Caracalla Visits Pergamum

Triton XIX, Lot: 359. Estimate $15000. Sold for $10000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MYSIA, Pergamum. Caracalla. AD 198-217. Æ Medallion (42mm, 37.96 g, 6h). Julius Anthimus, strategos. Struck circa AD 214. AVT • KPAT • K • MA-PKOC • AVP • ANTΩNЄINOC, laureate and cuirassed bust right, slight drapery / ЄΠI CTP IOV-Λ ANΘIMOV ΠЄPΓAMHNΩN/ ΠPΩTΩN TRIC/ NЄΩKOPΩ/N, Caracalla, holding spear in left hand, advancing right on horseback; to left, Victory walking right, holding palm frond in left hand and crowning emperor with wreath held in right; to right, trophy and two bound captives, one seated and the other standing. Von Fritze pl. VII, 7 (same rev. die [obv. not illustrated]); SNG France 2225 (same dies). EF, brown patina, minor adjustment marks. Rare and in exceptional condition for issue.

Ex Numismatica Genevensis SA V (2 December 2008), lot 270.

This medallion is part of a highly interesting series that has long fascinated numismatists. Taken as a whole, the group chronicles the major events of Caracalla’s visit to Pergamum en route to an eastern military expedition in AD 214. While this was only one stop on a trip that included imperial visits to the major cities and religious sites of Asia Minor, Pergamum’s sanctuary of Asclepius (the Asclepion) was of particular appeal to Caracalla, whose health declined precipitously in the latter years of his reign.