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  1. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    Sacred stone of Emesa
    A43, Lot 144:

    Elagabalus. A.D. 218-222. AR denarius. 3.18 gm. 19 mm. Uncertain eastern mint. Struck A.D. 218-219. His laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right; ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG / Slow quadriga right, bearing the sacred stone of Emesa on which is an eagle, surrounded by four parasols; SANCT DEO SOLI around, ELAGABAL in exergue. RIC IV.2 195 (R2). RSC 268. Good Very Fine; crisp and attractive with good surfaces and slightly lustrous tone. Rare.

    Ex Harlan Berk BBS 139 (4 August 2004) lot 339.

    Elagabalus was 14 years old when he inherited the role of high priest of the sun god El-Gabal at Emesa in Syria. Following his unlikely rise to power in A.D. 218 he brought the cult's baetyl (a sacred conical cult stone, likely a meteorite) with him to Rome. Dedicated to spreading his cult among the Romans, he would make senators watch as he danced around the altar to drums and cymbals. He had some success, and the Syrian deity combined with the Roman sun god Sol to be known as Sol Invictus ("the unconquered sun").

    At the summer solstice he would parade the stone through the city: "a six horse chariot carried the divinity, the horses huge and flawlessly white, with expensive gold fittings and rich ornaments. No one held the reins, and no one rode in the chariot; the vehicle was escorted as if the god himself were the charioteer. Elagabalus ran backward in front of the chariot, facing the god and holding the horses' reins. He made the whole journey in this reverse fashion, looking up into the face of his god" (Herodian). That chariot, complete with baetyl, is depicted on the reverse of this piece.

  2. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    Alexander the Great
    E38, Lot 47:

    MACEDON. Koinon of Macedon. Pseudo-autonomous issue, temp. Severus Alexander. A.D. 222-235. Æ. 12.27 gm. 27 mm. Beroea mint. Diademed head of Alexander the Great right; ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ / Macedonia seated left on throne with back, holding Kabeiros; ΚΟΙΝΟΝ ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ ΟΜΟΝΟΙ-Α around. AMNG III 333 var. (helmeted head on obverse). Good Very Fine; smooth green patina; bold and handsome portrait of Alexander, well centered and well struck on a large flan. Rare variation, unpublished in Gaebler.

    The Koinon of the Macedonians was a confederation of Macedonian cities under a central government or king (or, under Roman rule, the Roman emperor). Rooted in the Hellenistic period, this central administration handled diplomatic issues both between member city-states and with foreign bodies. Coins issued in the name of the 'Macedonians' first appear during the reigns of Philip V and Perseus, and continued to appear under Roman rule. The Romans reorganized the Koinon around the imperial cult and put members of the local elite in charge. They organized and financed festivals and games, and were awarded Roman citizenship in return. The iconography of the Koinon issues (Alexander the Great, the Macedonian shield, and so on) reflect a powerful ethnic and civic identity that, as it was no longer a threat to Roman control, was allowed to flourish. (Howgego, Christopher; Heuchert, Volker; Burnett, Andrew, Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces. 2005.)

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