321, Lot: 293. Estimate $150. Sold for $360. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THRACE, Philippopolis. Caracalla. AD 198-217. Æ Medallion (36mm, 23.08 g, 6h). Struck AD 215. Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Table seen in perspective to right, surmounted by prize urn containing two palms; below, balloting balls and amphora. Moushmov, Philippopolis –; Varbanov 1424. Near VF, green surfaces.

The reverse of this medallion is one of many similar types struck by Philippopolis to commemorate the Pythian Games (τὰ Πύθια), one of the four Greek Panhellenic Games that occurred in the second year of each four-year Olympic cycle. Held in honor of Apollo, the god of arts and “civilization,” these games featured competitions for music and poetry in addition to feats of athletic skill, and were meant to evoke the best of Greco-Roman culture. These particular games in AD 215, coming as they did in during Caracalla’s march east to battle the Persians, must have invested the event with further significance: by situating the occurrence of the games at such a crucial moment, the gods had signaled their approval for Caracalla’s enterprise against the “barbarians.”