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Zeugma AE32 of Philip I

Philip I AE32 of Commagene, Zeugma. AVTOK K M IOVLI FILIPPOC CEB (retrograde Z), radiate cuirassed bust left / ZEVGMATEWN, tetrastyle temple of Zeus(?) with peribolos containing grove of trees, capricorn right in ex. NISC.

Lot No.2732. nVF and extremely rare.

$ 450.

Founded by the Seleucid ruler Seleukos I Nikator in 300 BC, as Seleukeia of Euphrates, the Hellenistic city of Zeugma grew in prosperity during Roman times since it lay on the trade road which stretched eastwards across Asia to China. Zeugma's huge wealth was reflected in the homes of its inhabitants. Rich merchants and Roman noblemen and officers vied with one another to adorn their houses with the world's loveliest mosaics, ceramics, statues, and frescos. Zeugma has been described in international literature as the second Pompei. Incorporated into the Roman Empire in 64 BC, The people of Zeugma enjoyed a magnificent lifestyle in their city on the Euphrates until the Sassanid invasion under Shapur in 252 AD, when the city was burnt and razed. This was followed shortly afterwards by a violent earthquake, and a city which had extended over an area of 2100 hectares was buried beneath rubble, and fell into a sleep from which it was not to wake for nearly two thousand years. from the Zeugma website at http://www.zeugmaweb.com/zeugma/english/engindex.htm This coin was minted between 247 and 249 AD, just before Zeugma's destruction.

Philip I the Arab was Gordian III's Praetorian Prefect, but he had ambitions of his own and had Gordian murdered and assumed the throne in 244 AD. He was killed by the forces of Trajan Decius in 249 AD.