Hermogenes, Victor in the Olympic Games

315, Lot: 177. Estimate $200. Sold for $220. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LYDIA, Philadelphia. Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ (16mm, 3.96 g, 12h). Hermogenes, victor in the Olympic Games. ΓAIOΣ KAIΣAP, bare head of Caligula right / ΦIΛAΔEΛΦE[ΩN EPMOΓ]ENHΣ OΛVM/[ΠIO]NIKHΣ, jugate, laureat busts of the Dioscuri right; palm branch behind. RPC I 3023. VF, green and brown patina. Rare.

RPC (p. 492) notes: “A very large number of ‘magistrates’ sign the coins (of Philadelphia) under Caligula: fifteen are certainly attested for his four-year reign. They give themselves various different descriptions and titles: priest of Germanicus, Olympic victor, philopatris, grammateus, and in a number of cases philokaisar. The impression created by this variety is that the persons are mentioned just as individuals rather than as holders of any specific magistracy; alternatively, one might think in terms of a board of some kind, as at Hierapolis.”