Rare Genuine Ancient Greek coin Maroneia, Thrace 148 BC Dionysos bunch of grapes

Description

Rare genuine Ancient Greek coin
Maroneia, Thrace
After 148 BC.
Obv./
Head of Dionysos right, wreathed with ivy
Rev./ / Dionysos, wearing short chiton, standing left, holding bunch of grapes and two spears, monogram at lower left.
AE 24-25mm. 15.16gm.
Rare and interesting coin as pictured.
Coin is in good condition and very rare and nice inclusion to the finest collection.
Authenticity guaranteed! COA included!!
Maroneia
is a municipality in the
Rhodope Prefecture
,
Greece
. Population 7,644 (2001). The seat of the municipality is in
Xylagani
.
In legend, it was said to have been founded by Maron, a son of
Dionysus
, or even a companion of
Osiris
. According to
Pseudo-Scymnus
it was founded by
Chios
in the first half of the 6th century BC. According to
Pliny
, its ancient name was
Ortagures
. It was located on the hill of Aghios Gheorgis, and archaeological findings date it as a much older and as a pure
Thracian
city.
Maroneia was close to the
Ismaros
mentioned by
Homer
in the
Odyssey
. Some scholars identify Maroneia with his Ismaros. Homer has
Odysseus
plundering the city but sparing Maron, whom he identifies as a priest of
Apollo
. Maron presents Odysseus with a gift of
wine
, as well as with gold and silver.
In the era of
Ancient Greece
and
Rome
, Maroneia was famous for its wine production. The wine was esteemed everywhere; it was said to possess the odor of
nectar
, and to be capable of mixture with twenty or more times its quantity with water. That the people of Maroneia venerated
Dionysus
, we learn not just from its famous Dionysian Sanctuary, the foundations of which can still be seen today, but also from the city's coins.
In
200 BC
it was taken by
Philip V of Macedon
, who vented his rage by slaughtering a great number of the city's inhabitants. The
Roman Republic
subsequently granted Maroneia to
Attalus
, King of
Pergamon
, but almost immediately revoked their gift and declared it a free city.
Thrace
(demonym
Thracian
/
ən
θ
r
eɪ
ʃ
ⁱ
ˈ
/
;
Bulgarian
:
Тракия,
Trakiya
,
Greek
:
Θράκη,
Thráki
,
Turkish
:
Trakya
) is a historical and geographic area in southeast
Europe
. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the
Balkan Mountains
on the north,
Rhodope Mountains
and the
Aegean Sea
on the south, and by the
Black Sea
and the
Sea of Marmara
on the east. The areas it comprises are southeastern
Bulgaria
(
Northern Thrace
), northeastern
Greece
(
Western Thrace
), and the European part of
Turkey
(
Eastern Thrace
). The biggest part of Thrace is part of present-day Bulgaria. In Turkey, it is also called
Rumelia
. The name comes from the
Thracians
, an ancient
Indo-European
people inhabiting Southeastern Europe.
The historical boundaries of Thrace have varied. Noteworthy is the fact that, at an early date, the
ancient Greeks
employed the term "Thrace" to refer to all of the territory which lay north of
Thessaly
inhabited by the
Thracians
,
[1]
a region which "had no definite boundaries" and to which other regions (like
Macedonia
and even
Scythia
) were added.
[2]
In one ancient Greek source, the very Earth is divided into "Asia, Libya, Europa and Thracia".
[2]
As the knowledge of world geography of the Greeks broadened, the term came to be more restricted in its application: Thrace designated the lands bordered by the
Danube
on the north, by the Euxine Sea (Black Sea) on the east, by northern
Macedonia
in the south and by the
Illyrian
lands (i.e.
Illyria
) to the west.
[2]
This largely coincided with the Thracian
Odrysian kingdom
, whose borders varied in time. During this time, specifically after the Macedonian conquest, the region's old border with Macedonia was shifted from the
Struma River
to the
Mesta River
.
[3]
[4]
This usage lasted until the Roman conquest. Henceforth, (classical) Thrace referred only to the tract of land largely covering the same extent of space as the modern geographical region. In its early period, the
Roman province of Thrace
was of this extent, but after the administrative reforms of the late 3rd century, Thracia's much reduced territory became the six small provinces which constituted the
Diocese of Thrace
. The medieval
Byzantine
theme
of
Thrace
contained only what today is
Eastern Thrace
.
The largest cities of Thrace are:
İstanbul
(European side),
Plovdiv
,
Burgas
,
Stara Zagora
,
Haskovo
,
Edirne
,
Çorlu
and
Tekirdag
.
Most of the Bulgarian and Greek population are Christians, while most of the Turkish inhabitants of Thrace are Muslims.
Thrace in ancient Greek mythology
Ancient Greek mythology
provides them with a mythical ancestor, named
Thrax
, son of the war-god
Ares
, who was said to reside in Thrace. The Thracians appear in
Homer
's
Iliad
as
Trojan
allies, led by
Acamas
and
Peiros
. Later in the
Iliad
,
Rhesus
, another Thracian king, makes an appearance.
