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View obverse of coin

Coin of indeterminate value. Reverse: Asclepius

Reign of Gordianus III (238-244 A.D.)

Nicopolis, Thrace

Copper

Diameter - 27.5 mm; weight - 10.70 g

While Ares did all he could to exterminate as many humans as possible, Asclepius, the god of health and healing, did everything to save them. The image of Asclepius is one of the most interesting in Greek mythology. He was said to be the son of the nymph Coronis and the god Apollo. According to another version, when already pregnant the nymph was unfaithful to the god with a mortal named Ischys. Infuriated Apollo killed her, but on the funeral pyre he removed the child from its mother's womb. He gave his son to be brought up by the centaur Cheiron, who taught Asclepius to heal wounds as well as to hunt. Apollo himself taught him surgery.

Perfecting his skills under the guidance of such teachers, Asclepius began not only to treat the sick, but even dared to resurrect the dead. For this transgression of divine laws, Zeus cast a thunderbolt at him, but later he was accepted as one of the gods and even placed in the sky as the constellation Ophiuchus, "the Serpent-Holder".

The cult of Asclepius spread fairly rapidly across the whole of Greece. His sanctuaries were everywhere, the most famous being in Epidaurus. It is noteworthy that the depictions of Asclepius on coins are very standardized. As on the Hermitage example, he is usually shown full-length as a bearded man, his right hand resting on a staff entwined with a snake. It is a reasonable assumption that on the coins we find a reproduction of the famous statue of Asclepius at Epidaurus. That work was by the great sculptor Phidias himself or one of his pupils (such as Thrasymedes). It was no coincidence that the snake or serpent became a symbol of this god. On one occasion he witnessed a snake crawling up to another dead one, holding in its mouth a bunch of some herb, with which it revived its mate. Asclepius found that herb and began to successfully cure the sick and even bring back the dead.

 

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