Prefect. He was assassinated by one Julius Martialis, who bore a grudge against Caracalla for having passed him over for promotion to centurion, and Macrinus immediate seized power.