Cisseus
, father-in-law to the Trojan elder
Antenor
, is also given as a Thracian king. Homeric Thrace was vaguely defined, and stretched from the River
Axios
in the west to the
Hellespont
and
Black Sea
in the east. The
Catalogue of Ships
mentions three separate contingents from Thrace: Thracians led by Acamas and Peiros, from
Aenus
;
Cicones
led by
Euphemus
, from southern Thrace, near
Ismaros
; and from the city of
Sestus
, on the Thracian (northern) side of the Hellespont, which formed part of the contingent led by
Asius
. Greek mythology is replete with Thracian kings, including
Diomedes
,
Tereus
,
Lycurgus
,
Phineus
,
Tegyrius
,
Eumolpus
,
Polymnestor
,
Poltys
, and
Oeagrus
(father of
Orpheus
). In addition to the tribe that Homer calls Thracians, ancient Thrace was home to numerous other tribes, such as the
Edones
,
Bisaltae
,
Cicones
, and
Bistones
.
Thrace is also mentioned in Ovid's Metamorphoses in the episode of
Philomela
, Procne, and
Tereus
. Tereus, the King of Thrace, lusts after his sister-in-law, Philomela. He kidnaps her, holds her captive, rapes her, and cuts out her tongue. Philomela manages to get free, however. She and her sister, Procne, plot to get revenge, by killing Itys (son of Tereus and Procne) and serving him to his father for dinner. At the end of the myth, all three turn into birds—Procne, a swallow; Philomela, a nightingale; and Tereus, a
hoopoe
.
History
Ancient history
Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak
The indigenous population of Thrace was a people called the
Thracians
, divided into numerous tribal groups. Thracian troops were known to accompany neighboring ruler
Alexander the Great
when he crossed the
Hellespont
which abuts Thrace, and took on the
Persian Empire
of the day.
The Thracians did not describe themselves as such and
Thrace
and
Thracians
are simply the names given them by the Greeks.
[5]
Divided into separate tribes, the Thracians did not manage to form a lasting political organization until the
Odrysian state
was founded in the 4th century BC. Like
Illyrians
, Thracian tribes of the mountainous regions fostered a locally ruled warrior tradition, while the tribes based in the plains were purportedly more peaceable. Recently discovered funeral mounds in Bulgaria suggest that Thracian kings did rule regions of Thrace with distinct Thracian national identity.
During this period, a subculture of
celibate
ascetics
called the
Ctistae
lived in Thrace, where they served as philosophers, priests and prophets.
Medieval history
By the mid 5th century, as the Roman Empire began to crumble, Thracia fell from the authority of Rome and into the hands of Germanic tribal rulers. With the fall of Rome, Thracia turned into a battleground territory for the better part of the next 1,000 years. The eastern successor of the
Roman Empire
in the Balkans, the
Byzantine Empire
, retained control over Thrace until the 8th century when the northern half of the entire region was incorporated into the
First Bulgarian Empire
. Byzantium regained Thrace in the late 10th century and administered it as a
theme
, until the Bulgarians regained control of the northern half at the end of the 12th century. Throughout the 13th century and the first half of the 14th century, the region was changing in the hands of the Bulgarian and the Byzantine Empire(excl. Constantinopole). In 1265 the area suffered a Mongol raid from the
Golden Horde
, led by
Nogai Khan
. In 1352, the
Ottoman
Turks
conducted their first incursion into the region subduing it completely within a matter of two decades and occupying it for five centuries.
Modern history
With the
Congress of Berlin
in 1878, Northern Thrace was incorporated into the semi-autonomous Ottoman province of
Eastern Rumelia
, which united with Bulgaria in 1885. The rest of Thrace was divided among Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey at the beginning of the 20th century, following the
Balkan Wars
,
World War I
and the
Greco-Turkish War
. Today
Thracian
is a strong regional identity in Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and other neighbouring countries.
Famous Thracians and people from Thrace
Mehmed II
Ottoman
Sultan, born at
Edirne
in Thrace; he was the Sultan who conquered Constantinople, marking the end of the Middle Ages.
Bayezid II
Ottoman Sultan
Spartacus
was a Thracian auxiliary soldier in the
Roman army
who deserted but was captured and then enslaved by the Romans. He led a large slave uprising in what is now Italy in 73–71 BC. His army of escaped
gladiators
and slaves defeated several
Roman legions
in what is known as the
Third Servile War
.
Belisaurius
, one of the most successful Generals of the
Roman Empire
, was born in the borderlands between Thrace and
Illyria
.
In
Ancient Greek mythology
,
Orpheus
was the chief representative of the art of song and playing the
lyre
.
Democritus
was a Greek philosopher and mathematician from
Abdera, Thrace
(c. 460–370 BC.) His main contribution is the
atomic theory
, the belief that all matter is made up of various imperishable indivisible elements which he called
atoms
.
Herodicus
was a Greek physician of the fifth century BC who is considered the founder of
sports medicine
. He is believed to have been one of
Hippocrates'
tutors.
Protagoras
was a Greek philosopher from
Abdera, Thrace
(c. 490–420 BC.) An expert in
rhetorics
and subjects connected to virtue and political life, often regarded as the first
sophist
. He is known primarily for three claims (1) that man is the measure of all things, often interpreted as a sort of
moral relativism
, (2) that he could make the "worse (or weaker) argument appear the better (or stronger)" (see
Sophism
) and (3) that one could not tell if the gods existed or not (see
Agnosticism
).
A number of
Roman emperors
of the 3rd-5th century were of
Thraco-Roman
backgrounds (
Maximinus Thrax
,
Licinius
,
Galerius
,
Aureolus
,
Leo the Thracian
, etc.). These emperors were elevated via a military career, from the condition of common soldiers in one of the
Roman legions
to the foremost positions of
political power
.
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